Flag
Portuguese
Meaning
of the symbols and colors:
The five blue shields represent the five Morisco kings Don Afonso
Henriques (the father of the Portuguese kingdom) defeated in
the Ourique battle.
The white shield with the five small blue shields inside is
the Armor of Don Afonso Henriques. The legend has it that in
the Ourique battle the crucified Christ appeared before Don
Afonso Henriques and said: "With this sign (the white shield),
you will conquer!".
The dots inside each of the blue shield represents the five
wounds of Christ. Counting the number of dots in the shields,
doubling the ones in the center shield, yields a total of thirty
dots representing the thirty silver pieces Judas received for
having betrayed Jesus Christ.
The seven castles around the white shield represent the fortified
locations that Don Afonso Henriques conquered from the Moors.
The yellow sphere represents the world that Portuguese navigators
discovered in the fifteen (XV) and sixteen (XVI) centuries as
well as the people with whom they exchanged ideas and traded
with.
The green color represents hope and the red the courage and
the blood of the Portuguese fallen in combat.
Authors of the flag: Columbano,
João Chagas and Abel Botelho.
