Coat of Arms & Flag
A gold chalice on red, a silver embattled wall and a yellow flag: the official heraldic symbols of the parish of Santa Clara-a-Nova, ordered in 2002 and back in use by the parish restored in 2025.
The Coat of Arms
Official ordering
Gules, a chalice Or; in base, an embattled wall Argent, masoned Sable. Mural crown Argent of three towers. White scroll with the legend in black letters: "SANTA CLARA-A-NOVA". (Official Portuguese text: «Escudo de vermelho, cálice de ouro; em campanha, pano de muralha ameiado, de prata, lavrado de negro.»)
Parish council edict, Diário da República (official gazette), Series III, no. 212, 13 September 2002, p. 19 570.
The elements
| Red field | The shield tincture (gules, in heraldic language) |
| Gold chalice | The central charge of the arms |
| Silver wall | An embattled wall masoned in black, across the base of the shield |
| Mural crown | Silver, with three towers: the crest of parishes seated in a simple settlement |
| Scroll | White, with "SANTA CLARA-A-NOVA" in black letters |
The Flag
The parish flag is yellow, with the coat of arms centred on the hoisted version. The edict also fixes the cord and tassels in gold and red, and the staff and spearhead in gold. The usual proportion of Portuguese parish flags is 2:3.
Why three towers?
In Portuguese civic heraldry (Law 53/91 of 7 August), the mural crown states the rank of the seat: Lisbon bears a gold crown of five towers, cities silver of five, towns silver of four, and parishes seated in a simple settlement, like Santa Clara-a-Nova, silver of three towers.
The Seal
The blind seal follows the terms of the law, with the charges of the arms shown without tinctures, and the legend "Junta de Freguesia de Santa Clara-a-Nova — Almodôvar".
History of the symbols
The arms of Santa Clara-a-Nova followed the usual course of parish heraldry: an opinion by the Heraldry Commission of the Portuguese Archaeologists' Association on 11 February 2002, approval by the Parish Assembly at its session of 20 July 2002, and an edict signed on 12 August 2002 by the then council president, João Manuel de Palma Guerreiro Paleta. The ordering was published in the official gazette on 13 September 2002.
Between 2013 and 2025 the parish was merged with Gomes Aires in a union that never legalised symbols of its own. With the parish restored by Law 25-A/2025, the 2002 symbols returned to everyday use: they are today the image of the parish council and of this website.
What do they mean?
The edict, as is the rule, does not explain the charges, and no official interpretation has been published. The most natural readings are these:
- •The gold chalice most likely evokes the parish patron, Saint Clare of Assisi, and the parish dedicated to her.
- •The embattled wall recalls the fortified settlement of Mesas do Castelinho, the "Castelinho" that has marked this territory for over two thousand years.
An open invitation: if you know the 2002 process or the author of the design, write to us.
Coat of arms artwork: Sérgio Horta, via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).