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Sepulcro Hilario (Municipality, Castile and León, Spain)

Presentation of Sepulcro Hilario
Symbols of Sepulcro Hilario

See also:

Presentation of Sepulcro Hilario

The municipality of Sepulcro Hilario (204 inhabitants in 2010; 3,995 ha) is located 70 km from Salamanca.

Sepulcro Hilario is named for the tomb (sepulcro) of Bishop Hilario. The village was originally known as Colmenar Viejo, resettled by Raymond of Burgundy. Bishop Hilario is said to have been killed by the Moors during the Battle of Almhondir el Omniada. Around 1600, a farmer ploughing his field retrieved human bones, which were "identified" as Hilario's remains and transferred to the Colmenar Viejo parish church; the village was subsequently renamed Sepulcro Hilario. There is, however, no historical evidence of a bishop named Hilario in the area (Tribuna de Salamanca, 13 October 2004.

Ivan Sache, 20 April 2011

Symbols of Sepulcro Hilario

The flag of Sepulcro Hilario is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 31 July 1998 by the Salamanca Provincial Government, signed on 4 September 1998 by the President of the Government, and published on 1 October 1998 in the official gazette of Castile and León, No. 189 (text).
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: Argent. In the middle of the flag is placed the municipal coat of arms surmounted with a Royal Spanish crown closed and flanked with two perpendicular stripes vert, of width 1/5 of the flag's hoist.

The coat of arms of Sepulcro Hilario is prescribed by a Decree adopted on 11 April 1997 by the Salamanca Provincial Government, signed on the same day by the President of the Government, and published on 5 May 1997 in the official gazette of Castile and León, No. 83 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Per fess; 1. Gules a tombstone argent flanked in chief with a mitre and a crozier of the same, 2. Argent three holly oaks eradicated leafed vert per pale. The shield surmounted with a Royal Spanish crown.

The Royal Academy of History proposed some changes to the coat of arms, claiming that the charges used to represent the legend explaining the village's name are not adequate. The tombstone, arbitrary and not easy to identify, should be removed; the first quarter should contain only the mitre. Accordingly, the Academy proposed "Per pale, 1. Gules a crozier argent, 2. Argent three holly oaks vert per pale. The shield surmounted with a Royal Spanish crown" (Boletín de la Real Academia de la Historia, 1999, 157, 1: 358).

Ivan Sache, 20 April 2011