Last modified: 2013-09-28 by ivan sache
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![[Flag]](../images/e/es-sa-me.gif)
Flag of Mieza - Image by Ivan Sache, 3 May 2011
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TThe municipality of Mieza (261 inhabitants in 2010; 3,492 ha) is located in the northwest of Salamanca Province, on the border with Portugal (here river Duero / Douro), 100 km from Salamanca.
Ivan Sache, 3 May 2011
The flag (photo) and arms (description) of Mieza are prescribed by a Decree adopted on 25
October 1996 by the Salamanca Provincial Government, signed on 13
November 1996 by the President of the Government, and published on 2
December 1996 in the official gazette of Castile and León, No. 233 (text).
The symbols are described
as follows:
Flag: White flag bordered gules. In the middle of the flag is placed the municipal coat of arms of Mieza.
Coat of arms: Per pale, 1a. [Argent] a knight armed riding holding a spear, 1b. Argent two oak eagle's head, 2. Azure a mount or rock vert with a path on waves azure and argent ensigned with an olive tree [Crown not mentioned].
The knight is taken from the arms of Ledesma, recalling that Mieza
once belonged to the Town, Land, Domain and Council of Ledesma.
The eagle's heads recall that these birds are emblematic of the area of
Mieza, with a specific protection status. Several places are locally
known as "Eagle's Nest". In the Arribes del Duero region, many rocks
and cliffs are used by the eagles for nesting. The rock known as the
Eagle's Rock ("Peña del Aguila") is one of the most beautiful
belvederes dominating the Duero.
The sinister part of the shield is a representation of the Arribes del
Duero, a canyon of 500 m in depth in which the Duero flows, and, more
specifically of "La Code de Mieza". Described by Miguel de Unamuno in
his book Durium-Duero-Douro, "La Code" is one of the most famous
natural belvederes in Spain; the path represented on the arms is the
"Camino de La Code".
The olive tree is a main element of the local traditions, as well as
olive oil is an old production in Mieza. The trees are grown on
terraces originally built by the Romans to protect them from flooding
during rainy winters and to restrict erosion and soil depletion. The
paths were also paved at the same time to prevent animals laden with
olive harvests to slide down the slope. The waves represent river
Duero. In 1680, a papal Bull prescribed the cult of the Virgin of
Protection, whose wooden statue had been found a few years before near
the Duero by olive growers; another festival, celebrating the Tree's
Virgin, is a revamping of an old Celtic tree cult.
Ivan Sache, 3 May 2011