Last modified: 2019-01-13 by ivan sache
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![[Municipal flag]](../images/e/es-tf-eh.gif)
Flag of El Pinar de El Hierro - Images by Ivan Sache, 19 April 2015
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The municipality of El Pinar de Hierro (1,801 inhabitants in 2014; 8,495 ha) is the youngest, southernmost and second westernmost Spanish municipality, and the most distant municipality from Madrid (more than 1,900 km).
The municipality of El Pinar de El Hierro was established by a
Resolution adopted on 10 December 2007 by the Island Council and
published on 27 December 2007 in the Spanish official gazette, No.
310, pp. 53,556-53,557 (text).
The Commission for the Promotion of the Separation of El Pinar
submitted the request on 1 June 2006 to the municipality of La
Frontera, which acknowledged it on 22 June 2006 and eventually
approved it on 27 September 2006. The separation request was
forwarded on 18 October 2006 to the Island Council, which required on
30 November 2006 the submission of additional information on the
technical, juridical and economical viability of the proposed
separation.
The Island Council provisionally approved the separation on 27
February 2007, requiring the advice of the municipalities of La
Frontera and Valverde and of the Government of the Canary Islands, and
eventually approved on 17 April 2007 the establishment of the new
municipality of El Pinar.
The approval was forwarded on 18 May 2007 to the Consultative Council,
which required additional information that was submitted on 11 June
2007, and eventually validated on 3 July 2007 the establishment of the
new municipality of El Pinar de Hierro.
Ivan Sache, 19 April 2015
The flag and arms of El Pinar de El Hierro were approved on 24 July 2014 by the Municipal Council (unanimously) (municipal website). The symbols do not appear to have been validated yet by the Government of the Canary Islands.
The flag is green with the municipal coat of arms in the center. Juan Miguel Padrón Brito, Mayor of El Pinar del Hierro, explained that vert - the name of the green colour in heraldry - was selected because of the profuse greenness of the island, and, specifically, as the colour of the pines [pinos], the town's namesake.
The coat of arms is "Per fess, 1a. Vert a cone of Canarian pine proper, 1b. Or a tagoror proper in base a fess argent charged with two petroglyphs proper, 2. Azure a lighthouse or in base waves argent and azure a rock sable surrounded by two fishes nageant or. A bordure gules charged with two drums in chief dexter and sinister two pairs of pitos in the flanks and two chácaras in base. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed."
In the 1st quarter, a Canarian pine is featured as the basic element
of the landscape, culture, thought, ethnography and idiosyncrasy of
the town, whose name was derived from the massive presence of pine
woods on the municipal territory.
The 2nd quarter is a tribute to the Bimbache culture. The tagoror is
located in Julán, one of the most important archeological sites in the Canary Islands. It is interpreted as a group of stones arranged in a
circular pattern, established on a flat area close to the house of the
local king (mancey). The king sat on the highest stone, while his
councillors, according to their position in the hierarchy, sat at
different distances and height from him. That kind of "collegiate
council" was mostly composed of elders, relatives of the king
(achimenceyes) and other prestigious people. Or is the colour of the
sun, of God and of the man who has triumphed over difficulties and
reached knowledge.
The 3rd quarter is azure, a symbol of justice, obedience, loyalty,
piety, prudence, commitment to service and protection of agriculture
for the sovereign and the homeland. Francisco Piferrer (Tratado de
heráldica y blasón, 1858) claims that azure has to be used on arms "to reward the unpaid workers for their service". Here, azure
highlights the significance of agriculture in El Pinar and the
commitment to justice. Azure also represents the sky; in base, the
waves azure and argent are the emblem of a coastal municipality, here,
specifically, of the marine reserve of Punta de la Restinga - Mar de
las Calmas. The rock sable is a symbol of the local submarine volcanic activity.
The fishes are a tribute to the port of La Restinga, famous for its
resource in fish, exploited by professional and amateur fishers.
The Orchilla lighthouse is located on Point Orchllia, the westernmost
point of Spain and, in Ptolemy's geography, the end of the known
world. Inaugurated on 25 September 1933, the lighthouse has an height
of 132 m and a range of 24 nautical miles. Its building required the
importation of stones extracted from the Arucas quarry (Gran Canaria
island) and the set up of a dedicated port, subsequently transformed
into a marina.
The bordure gules recalls the first lords of Lanzarote, La Gomera and
El Hierro. The drums, the pitos and the chácaras are instruments of folk music specific to the island.
Ivan Sache, 19 April 2015
![[Municipal flag]](../images/e/es-tf-e4.gif)
Flag of El Pinar de El Hierro - Image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 24 May 2014
The former, unofficial flag of El Pinar de El Hierro was green with a Canarian pine cone proper in the middle.
According to José Manuel Erbez (Banderas y escudos de Canarias, 2007; website), the flag was used from 2007 to 2014, as the "customary flag of El Pinar".
Klaus-Michael Schneider & Ivan Sache, 24 May 2014