Entroncamento Municipality (Portugal)

Concelho do Encontramento, Distrito de Santarém

Last modified: 2014-08-01 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: entroncamento | entroncamento(freg.) | railway signal | rail profile |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors

• About the Flag
• Version without Coat of Arms
• Presentation of Entroncamento
• Former Encontramento Commune

• Entroncamento Communes
• Portugal

• Page about Entroncamento at the Portuguese Municipalities’s Association website (incl. image of the arms)
  reported by António Martins, 18 Nov 2001

About the Flag

It is a fairly typical Portuguese municipal flag, with the coat of arms centred on a background gyronny (meaning city rank) of white and red.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 19 July 1999

The coat of arms is sable a round railroad hand sign gules bordered argent with handle or, between two rail profiles of the latter. Mural crown argent with five visible towers (city rank) and white scroll reading in black upper case letters "ENTRONCAMENTO".
Meaning:
"Entroncamento" means "junction" and it is a major knot in the portuguese railroad network. A large part of the municipality’s tiny area is in fact occupied with railway facilities, and railway operation is by large the most important activity in the city. This connection is clearly illustrated in the coat of arms, which is in my humble opinion an excellent work of “modern” heraldry.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 19 July 1999

Version without Coat of Arms

Presentation of Entroncamento

Entroncamento municipality had 14 700 inhabitants in 1990, and it consisted of only one commune, covering 14 km². It belongs to the Santarém District and to the old province of Ribatejo.
The settlement came to being in 1864 as a junction of the railway lines from Lisbon to Porto and a branch line to Spain via Abrantes. It belonged to Vila Nova da Barquinha from 24 August 1926 until 26 November 1945, when it gained town rank immediately. It was upgraded to city rank on 20 June 1991. On 17 February 2005 the National Railway Museum (Portuguese: Museu National Ferroviário) was established here.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 19 July 1999

Former Encontramento Commune

It is a fairly typical portuguese commnal flag, with the coat of arms centred on plain yellow background.

The arms are Azure a rail section Argent tied by two bolts Or. Mural crown Argent with three visible towers (borough rank) and white scroll reading in black upper case letters "FREGUESIA DO ENTRONCAMENTO".
Meaning: The railroad symbolism referred to for the flag and arms of the municipality are also present in the communal arms.

Flag and arms adopted and published in the official journal Diário da República: III Série in 1997.10.30.

Entroncamento Commune was the only one in Entroncamento municipality (q.v.). It was renamed into São João Baptista in August 2003, and in 2004 the part north of the railway line Lisbon - Porto was separated and became an independent commune, called Nossa Senhora de Fátima.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 22 Nov 2007

back to Municipalities of Portugal click here