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Antônio Prado, Rio Grande do Sul (Brazil)

Last modified: 2012-02-11 by ian macdonald
Keywords: rio grande do sul | antônio prado |
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Antônio Prado, RS (Brazil) image by Dirk Schönberger, 26 December 2011
Source: http://cid-57cc02038c003794.office.live.com/self.aspx/.Documents


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Description of the Flag

A white flag with the municipal arms centred.

Official website at http://www.antonioprado.com.br. On the official site there are shown the laws about symbols, but this only mentions the coat of arms.
Dirk Schönberger, 26 December 2011

The municipality of Antônio Prado (14,344 inhabitants in 2006; 347.7 sq. km) is located in northeastern Rio Grande do Sul, 185 km of Porto Alegre.

Antônio Prado, the 6th and last of the "old colonies of Italian immigration", was founded in May 1886. Manoel Barata Góis, Chief Engineer of the Colonization Commission, proposed to name the new colony for Antônio da Silva Prado, who planned the Italian immigration to Brazil and the establishment of Italian colonies in Rio Grande do Sul. Antônio Prado is self-styled "The most Italian Town in Brazil", with some 50 houses built in Italian style in the historical downtown.

The coat of arms of Antônio Prado is prescribed by Municipal Law No. 275 of 22 December 1955.
The coat of arms is described in Article 1 as follows:
"The coat of arms is bordered by a double, green ellipse, with the black writing "Antônio Prado" and "11 de Fevereiro de 1899" [11 February 1899] in its upper and lower part, respectively. The two writings are separated on each side by two broken chain segments. Inside the ellipse is a golden shield, divided into five quarters. The upper quarter is charged with an open book, the lateral quarters are each charged with a plough, the lower left quarter is charged with a bee and the lower right quarter is charged with an industrial complex featuring two chimneys. All the elements are green with black outlines. In the middle of the shield is placed a red cross, which forms the center from which the aforementioned quarters extend. The space between the shield and the ellipse is red, with, in its lower part two bunches of grapes and two heads of wheat, all gold. In the middle of the two curved spaces left out by the shield are placed two golden pentagonal [indeed, five-pointed] stars. The shield is ensigned by a golden cartouche containing a representation of the Italian flag at the time of the Italian colonization of Brazil [that is, with the Cross of Savoy in the middle]. Below the afore-described ellipse is a representation of Tapirs River, azure with green outlines, with, on each side, a brown tapir facing the center of the arms."

The symbolism of the arms is described in Article 2, as summarized below:
"Historical aspects
The municipal emancipation is recalled by the writing on the green ellipse, with the day of emancipation from the 5th district of Vacaria. The colonists of the region, all coming from Italy, are recalled by the Italian flag of the time with a golden frame symbolizing excellence.

Political and administrative aspects
The two golden stars represents the two districts forming the municipality, Antônio Prado (1st) and Nova Roma (2nd).

Economic aspects
The ploughs placed symmetrically represents a well-managed agriculture as the main factor of development. All life's activities are symbolizes by the bee. The municipal industries, especially wine-growing, milling and pork production are symbolized by the factory. Grapes and wheat appear in the base of the shield, as the base resources of the municipality.

Religious and social aspects
The cross placed in the center of the shield represents the basic foundations of the religious and social activities, from which order, discipline and peace are derived.

Cultural aspect
All the cultural, educative and didactical activities are symbolized by the open book.

Geographical aspects
The Tapirs' River, which limits and waters a great part of the municipal territory, is represented as the main geographical aspect of the municipality. The river is represented with two tapirs, its namesake, on its banks."

A rather obscure footnote (part of the Law or not) says:
"The municipal flag, containing the colors of Rio Grande do Sul, on a white background, is a replicate of the coat of arms"

Ivan Sache, 9 January 2012