Marinha Grande (city)

MARINHA GRANDE

District : Leiria

Official blazon
Portuguese	Escudo de vermelho, com um pinheiro de prata frutado de verde e troncado de negro, saínte de contra-chefe de dunas de areia de ouro acompanhado de duas vieiras do mesmo. Coroa de mural de prata de cinco torres. Listel branco com os dizeres : " MARINHA GRANDE ", a negro.
English	blazon wanted

Origin/meaning

The arms were officially granted in 1934 and again on August 28, 1996.

This was the first “modern” civic coat-of-arms in the Portuguese Republic, it was blazoned by the Portuguese Archaeology Association Heraldic Section and laid the foundation for the future civic heraldry in Portugal.

Marinha Grande is a municipality established in 1917, so it didn’t have any heraldic symbols or traditions. They decided to promote a contest for a brand new coat-of-arms and flag and after that contest, they presented the design to the Archaeology Association, at the time one of the most prestigious and learned institution in Portugal. This institution was one of the best in the field of heraldry and the municipality asked their opinion on the newly designed coat-of-arms. The heraldry commission studied and debated the merits of the design and concluded that, the design although was well imagined, didn’t fall in the parameters that should be used in civic heraldry, but more in the “family heraldry” category, so they proposed the blazoning and design that, with some later changes, (in 1934) would became the official arms and flag of the municipality. This newly proposed coat-of-arms and flag, was much appreciated by the municipality and word got out about the quality of the commission’s study.

The Pine tree reflects that Marinha Grande is surrounded by a huge pine grove. Planted by order of king Dinis, in the 13th century, to protect arable lands near the coast, from the expanding sand dunes on that region, it’s called “Pinhal de Leiria” (Leiria Pine Grove). Leiria, because it’s the nearby main city of that region, and was very important in the construction of the Portuguese sea vessels at the time of the Portuguese discoveries and seaborne empire.

The sand dunes refer to a vast sand dunes area located in the municipality. The scallops are reference to the glass producing industry based in Marinha Grande, very famous in Portugal, Te seashells were crushed and mixed with the rich silica from the sand dunes to produce high quality glass products.