Coat of arms of Catalonia

The shield of Catalonia is the heraldic symbol of the Catalan autonomous community in Spain, whose origin is in the hereditary arms of the monarchs of the Crown of Aragon. Its derivative, the señera of Catalonia, is a symbol made official by the Generalitat of Catalonia included in the Statute of Autonomy of Catalonia. The shield, however, is not officially regulated.

Eblazoned

In the gold field four gules sticks. By bell a real crown.

History

The Cross of Saint George as a symbol of the Generalat its headquarters (civil construction of the centuryXV).

Since the configuration of Catalonia does not occur in its current form until the XV century, a single heraldic symbol for the entire Catalan territory. In this territory, unlike others of the Crown of Aragon, the Catalan counties and their holders maintained a high degree of political presence, and whose heraldry has endured in the areas in which they extended, as in the case of the arms of the County of Urgel or Ampurias.

The heraldry of the Crown granted permission so that some select cities could carry the four suits of gules in some fields as well as to crown institutions. This is the case of the Generalitat of Catalonia, which adopted the monarch's coat of arms practically from its beginnings. However, as the Generalitat gained political weight, the cross of Saint George (in a silver field, a gules cross) also began to be used, as this saint was highly revered and the patron saint of Aragon (and also of Catalonia). This symbol was initially used by the city of Barcelona on its shield as a symbol of the city (which also combined with the king's arms), and which by extension would symbolize the County of Barcelona. Often the representation of the Catalan Generality was done by means of two separate shields, one the royal one and the other that of Saint George (perhaps consistent with the pactist doctrine of this governing body), as well as, later, combining them by means of cross quartering. Since this representation coincided with that of its capital city and main county, during the XVI and XVII territorialized symbols appear that represent this shield as a symbol of the whole of Catalonia. Other arguments justify this coincidence with the attribution of this sign to the city of Barcelona in some maps and portolanos later reproduced without contrast.

During the War of the Spanish Succession, the Generalitat adopted the royal symbol of the Crown as its own, while the institution considered itself sovereign of royal power. After the loss of its own jurisdictions and institutions due to the Bourbon victory, the use of the symbol is lost.

Subsequently, the Renaixença revised the symbols of Catalonia, assigning the royal shield as the territorial one, and it would be the symbol of the demand for self-government just as was the use of the derived flag, the señera. Furthermore, the origin of the royal arms to the House of Barcelona would be taken for granted, prior to its union with the house of the kingdom of Aragon, this being an object of current discussion.