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Alhóndiga (Municipality, Castilla-La Mancha, Spain)

Flag of Alhóndiga - Image by Ivan Sache, 6 September 2019; coat of arms by "Asqueladd", Wikimedia Commons

Presentation of Alhóndiga
Symbols of Alhóndiga

See also:

Presentation of Alhóndiga

The municipality of Alhóndiga (196 inhabitants in 2014; 1,920 ha) is located 40 km south-east of Guadalajara.
Alhóndiga was granted to the Order of Saint John by Berenguela, Dame of Guadalajara and daughter of King Alfonso X. In 1170, Friar John granted a charter to the village, which developed around the fortified church and castle.

Ivan Sache, 6 September 2019

Symbols of Alhóndiga

The flag of Alhóndiga is prescribed by a Decree issued on 5 May 2014 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 21 May 2014 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 95, p. 13,053 (text).
The flag is described as follows:

Flag: Rectangular, in proportions 2:3, made of two equal vertical stripes, blue at hoist and red at fly. Charged in the center with the municipal coat of arms, whose width shall be 60% of the flag's width.

The coat of arms of Alhóndiga is prescribed by a Decree issued on 25 June 2004 by the Government of Castilla-La Mancha and published on 7 July 2014 in the official gazette of Castilla-La Mancha, No. 120, pp. 10,972-10,973 (text).
The coat of arms is described as follows:

Coat of arms: Spanish shield. Per pale, 1. Gules a Cross of St. John argent, 2. Azure six bezants or. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown closed.

Alhóndiga once used a different, more complicated coat of arms, as reported in Heráldica municipal de Guadalajara by Antonio Herrera Casado and Antonio Ortiz García (2001). The arms were "Gules a Cross of St. John cantonned 1. and 4. by an eagle sable and 2. and 3. by a castle and lion or. The shield surmounted by a Royal crown close". The Cross of St. John is the most representative emblem of the place; it recalls that Alhóndiga belonged to a Commandery of the Order seated in the neighbouring town of Peñalver. The castle, the lion and the eagle are taken from the arms of Juan Juarez de Carvajal, Bishop of Lugo, who purchased the domain in the 16th century - at least, this was reported in Philip II's Relaciones Topographicas. Moreover, the municipal archives keep several rubber seals used in the 19th century, featuring either the arms of Castile and León or Spain of the time, therefore with castles and lions. The castles, lions and eagles were added for the sake of distinction form the arms of Peñalver, "Gules a Cross of St. John argent".

The memoir supporting the proposed arms was redacted by Antono Herrera Casado, Provincial Chronicler of Guadalajara and corresponding member of the Royal Academy of History. The author provides evidence that the elements of the aforementioned arms, the Cross of St. John excepted, are based on spurious evidence. First, no reference to a specific municipal seal of Alhóndiga could be found in provincial and national archives. Second, the arms of Juan Juarez de Carvajal are not as described above, but "Or a bend sable charged with six bezants". The new arms feature the Cross of St. John and six bezants representing coins. This makes the arms canting, since Alhóndiga was named for a Arab word meaning "a trading or contracting place".

Ivan Sache, 6 September 2019

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