Municipality of La Matanza de Acentejo (Tenerife Island, Santa Cruz de Tenerife Province, Canary Isl

Ilustrísimo Ayuntamiento de la Villa de La Matanza de Acentejo Villa Historica

Last modified: 2011-01-07 by eugene ipavec
Keywords: la matanza de acentejo | tenerife | coat of arms | crossbow (brown) | guanche | banot | staffs: 2 (brown) | grapes (golden) | ribbon (white) |
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Variant 1

Variant 2

Variant 3

Variant 4

Variant 5

               images by Klaus-Michael Schneider and Eugene Ipavec, 14 Mar 2010

• Description and Variants
• Coat of Arms

See also:

• Municipality of La Victoria de Acentejo (Tenerife Island, Canary Islands, Spain)
• Tenerife Island (Canary Islands, Spain)
• Canary Islands (Spain)
• Spain

Other sites:

• Symbols of the Canary Islands by José Manuel Erbez

[Over two visits to] the Acenteijo valley, I spotted five versions of the flag of Matanza. The variant denoted as No.4 seems to be the one the municipality is using today: it was hoisted in the town hall, in front of the town hall and on a nearby square. No.3 might be the same as no.4.; I am not sure that no.3 exists, because my only source was a photo in which the flag was only partially unfurled. I then thought the CoA must have been in the middle of the flag, but that might be wrong.

Variant 1: vertically divided bicolour with two stripes of estimated ratio 1:2; red (hoist) and green (fly). The coat of arms is in the centre of the flag. I spotted this flag on 30 January 2007 in the Military Museum of Santa Cruz de Tenerife. According to my source Elena Felipe, Coordinadora Área Bienestar Social, Ayto. de La Matanza de Acentejo, this one should be the official version.

Variant 2: vertically divided bicolour with two stripes of estimated ratio 1:2; green (hoist) and red (fly). The coat of arms is in the centre of the flag. I spotted this flag on 3 February 2007 at the Matanza exit of the North Tenerife highway.

Variant 3: vertically divided bicolour with two stripes of equal width: red (hoist) and green (fly). The coat of arms is in the centre of the flag upon the borderline between the red and green field . I saw a photo of this variant in "Matanceros, Boletín Municipal de Información No.21 La Matanza de Acentejo," Oct 2006.

Variant 4: vertically divided bicolour with two stripes of ratio 1:2; red (hoist) and green (fly). The coat of arms is upon the borderline between the red and green field. I spotted this flag on 15 February 2010 in front of the town hall of Matanza and in the assembly hall.

Variant 5: vertically divided bicolour with two stripes of ratio 1:2; red (hoist) and green (fly) without coat of arms. I spotted this flag on 15 February 2010 at the Matanza exit of the North Tenerife highway.

Sources and Credits

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 10 May 2007 and 07 Mar 2010

Flag adopted in 1987.

Source: "El Día"

Ivan Sache, 07 Aug 2008

Given the design, I have to ask... is there any historical connection with Portugal?

James Dignan, 08 Mar 2010

An unavoidable assumption, but if true it is an achronic connection: Portugal abandoned its claims over the Canaries in 1479 Alcáçovas Treaty), and the Portuguese green-red national flag was adopted in 1910. Besides, Portuguese presence was mainly in Lanzarote, not in Tenerife. (That said, I am slowly collecting examples of flags that, for some reason or none at all, match somehow the Portuguese national flag.)

António Martins-Tuválkin, 08 Mar 2010

image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 May 2007

Description of coat of arms: shield divided per pale. On the right half are two staffs over a crossbow in their natural (brown) colour in a red field. On the left half are three golden grapes of vine (two over one) in a green field. The shield is topped by a crown. Under the shield is a white ribbon with a black inscription. "VILLA HISTORICA." The coat of arms was granted by order of 30 November 1987 and was published in BOC No. 158 of 14 December 1987, p. 3555.

The staffs are Guanche weapons (banot), crossed in defence against the Castilians. The red colour reminds of the bloodshed at this place during the Castilian conquest, where Chief Bencomo and hero Tinguaro defeated the Castilians and more than 800 of them had been killed. The green colour and the grapes symbolize fertility and agriculture in the present-day village, especially the cultivation of grapevines.

Source: Elena Felipe, Coordinadora Área Bienestar Social, Ayto. de La Matanza de Acentejo

Sources and Credits

Klaus-Michael Schneider, 11 May 2007