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Ballesteros de Calatrava (Municipality, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain)

Last modified: 2019-10-19 by ivan sache
Keywords: ballesteros de calatrava |
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Presentation of Ballesteros de Calatrava

The municipality of Ballesteros de Calatrava (428 inhabitants in 2014; 5,783 ha) is located 30 km south of Ciudad Real.

Ivan Sache, 9 May 2019


Symbols of Ballesteros de Calatrava

The flag of Ballesteros de Calatrava is prescribed by an Order issued on 30 January 2008 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 15 February 2008 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 35, pp. 4,397-4,398 (text).
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular, in proportions 2:3, made of two equal vertical stripes, red at hoist with two white armed crossbows [ballestas], white at fly with the red Cross of the Order of Calatrava.

The coat of arms of Ballesteros de Calatrava is prescribed by an Order issued on 4 December 2007 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 18 December 2007 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 263, p. 30,354 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Quarterly, 1. and 4. Argent a cross flory gules of the Order of Calatrava, 2. and 3. Gules a crossbow argent. The shield surmounted by a Royal Spanish crown.

The Royal Academy of History validated the proposed arms, "a composition perfectly adequate, balanced and legible, compliant with the heraldic tradition and good style".
The Academy rejected the proposed flag, where the arrangement of the charges of the shield is dramatically altered, without any reason. The charges are swapped, moving the Cross of Calatrava to the second rank, and the crossbows are duplicated. Moreover, the field is changed from quartered to vertically divided. It is not acceptable that a municipality adopts two heraldic emblems so different. The Academy recommends to use for the flag a simple banner of the municipal arms.
[Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia 204:3, 466. 2007]

This is a "rehabilitation" of the municipal arms "of immemorial use".
[Ramón José Maldonado y Cocat. 1973. Heráldica municipal de la provincia de Ciudad Real. Cuadernos de Estudios Manchegos 4, 84-109]

Ivan Sache, 9 May 2019