Toa Alta
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TOA ALTA
Territory : Puerto Rico
Official blazon
Origin/meaning
Toa Alta was founded during the year of 1751, under the government of Agustín Parejas. The parish was constituted under the patronage of Our Lady of the Conception and San Fernando. The name "Toa" is claimed to be the name that the Taíno Indians gave to the present river Río de la Plata. This word in the language of the Taínos also means mother and frequently was written as "Thoa".
The sword and the crown represent San Bernardo Rey, patron of Toa Alta, and refer to the reconquest campaigns and the high spirit of justice of this monarch, sovereign of Castile and Leon. The right small shield represents the Virgin Mary, co-patron of the town in its title of Immaculate Conception, and the tower to Santa Barbara, virgin and martyr, also co-patron of Toa Alta.
The left small shield the star with eight rays, besides being a symbol already popularized, particularly in sports of the town of Toa Alta, refers to the heroic toalteños, Jose and Francisco Diaz, who were covered with glory in Hato Rey (1797) fighting against the English invaders and giving Jose his life in defence of the King and the Mother country next to the Martín Peña bridge. In the Spanish heraldry the star is symbol of the last name Diaz, which means "Son of Diego" by the entailment of this name, that also means "Son of Santiago", with the tradition of the appearance in Santiago de Compostela, of the star that revealed the place of the tomb of the Apostle patron of Spain.
The crown is a civic or municipal standard. Toa Alta has three towers which denotes its category of town.
The Motto Non Deserit Alta, which translated from Latin means "Does not abandon high things".
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Literature : Information and image from Nelson L. Román