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Linhares, Espírito Santo(Brazil)

Last modified: 2013-07-20 by ian macdonald
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Linhares, ES (Brazil) image by André Pires Godinho
Source: Municipal Chamber


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About the Flag of Linhares

The municipality of Linhares (141,254 inhabitants in 2010; 3,501 sq. km, therefore the most sprawling municipality in Espírito Santo) is located in northern coastal Espírito Santo.

Linhares was founded in 1809 on the site of an earlier colonial settlement destroyed by the Botocudos tribe. Located on river Doce, the settlement was protected by two military barracks aimed at warning the colonists in case of attack. The today's borough named Aviso ("Watch") recall this time. The settlement was named for Rodrigo de Souza Coutinho (1755-1812), first Count of Linhares, Prime Minister of Portugal for two months in 1801 and the first Minister of War of Brazil (1808-1812). Linhares was made a "vila" and the seat of a municipality of the same name in April 1833. The first official session of the Municipal Council took place on 22 August 1833, which is considered as the date of foundation of the municipality. Its territory then encompassed the today's territories of Linhares, Rio Bananal, Colatina, Baixo Guandu, Pancas, Sáo Gabriel da Palha and Sooretama, as well as parts of Ibiraçu, Santa Tereza and Itaguaçu. At the end of the 19th century, Linhares was outgrown by Colatina, which profited of the Italian immigration, of the coffee boom and of the marshaling yard on the railway line Vitória - Minas. The municipality of Colatina, incorporating the town and the old municipality of Linhares, was created on 30 December 1921, which increased the decline of Linhares. In 1930, Linhares reemerged with the building of roads to Vitória and Sáo Mateus. The municipality was reestablished on 31 December 1943.

The flag of Linhares is 1.70 m on 1.20 m. It is made of a white rectangle of 80 cm in width, flanked by two blue rectangles of 45 cm in size. The municipal coat of arms is placed in the middle of the flag. No historical record of the flag was found, therefore the meaning of its colors is unknown.

The coat of arms of Linhares is "A Portuguese (Iberic) shield, per pale, 1. Or a tree vert (green), 2. Blue (azure), a cocoa tree trunk fructed or, a chief dimidiated gules (red) four stars or per fess, a terrace vert (green) a fess wavy argent ensigned by a Count's coronet or with its nine characteristic pearls argent. On a scroll gules (red) the writing "1800 - Linhares - 1943". The shield surmounted with a five-towered mural crown argent, for a town, the central tower with an ellipse azure charged with three fleurs-de-lis or." The Portuguese shield represents the Portuguese origin of Brazil. The tree symbolizes the region, rich in timber wood. The fructed trunk represents cocoa [the cocoa pods indeed appear mostly on the tree trunk]. The four stars represent the "bandeirantes" (pioneers) Dias Arzão, Antonio Dias Adorno, Marcos Azevedo Coutinho and Martins Cão. The Count's coronet recalls the Count of Linhares. The fess wavy stands for river Doce. The fleur-de-lis represents Our Lady of the Conception, the patron saint of the municipality.
http://www.linhares.es.gov.br/Cidade/Simbolos.htm

[Note that the image shown on the municipal website has wrong proportions.]
Ivan Sache, 21 January 2012