Guayanilla

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GUAYANILLA

Territory : Puerto Rico

Official blazon

Origin/meaning

The hermitage and the houses represent a primitive Christian town of Puerto Rico, specifically the one of Santa Maria de Guadianilla or San Germán el Nuevo, that was established in the margins of the Guayanilla River, in the middle of the sixteen^th century.

The star symbolizes Our Lady; La Inmaculada Concepción, patron of the town, and the waved bar represnets the river. The repetition of this subject, without the star, in the last quarter, alludes to the second foundation of Guayanilla, in 1833. The lion is taken, with alteration of its colours, from the shield of Ortíz de Almendralejo, Extremadura, a region where Don Rodrigo Ortíz Vélez came from, mayor and defender of Santa Maria de Guadianilla, and founder of San Germán de las Lomas de Santa Marta, a place where the primitive population was transferred during 1570. It represents, in addition, the value and the intrepidity whereupon Don Rodrigo and his men defended the town against two attacks and attempts of invasion: One by French Corsairs and another one by Caribbean Indians. The first victory is symbolized by the lily flower and the second by the arrow, which in this case represents the battles.

The old crown, in the small red shield in the centre, represents Cacique Agüeybaná, main monarch of the Tainos of Borinquen, whose yucayeque was located in the Guianía region, where today Guánica, Yauco and Guayanilla are located. The blue anchor in a gold field, symbolizes the beach and the port of Guayanilla.

The crown is standard upon municipal shields and symbol of the unity that must characterize the inhabitants of a population or municipality united in its defence of its autonomy, conservation of its historical traditions and promotion of the communal well being.

The sugar cane stems indicate that Guayanilla is located in a sugar cane zone and the importance that the sugar industry has had in the history of the town.