Last modified: 2021-12-23 by rob raeside
Keywords: nueve de julio department | chaco province | argentina |
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![[Las Brenas flag]](../images/a/ar-h-lb.gif)
image by Ivan Sache, 08 Jan 2014
The municipality of Las Breñas (28,555 inhabitants in 2010; 2,543 ha) is located in the southwest of the Chaco Province, 260 km form Resistencia.
Las Breñas was settled in the 1910-1920 by colonists of 27 different nationalities (Americans, Austrians, Belgians, Brazilians, Bulgarians, Czechoslovaks, Danes, Dutch, Finns, French, Germans, Greeks, Hungarians, Indians, Italians, Jews, Lithuanians, Moldavians, Paraguayans, Poles, Romanians, Russians, Syrio-Lebanese, Spanish, Swiss, Turks, Ukrainians and Yugoslav) therefore the nickname of Provincial Capital of Immigration awarded to the town.
Las Breñas was first settled in 1910- 1912 by José Figueroa and his father Candelario Figueroa, who were joined in late 1912 by Isidoro Verón. The three colonists, all from from Tostado (Santa Fe), established the new settlement in the place known as El Pedernal. Candelario Figueroa moved in 1918 to Castelli, while his son moved to Pozo del Indio. He would come back only in 1973 to Las Breñas, where he died in 1977.
The commission sent in 1918 by the Directorate of Lands and Colonies to the Chaco National Territory recorded 56 plot owners in Las Breñas (40 Argentines, 12 Spanish, 3 Italians and one Turk). The first foreign colonist was Enrique Fredenreij, a Russian Jew who established the first shop of Las Breñas in 1915. The first drugstore was set up in 1916 by the Spaniard Anastasio López. Year 1917 saw the first Italian (Luís Melgratti) and Yugoslav (Silvestre Garma) colonists.
More central European colonists settled in Las Breñas in the next years, such as the Ukrainian Juan Romañuk, Miguel Posternak and Pablo Sevchenko (1921), the German Carlos Ruetz (1921), the Austrian Antonio Fischer (1921), the Russian Esteban Kopovoy (1922) and the Bulgarian carpenter Simeon Melincoff (1923).
The different ethnic groups settled in different areas of Las Breñas, the Germans in Pampa Sommer and Santa Elena, the Spanish in Pampa San Martín, the Italians in Pampa Mitre, the Czechoslovaks in Pampa La Porteña, and the Bulgarians and Ukrainians in Pampa del General.
The municipality of Las Breñas was established on 11 July 1921 nearby the railway station named for the local topography. According to the Dictionary of the Royal Spanish Academy, "breña" means "a burned land surrounded by rocks and planted with scrubs".
The flag of Las Breñas is prescribed by Municipal Resolution No. 317 of 18 June 2010, which also prescribes the 11th of July (Municipal Day) as the Municipal Flag Day.
The flag is horizontally divided blue-green by a broken line. A white representation of the Southern Cross is placed in upper hoist. A gray swallow is flying from the flag's fly on the line separating the two coloured fields.
The flag was selected among 42 proposals submitted in a public contest prescribed by Municipal Ordinance No. 2,066 of 18 November 2009. The winning design was submitted by Luis Daniel Ibáñez.
The flag is prescribed as follows;
The flag of Las Breñas is made of two coloured horizontal stripes The upper stripe, of blue colour, represents the merging of the constellation, of the sea that carried all the European immigrants to the western hemisphere, and of supreme values, especially reason opposed to passion, which allows the transmission of peaceful feelings.The lower stripe, of green colour, separated by a broken line representing the topography of the place and the "breñas" [scrubby area] for which the municipality was named, is a symbol of the greatness and generosity of the fertile fields, freshness, youth and spring, abundance and hope, and the perfect balance between youth, inner peace and eternal spring, as a symbol of hope in a new life in ours community.
The Southern Cross, the sole guide available to early travellers and immigrants, represents a mythological element and a symbol of religious feeling. It symbolized the melting of cultures, knowledge, prosperity, wealth and permanent guidance for a society in cooperative, collaborative and joint growth. The swallow recalls that Las Breñas is a melting-pot, where all those who crossed the sea to settle there and build their future expressed loyalty and fidelity to their new land, respecting each other's freedom, traditions and costumes. The swallow flies towards the Southern Cross, on the winds of continuous progress, on the broken line separating the heavens from the earth.
The flag is prescribed with 2:3 propositions. For adequate visibility from distance, it is recommended to use a flag in 1.20 m x 1.80 m size, hoisted on a pole of 6 m in height.
A ceremonial flag is prescribed in 0.90 m x 1.40 m size, that is, with the same proportions as the national flag. hen used, the ceremonial flag shall be carried by a distinguished citizen of Las Breñas appointed by the municipal authorities.
The blue sky with the Southern Cross and the swallow was already featured in the municipal coat of arms, prescribed by Municipal Resolution No. 504 of 21 November 1979. The coat of arms was selected in a public contest prescribed by Municipal Resolution No. 503 of 15 November 1979.
Ivan Sache, 08 Jan 2014