| Coat of arms of the City Barcelona | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Versions | |
 | |
| Armiger | City Council of Barcelona |
| Adopted | 1329 |
| Crest | Spanish Royal Crown |
| Shield | Quarterly: 1 and 4 theSaint George's Cross, 2 and 3 theRoyal Bars of Aragon |
Thecoat of arms of Barcelona is the official emblem of the City Council ofBarcelona, the capital ofCatalonia, has its origin in theMiddle Ages, these arms were first documented in 1329.[1] TheGovernment of Catalonia conferred the coat of arms and theflag as official symbols of the municipality in 2004. It has an escutcheon inlozenge which is commonly used in municipal coats of arms of cities in Catalonia.[2] Currently the City Council of Barcelona also uses anisotype based on the heraldry of the city.
Theblazon of the arms is:
Quarterly, first and fourthArgent, a full crossGules, second and thirdOr, with fourpalettsGules; for a Crest, aroyal crown(withhalf-arches,monde, andcross).
— Official Gazette of Catalonia - DOGC, no. 4114[3]
The heraldry of the city joining theSaint George's Cross (a fieldArgent with a crossGules),patron saint of theHouse of Barcelona and the arms of theArchdiocese of Barcelona, and theRoyal Arms of Aragon, the Four Bars which bear four redpaletts on gold background, depicts the emblems of theKings of Aragon andCounts of Barcelona since 1137 whenAragon and theCounty of Barcelona merged bydynastic union[4] by the marriage ofRaymond Berengar IV of Barcelona andPetronila of Aragon. Among other territories of the former Crown of Aragon, the coats of arms ofCatalonia,Aragon,Valencia and theBalearic Islands include the Four Bars.[5][6][7]
The first instance of a cross is found in a seal of 1288. The Saint George's Cross is shown on a 13th-century mural of theTinell Hall, depicting by Barcelonan or Catalan soldiers. TheNeighborly host ordinances of 1395 ordered: «Than for the city councillors, the present be made a long sidebanner which has the sign ofSaint George, containing a red cross on a white field, that is badge of the city».[4][8] Thus the cross seem to have been used as a distinguishing and official of Barcelonan citizens, or perhaps slightly earlier. TheAragonese Royal Standard (and County of Barcelona, the four red stripes on a yellow field) used alongside the banner of the city worn by Barcelonan soldiers and later joining them in aquartering first depicted on the heraldic sign and later on the banner.[9] Quartering in is a method of joining several different coats of arms together in one shield to avoid conflict with otherwise similar coats of arms but quarters are numbered from the dexter chief (the corner nearest to the right shoulder of a man standing behind the shield), proceeding across the top row, and then across the next row and so on. The arms of the citizens were placed in the most honourable quarters (the first and fourth) because their representative traditionally forced the king to negotiate his policies. In 1359 theGeneralitat of Catalonia adopted the Saint George's Cross as flag and sign «by being the ancient arms of theCounty of Barcelona».[10]
Before the royal grant of 1345 that set the number of pallets to four, there were periods when four pallets alternated with three or two. Later, the shield charged with two bars was recurrent source of discussion as a proper variant of Barcelona. In 1996 was adopted amonochrome logotype as official emblem of Barcelona, a rhombus or lozenge with the cross two barsimpaled, sharply defined edges and without the crown. A secondary version, for ceremonial use and shown in the seal of the city with four pallets, quartered, and a former royal crown.[9] The versions of 1996 caused such controversy, because they were not designed to conform to traditionalheraldic rules and the content of theLaw of local symbols of Catalonia, that led to the Catalan Society of Genealogy, Heraldry, Sigillography, Vexillology and Nobility lodged an appeal against them. This appeal to repeal the emblems of 1996 was successful and a most appropriate version had to be created, so the current arms, quartered with four bars was adopted in 2004.[9]
Since the 15th century a former royal crown (withoutarches, orb and cross) set atop the shield, as was customary in territories of theCrown. In the 17th century was introduced the royal crest of the Aragonese monarchs, a winged dragon, as thecity Valencia orPalma have done during the previous century. In some cases, the winged dragon will in time be transformed into in a bat,Rat penat, commonly used in local heraldry.[11] Together with the crest, a helmet was situated above the shield and bearslambrequins and the former royal crown (open). By the 19th century the bat has cornered the dragon as can be seen in theOfficial Gazette of Catalonia and Barcelona since 1810. The bat and the former royal crown without the helmet were remained for much of the century.
The removal of the bat from the coat of arms of Barcelona has been seen as a loss of an emblematic symbol shared by other capitals of the former Crown of Aragon as Palma, capital of the formerKingdom of Mallorca and Valencia, in the formerhomonymous kingdom.
During 16th and 17th centuries the use of the heraldry of Barcelona was also used as coat of arms of thePrincipality of Catalonia. This use may reflect the Principality as heir of the County of Barcelona or the governmental capacity of the Generalitat over the territory of the former county. The heraldry of the city of Barcelona has depicted different types ofheraldic crowns, both royal or county crown have been used in different variants. The crown of count referred the history of the territory and the royal crown has been reflected therank of the titular of the county. The royal crown equals city and territory as other realms of the Hispanic Monarchy. For this reason, the historiography referred to these holders as Count-King (Comte-rei). From 1800 to 1931, successive town and city councils used both crowns with or without the crest of the bat.[9] After theSpanish Civil War, the coat of arms showed a former royal crown without the crest.[9][12]
The current version has the modernSpanish Royal Crown, a crowna circletOr and precious stones, with eight rosettes ofoyster plant leaves, five visible, and eight pearls interspersed, closed at the top by eight half-arches, five visible, also adorned with pearls and surmounted by a cross on a globe.
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The coat of arms used by the Provincial Council ofBarcelona was created by Royal Ordinance of 1 March 1871 after reviewing a report of theReal Academia de la Historia (English: Royal Academy of History). It was approved by the Provincial Council on 30 June 1874 (Provincial Official Journal of 10 November 1874).[13]
Theblazon of these arms is:
Or, four pallets Gules debruised[14] with a lozenge Argent charged with a full cross Gules; all surrounded by alaurel branch on thedexter and anolive one on thesinister joined by a ribbon Gules; as crest a former royal crown(without half-arches, monde, and cross).[15][16]
The provincial arms incorporated the elements of the heraldry of the city, the Saint George's Cross and the four red paletts on gold background of the Kings of Aragon and Counts of Barcelona, with a different form of combination.[15][16] The sign of the Saint George's Cross was widely displayed on a lozenge by the City Council and theGeneralitat. The laurel wreath is a symbol of victory and honor and the olive one represents peace.[15] In Spain many civic coats of arms use the former or the modern Royal Crown as heraldic crest. The Provincial Council has a logo commonly used as official emblem.[17] The provincial flag contains these arms but it has horizontal stripes.[13]
Hueste vecinal de 1395:
- Que per los Consellers, de present sia fet un penó larch ab senyal de Sant Jordi, ço és, la creu vermella e lo camp blanch, qui és senyal de la ciutat.
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