Coat of arms of Catalonia

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The Coat of arms of Catalonia, as many other former territories, depicts the traditional arms of the Crown of Aragon which bear four red paletts on gold background. It difers from the flag because this latter uses fesses. It was at first, the familiar coat of the Counts of Barcelona and Kings of Aragon.[1]. It is one of the oldest coats of arms in Europe dating back to a seal of Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona from 1150.[1] [2][3][4]

historically representing the king of the Crown of Aragon, it has been adopted and/or included today in the arms of four spanish autonomous communities and in a number of cities: without any change for Catalonia, and, with some variations, for Aragon, the Balearic Islands and Valencia.


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[edit] Heraldic description

The blazon of the arms is: Or, four pallets of gules, ensigned with a Spanish Royal Crown. [5] In heraldry, the escutcheon is commonly known as that of the of Aragon [6].

These pallets of gules are commonly named in popular usage and culture as the "red bars"[7] or the "four bars"[8]

It has been described during the years as in "Armorial du Hérault Vermandois", 1285-1300[9], These are the arms of the Counts of Barcelona who acquired Aragón [10], in Armorial de Gelre, 1370-1395, D'or, à quatre pals de gueules (Barcelone). [11] or the Armorial d'Urfé, 1380, sont les armes de le Conte de Cathalogne, and in armorial de Charolais, 1425, arms conte de Barselongne and armorial Le Blanq (sources from 1420-1450) venant des contes de Barselone.[12]

[edit] History

Version of the coat of arms of the kings, created by the king Peter the third, the Ceremonious, on 14thCentury with the blue and white cross flag of the old Aragonian kings and the pales of Barcelonian counts.
Version of the coat of arms of the kings, created by the king Peter the third, the Ceremonious, on 14thCentury with the blue and white cross flag of the old Aragonian kings and the pales of Barcelonian counts.

Originally it was the familiar emblem of the Counts of Barcelona[13]. In 1137, when Aragon and the County of Barcelona merged by dynastic union[14] by the marriage of Raymond Berengar IV of Barcelona and Petronila of Aragon, these titles were finally beared by only one person when their son Alfonso II of Aragon ascended to the throne in 1162. Slowly the various entities and territories over which the House of Barcelona ruled and came to rule came to be called the Crown of Aragon due to the greater prestige of the royal to the comital title.[citation needed]

"The new ruler of the united dynasty (Raymond Berenger IV of Barcelona) still called himself count of Barcelona and merely "prince" of Aragón." [15]

The son of Ramon Berenguer IV and Petronila, Alfonso II, inherited both the titles of King of Aragon and Count of Barcelona, in a style that would be maintained by all its successors to the crown. Thus, this union was made while respecting the existing institutions and parliaments of both territories.

The familiar emblem was adopted by his descendents as Kings of Aragon, the main branch, Counts of Provence, Counts of Foix[1], Judges of Arborea in Sardinia (party), Kings of Mallorques, Kings of Sicily (party)[16].[clarify]

It constitutes the third quarter section of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Spain.

[edit] Theories of origin

[edit] Theories of Catalan origin

Seal of Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona
Seal of Ramon Berenguer IV, count of Barcelona

The oldest evidence where the arms can be seen is from 1150, in a seal of Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona. [17]. The seal evidence is disputed by some aragonese authors who claim that the first documented evidence dates from the time of Alfonso II (king of Aragon and count of Barcelona) reign[18].

As a pre-heraldic symbol, the red bars on a yellow background are found on the Romanesque tombs of Barcelona’s Count Ramon Berenguer II Cap d’estopes, who died in 1082, and his great-grandmother Ermessenda, who died in 1058, wife of Count Ramon Borrell I[19], both of whose tombs were at the portico of the old Romanesque Cathedral of Girona; it is not sure that the 15 bars of gold appearing in a painting are contemporary to the tombs.[citation needed]. It is a proof that relates the arms to the Counts of Barcelona lineage and the pre-heraldic forms indicate pre-heraldic times, before the second Third of the 12th Century. [20]

[edit] Theories of aragonese origin

The exact origin of the four bars symbol is obscure, and for long it has been explained by legends, now proven false. The first undisputed evidences are from the Alfonso II (king of Aragon and count of Barcelona) reign [18], but there are indications of an older origin.[citation needed]

Even though a purely Aragonese origin for the four bars symbol has been proposed, the main point held by Aragonese authors (Fatás, Ubieto, Montaner), partially supported by some Catalan historians like Farràn de Sagarra, is that the key evidence for the Catalan origin, the Marseilles seals, is dubious. The lines in the monochrome Marseilles seals are interpreted as mere scratchings by some, and as representation of a shield reinforcement by others. [18] This theory was rejected by Aragonese member of the International Heraldry Academy Faustino Menéndez-Pidal[3].

A second point put forward by Aragonese authors is that Ramon Berenguer IV, Count of Barcelona was the de facto ruler of Aragon, even if only his son Alfonso II would become de jure king of Aragon. Therefore any symbol associated with Ramon Berenguer IV can also be attributed to the then budding Crown of Aragon. [18]

[edit] Variations

The autonomous communities of Aragon, Balearic Islands and the Valencian Community together with some cities such as Barcelona, also include these arms.

Arms of Regions and Countries

Coat of arms of the Crown of Aragon which displays a different crown as ensign.

Coat of arms of Andorra.

Coat of arms of Aragon.

Coat of arms of the Balearic Islands.

Coat of arms of Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

Coat of arms of the Province of Tarragona

Coat of arms of the Valencian Community.


Arms of Cities

Coat of arms of Barcelona.

Coat of arms of Cervera in the Lleida Province

Coat of arms of Lleida

Coat of arms of Palma de Mallorca

Coat of arms of Perpignan

Coat of arms of the city of Valencia.

[edit] See also

[edit] Notes

  1. ^ a b c " Léon Jéquier. Actes du II Colloque international d'héraldique". Breassone.1981. Académie internationale d'héraldique. Les Origines des armoiries. Paris. ISBN 2-86377-030-6.
  2. ^ Paul Adam Even."L'heraldique catalane au moyen age" in Hidalguia, 22, Mayo-Junio 1957. Madrid. p465.
  3. ^ a b Faustino Menéndez-Pidal. "Palos de oro y gules" in Studia in honorem prof. M. de Riquer (pars quarta). Quaderns Crema.1991.p669. ISBN 84-7727-067-8
  4. ^ Martí de Riquer. "Heràldica catalana: des l'any 1150 al 1550". Quaderns Crema.1982. ISBN 84-85704-34-7
  5. ^ Ampelio Alonso de Cadenas y López; Vicente de Cadenas y Vicent. (1985a). Heráldica de las Comunidades Autónomas y de las capitales de provincia. Ediciciones Hidalguía: Madrid (Spain). ISBN 840006047
  6. ^ Presidencia del gobierno. "The coat of arms"
  7. ^ «E es cert quel senyal per los molts alts Reys darago atorgat e confermat a la dita Ciutat era e es lur propri senyal Reyal de bastons o barres grogues e vermelles». Manual de Consells de 1377 (Archivo Histórico Municipal de Valencia, años 1375-1383, n. 17, sig. A)
  8. ^ «Estará formado por dos óvalos: uno exterior de trazo grueso y uno interior de trazo delgado, con las cuatro barras inscritas y sobrepasando el óvalo interior hasta alcanzar el exterior». Decreto 97/1981, de 2 de abril (DOGC nº 123, de 29 de abril. Correcciones en DOGC nº 141, de 10 de julio). Signo de la Generalitat.
  9. ^ Armorial du Hérault Vermandois, Introduction
  10. ^ see 1047 Le Roy d Arragon and 1051 the entry for the Conte de Barsellonne
  11. ^ Folio 62r 637.Pierre IV, R. d'Aragon
  12. ^ Michel Poppof. "L'heraldique espagnole et catalane a la fin du Moyen-âge". Editions Leopard d'Or. 1989. ISBN 2-86377-078-0. Paris.
  13. ^ The Catalonia Government's Official Web
  14. ^ (1986) "II. The age of the Early Count-Kings (1137-1213) (The Principate of Ramon Berenguer IV 1137-1162)", in Clarendon Press - Oxford: The medieval Crown of Aragon. A short story (in english), 31. 
  15. ^ [http://libro.uca.edu/payne1/payne5.htm Chapter Five The Rise of Aragón-Catalonia]. A History of Spain and Portugal. Retrieved on 2008-05-03.
  16. ^ *Fluvià I Escorsa, Armand de [1994]. Els quatre pals: l'escut dels comtes de Barcelona (in Spanish). Barcelona: Episodis de la Història, 300. 
  17. ^ see picture
  18. ^ a b c d "Palos de Aragón" Entry on Gran Enciclopedia Aragonesa
  19. ^ original Romanesque tomb of Ermessenda
  20. ^ Marti de Riquer. "Llegendes històriques catalanes. Quaderns Crema. 2000.pag.16. Barcelona. ISBN 84-7727-296-4

[edit] References

  • Fatás, Guillermo; Guillermo Redondo [1978]. La bandera de Aragón (in Spanish). Zaragoza: Colección Básica Aragonesa, 3.  Retrieved on 9 September 2007.
  • Fatás, Guillermo; Guillermo Redondo [1995]. Blasón de Aragón : el escudo y la bandera Zaragoza (in Spanish). Diputación General de Aragón, D.L..  Retrieved on 9 September 2007.
  • Fluvià I Escorsa, Armand de [1994]. Els quatre pals: l'escut dels comtes de Barcelona (in Spanish). Barcelona: Episodis de la Història, 300.  Retrieved on 9 September 2007.
  • Menéndez Pidal de Navascués, Faustino [1991]. Palos de oro y gules, vol. IV (in Spanish), Barcelona: Episodis de la Història, 300, pp. 669-704.  Retrieved on 9 September 2007.
  • Montaner Frutos, Alberto [1995]. El señal real del rey de Aragón: historia y significado, vol. IV (in Spanish), Zaragoza: Fernando el Católico, pp. 669-704.  Retrieved on 9 September 2007.

[edit] External links

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