Póvoa de Santa Iria

Heraldry of the World Civic heraldry of Portugal - Brasões dos municípios portugueses

PÓVOA DE SANTA IRIA

Municipality : Vila Franca de Xira
District : Lisboa

File:Povoasi.jpg

Origin/meaning :
The arms were granted on April 14, 1998.

The golden lion, carrying three blue bars, each one perforated with six golden pieces (Valente - valiant), represents D. Vicente Afonso Valente, canon of the Lisbon cathedral, who established, by will dated from 1336, the Morgado da Póvoa. He appointed his brother as first administrator, Lourenço Afonso Valente, whose family thereafter was referred to as the Valentes of Póvoa. The perforated bars with six golden pieces symbolise the wounds suffered by an ancestor of the family, who died in the battle of Ourique.

The lion holds a cogwheel, a symbol of the industries which were founded in the village by the end of the 19^th century: milling, fertiliser, chemical, tanning, etc.

The waves in the base symbolise the Tejo (Tagus) river, thus symbolising the strong relation between the river and the people who had, as main activities, fisheries and salt mining transportation for several centuries.

Literature : image send by Sergio Horta; background by Nuno Barros (webmaster of http://7mares.terravista.pt/povoa_sta_iria)