
Last modified: 2020-10-08 by ivan sache
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Flag of Collado Villalba - Image by Ivan Sache, 5 July 2015
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The municipality of Collado Villalba (62,587 inhabitants in 2014; 2,650 ha; municipal website) is located in the north-west of the Community of Madrid, 40 km of Madrid.
Collado Villalba was located in the Roman times on the branch of the  
Mérida-Zaragoza Roman way connecting Titulcia and Segovia through the Sierra de Guadarrama. Some authors believe that the town was then named Villae Alba. Remains of a temple dedicated to god March, of  
tombs and a milestone dated from the 4th Consulate of Caracalla  
(213-217) were excavated in the town.
Colledo Villalba was part of the Real de Manzanares, a domain established in 1332 by King Alfonso X the Wise and  granted in 1383 by John I to his majordomo, Pedro González de Mendoza. His nephew, Iñigo López de Mendoza, was made Count of the Real de Manzanares and Marquis of Santillana by John II.
The status of villa was granted in 1630 to Collado Villalba by  
Philip II, upon request  of Ana de Mendoza. The borough of Alpedrete was separated from Collado Villalba in 1840 to form a municipality.
Ivan Sache, 5 July 2015
The flag (photos, photo, photos, photos, photo) of Collado Villalba is yellow with the municipal coat of arms in the middle. The flag does not appear to have been officially approved.
The coat of arms of Collado Villalba is "1. Quarterly per saltire, 1. and 4. Vert a bend gules fimbriated or, 2. and 3. Or the legend 'Ave María' in letters sable. The shield surmounted by a coronet. " The shield is surrounded by yellow and green vegetal ornaments. Beneath the shield, the writing "C. VILLALBA" in black letters. The coat of arms does not appear to have been officially approved, either; the heraldic authorities would for sure not approve the use of the arms of Mendoza without any modification, the supporters, the writing and the coronet.
Diego Hurtado de Mendoza y Figueroa (1415/1417-1479), the elder son of  
Íñigo López de Mendoza, First Marquis of Santillana, was made Duke of the Infantado (full title, "Duque de las Cinco Villas del Estado del Infantado") in 1475; subsequently, the Dukes of the Infantado were made first-rank Grandees of Spain, and were therefore allowed to wear  
their hat in the presence of the king. Íñigo de Arteaga y Martín (b. 1941) is the 19th Duke of the Infantado.
"Vert a bend gules fimbriated or" are the oldest known arms of  
Mendoza; subsequently modified several times, the arms always included  
a red bend on a green field. The arms quartered per saltire were  
introduced by the first Marquis of Santillana and appear on a seal  
dated 1440; the marquis quartered his father's arms (Mendoza) with his  
mother's arms (de la Vega). His descendants were known as Mendoza de  
Guadalajara or Mendoza de l'Ave María. In the representations of these  
arms, the first quarter is inscribed with "AVE MARÍA" while the third  
quarter is inscribed with "PLENA GRATIA" (or, at least "GRATIA").
[José Luis García de Paz (UAM), Los poderosos Mendoza]
Ivan Sache, 5 July 2015