The Portuguese municipalities are entitled to use a local flag with a coat of arms. Rules regarding

Portuguese vexillology Portuguese vexillology is the use of flags in Portugal. It originates from the early battle standards of medieval Portugal. Characteristics In relation to subnational flags, the rules are: gyronny or smooth field bearing coat of arms with five to ...

and

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, rank and pedigree. Armory, the best-known branch ...

are quite strict (Law no. 53/91 of August 7th, 1991). The colour(s) of the flag are defined in regulations published in the

official journal A government gazette (also known as an official gazette, official journal, official newspaper, official monitor or official bulletin) is a periodical publication that has been authorised to publish public or legal notices. It is usually establis ...

and correspond to one or two most important

tinctures A tincture is typically an extract of plant or animal material dissolved in ethanol (ethyl alcohol). Solvent concentrations of 25–60% are common, but may run as high as 90%.Groot Handboek Geneeskrachtige Planten by Geert Verhelst In chemistr ...

used in the coat of arms. Flags could be plain (one single colour) just with the coat of arms in the centre (used by municipalities headquartered both in cities and towns), quartered with two colours (used only by municipalities whose seat is a town) or gyronny with two colours (meaning that the seat of the municipality has the status of city). The single exception to this rule can be found in the flag of the

Lagos Lagos (Nigerian English: ; ) is the largest city in Nigeria and the List of cities in Africa by population, second most populous city in Africa, with a population of 15.4 million as of 2015 within the city proper. Lagos was the national ca ...

municipality, which is quartered diagonally (Portuguese ''franchado'', or quartered per saltire), reflecting the association of the city with King

Manuel I of Portugal Manuel I (; 31 May 146913 December 1521), known as the Fortunate ( pt, O Venturoso), was King of Portugal from 1495 to 1521. A member of the House of Aviz, Manuel was Duke of Beja and Viseu prior to succeeding his cousin, John II of Portugal, a ...

, whose personal standard was also quartered per saltire.

External links

References

{{Lists of flags

Portuguese Portuguese may refer to: * anything of, from, or related to the country and nation of Portugal ** Portuguese cuisine, traditional foods ** Portuguese language, a Romance language *** Portuguese dialects, variants of the Portuguese language ** Portu ...

Flags of Portugal

Flags A flag is a piece of fabric (most often rectangular or quadrilateral) with a distinctive design and colours. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employ ...

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...

See also

External links

References