The Valledupar shield is the representative emblem of the capital of the Colombian department of Cesar. Its elements refer mainly to the geography and culture of this entity.
This symbol of the city was created in 1955 on the initiative of Víctor Cohen Salazar, and of the plastic artist and cartoonist Jaime Molina. Since then, there have been two versions of the city's coat of arms. The first version represents the values of tradition and nobility of this region of Colombia.
The second, created more recently, updates the elements that make up the Valledupar shield and combines the most representative symbols of the origin, geography, culture and economy of the city and the Department of Cesar.
History
On December 1, 1955, the Valledupar shield project was presented to the City Council for consideration by Mr. Víctor Cohen Salazar and the painter Jaime Molina Maestre, during the administration of Mayor Jorge Dangond Daza.
This was the first coat of arms of the capital of the Department of Cesar, founded on January 6, 1550 by the Spanish conquerors Hernando de Santana and Juan de Castellanos.
The name of Valledupar comes from its geographical location. The city is located in the Upar Valley, between the Serranía del Perijá and the Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta.
The shield project was approved by the municipal authorities of Valledupar. The first version of the shield remained as the emblem of the city until July 31, 2004, when Mayor Ciro Pupo Castro and the councilors agreed to modify it, in order to update the representative elements of the region and the city.
In the current version of this emblem, Vallenata music is included as one of the most prominent and representative cultural symbols of this city, also known as the world capital of vallenato.
The shield is used in the official stationery of the Mayor's Office and the Valledupar Municipal Council.
Meaning
The elements of the Valledupar shield represent the history, culture, geography and economy of Valledupar and the Department of Cesar.
The Spanish Crown open on the shield symbolizes the noble origin of this city, founded by Spanish conquerors.
The original shield was composed of three parts, while the current one is quartered -that is, it is divided into four equal parts- and is in the French-style Spanish style, since it has edges ending in a vertex that points downwards, just like the shields French.
The Sierra Nevada de Santa Marta appears in the upper left section, as a representative element of the orography of the region.
In the upper right quarter, culture is symbolized with one of the most representative Colombian icons: Vallenata music.
This musical genre, originally from Valledupar, has become not only a cultural emblem of the city, but of the country.
The vallenato is represented by the musical instruments that are used in its execution: the accordion, the box and the guacharaca.
In the third lower quarter, the Valledupar and Cesar livestock are represented with a cow, which in the original shield was of the Holstein breed and in the new version is a specimen called "dual purpose" (mestizo producer of meat and milk), plus common in this highly producing region of both categories today.
The agricultural vocation and strength of the region is symbolized in cotton plants in the initial shield, with an ear of rice added in the current version.
The phrase that occupies the border of the shield, "City of the Holy Kings of the Valley of Upar", is the original name with which Capuchin friars baptized this city, since the day of its foundation coincides with the day of the Magi (January 6th).
References
- Notes on the history of Valledupar. José Francisco Socarrás. Plaza & Janés, 2000.
- Coat of arms of the city of Valledupar (Cesar). commons.wikimedia.org
- Valledupar. Retrieved on September 25, 2017 from colombia-information.com
- The Story of Valledupar: Home of Vallenato. Consulted of colombia.co
- Coat of arms of Valledupar. Taken from es.wikipedia.org
- The City of the Holy Kings. Consulted of elpilon.com.co
- History of Valledupar. Consulted of valledupar.com
- City of Valledupar. Consulted of ciudaddevalledupar.wikispaces.com