Portugal: Cultural Symbols

Cultural Symbols of Portugal

Portuguese Flag

The Portuguese flag is made up of a coat of arms, red color and green color. The five blue shields inside the white shield represent the first King of Portugal, Afonso Henriques, and his victory against five Moorish Kings at the battle of Ourique. The five white dots inside each blue shield represent Christianity. Seven castles are shown to represent the locations conquered from the Moorish Kings. The yellow sphere represents the world discovered by the Portuguese. All these parts make up the Portuguese coat of arms. The green color represents hope and red color represents courage and the blood shed by Portuguese in battle.

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Galo de Barcelos (Barcelos Rooster)

The Galo de Barcelos is a national symbol of Portugal that represents honesty, trust, integrity and honor and is also thought to bring good luck. As the old tale goes, there was a theft of silver from a landowner in Barcelos and the criminal could not be found. When a stranger from a neighboring area was spotted in Barcelos, the authorities seized him and blamed him for the crime despite all his oaths of innocence. He was sentenced to a hanging. During his execution, he asked the Lord to make the dead rooster crow three times to prove his innocence. In the presence of the judge, the rooster crowed three times and the stranger was fortunately hanged unsuccessfully due to a bad knot. Since then, the rooster became a reminder the tale.

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Guimarães Castle

One of the most attractive places to visit in Portugal is the Guimarães Castle, the birthplace of the first king, Afonso Henriques, and the first capital of Portugal. In the 1000s, it was originally built to protect the Portuguese form attack, but in the 1200s the size of the castle was enlarged by the king. The castle is very well preserved and a big tourist attraction today.