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Loriga Commune (Portugal)

2:3, image by António Martins-Tuválkin and Sérgio Horta´, 7 Aug 2025

Loriga Commune

Flag
Coat of Arms
Unofficial Coat of Arms in local Use
>First Coat of Arms
Former Flags
Presentation of Loriga

See also:

Loriga Commune

Flag

It is a typical Portuguese communal flag with the coat of arms centred on a field quartered of white and blue.
Source: Sérgio Horta´s webpage
António Martins-Tuválkin, 7 Aug 2025

Coat of Arms

António Martins-Tuválkin

Sérgio Horta

Shield Azure a cogwheel Or, in dexter chief a maize ear Argent leafed Or, in sinister chief three rye ears Argent joined at the stems, on a mound of two coupeaux Argent issuant from base a barrulet gemel wavy Azure. Mural crown Argent with four visible towers (town rank) and short white scroll, in Bénard Guedes style, reading in black upper case serifed letters "LORIGA".
Meaning:
The barrulet gemel is a representation of the local creeks Ribeira da Nave and Ribeira de São Bento, which form Ribeira de Loriga, a tributary of the Alva River. The mound is a representation of the star Mountains (Serra da Estrela).
Source: Ralf Hartemink´s webpage
António Martins-Tuválkin, 7 Aug 2025

Unofficial Coat of Arms in local Use

António Martins-Tuválkin

There is also an example of the sort of folk heraldry the CHAAP (as also many other heraldists in Portugal) has been trying to eradicate for the last 100 years — with spotty success, some of its lack of their own doing:
Shield parted per pale, at dexter Argent a Latin cross patty Gules voided, at sinister a representation of (and here we go) of a local landscape showing on a grassy ground Vert a rivermill Argent garnished Sable roofed Gules, on the bank of a river Azure and in background a mountain range Argent garnished Sable against a sky Azure charged with an six point estoile Argent.
Meaning:
By the nature of its blazon, this coat of arms had no chance of being approved by the CHAAP, and was not even proposed as such (as far as I can tell), having been likely created and informally adopted for an _ad hoc_ use. The interesting questions are:
1. When was it first used (and in general the history of its creation and informal adoption)? and
2. What was, if any, the flag background precognized along with this coat of arms, and whether it was ever depicted on such background, either on the cloth or not (later composite images may exist, but what matters is the contemporary use)?
Source: Ralf Hartemink´s webpage
António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 Aug 2025

First Coat of Arms

António Martins-Tuválkin

Shield Azure a cuirass (Portuguese:loriga or >lorica) Or, flanked by two watermill wheels Or, in chief a 5-point estoile Or, on a mound of two coupeaux Argent issuant from base a barrulet gemel wavy Argent. Mural crown Argent with four visible towers (town rank) and short white scroll, in Bénard Guedes style, reading in black upper case serifed letters "LORIGA".
Meaning:
The story about this proposed coat of arms for Loriga is based on the town´s name being interpreted as derived from Latin lorica, a type of body armour. This etymology may not be accurate but eitherway its use on a coat of arms would still be justified, either as canting or punning. Apparently the idea of using a lorica as the main heraldic element comes from (or was supported by) a preliminary CHAAP dispatch from 25 May 1993 (ref. 66/CH/93), signed by the well known heraldist José Bènard Guedes, where the pattern for the flag background is suggested to be quartered of blue and yellow (see pp.154-155 of the very large source referenced below).
Source: English WIKIPEDIA and A. Carvalho: "Historia do Brasão de Loriga"
António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 Aug 2025

António Conde, a local writer, apparently defends any variant coat of arms for Loriga as long as it includes the cuirass (loriga), and this document includes approvingly endless arrays of possible combinations, most of them clipparted from traceable sources. The few elements, which remain unchanged in all these illustrated flags and coats of arms are: Flag always quartered of blue and white (contra the official flag), scroll always white/Argent with only the toponym, coronet always Argent with four visible towers, waves always Argent and Azure, mound always of two coupeaux, millwheels always symmetric and in the same color, and shield background always Azure.
The other variation axes are multiple:
- scroll can be either type: short toponym or most usual (q.v.);
- the lorica can be Or or Gules;
- the star can be Or or Argent;
- the star, if Or, can be 5-pointed plain or 7-pointed and faceted;
- the millwheels can have 6 (?) inframe paddles or 8 external paddles;
- the millwheels can be Or or Argent or Sable;
- the mound may be Vert or Argent;
- the sinister coupeau visibly overlaps the other or not; and
- either two barrulets wavy on the mound or one on a wavy base.
Most of these differences stem from likely acrytical cliparting of all available artwork, incl. images of the disparaged alternative versions. Not all of possible combinations are illustrated (f.i., only versions with mound Vert lack wavy barrulets).
See example of these permutations in source above pp. 213-225 or also here, where 40 variants of a coat of arms are displayed.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 Aug 2025

Among these many possible combinations, António Conde seems to see (or have seen at a given time) one as most significant, the one chosen to watermark emblematic photos (p. 210) or uniquely symbolise the town (p.250) and therefore it tends to be the most often sight online among all the variants of the coat of arms with lorica. Justifying this preference (or maybe due to it), this is also the version used in some more formal (and even official) use, such as posters for local events promoted by other entities (other communal governments, tourism authorities, etc.) and political ads, up to 2017 (pp.168-178 in source referenced above).
In spite of this preference and wider currency, this version is the least correct among all possible combinations:
- the mound is Vert, on the shield Azure (see Rule of Tincture)
- the watermill wheels are Sable, on the shield Azure (ditto)
- between the gaps of the spoke wheels, background Argent, not Azure (!)
António Martins-Tuválkin, 11 Aug 2025

Former Flags

2:3, image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 Aug 2025
2:3, image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 8 Aug 2025

All these flags night have been in use unofficially or they are mere proposals, all with centred coat of arms and short white scroll, in Bénard Guedes style.
The flags are quartered of white and blue with coat of arms with cross (see image 1st line left above), quartered of blue and white with coat of arms with red cuirass and green mounds (see image 1st line right above), quartered of blue and white with coat of arms with golden cuirass (see image 2nd line left above), quartered of blue and yellow with coat of arms with golden cuirass (see image 2nd line right above)
Source: Sérgio Horta´s webpage
António Martins-Tuválkin, 7 Aug 2025

Current symbols published in Diário da República: II Série on 26 October 2018, see here
António Martins-Tuválkin, 7 Aug 2025

Presentation of Loriga

Loriga is one of the 14 communes of Seia Municipality not affected by the 2013 changes. It had 848 inhabitants in 2021 and covers 36,52 km².
António Martins-Tuválkin, 7 Aug 2025

back to Seia Communes click here