The Portuguese flag (from Wikipedia)

Welcome back; we’re continuing our expedition through the urban ethnic landscape, learning about a different culture, that of Portuguese Americans in southeastern New England. Mostly we’ll be looking at three cities in the area: Fall River and New Bedford, Massachusetts and nearby East Providence, Rhode Island.

So — signs, symbols and stones (monuments). Let’s look today at some symbols in the landscape. You’ll never see a sign saying “Entering the Portuguese American Community” so it’s fun to learn how to spot these ethnic markings and what they mean. As I write in my book, geographers and other social scientists have a variety of names and phrases for the symbols that mark an ethnic group’s presence in the landscape. You can take your pick from a variety of words and phrases scholars have come up with: semiotics, iconography, symbology, cultural signifiers, and I like this one best: ethnic landscape signatures.

Let’s start with the Portuguese flag (above) because in itself it’s rich in symbols and colors that are common cultural signifiers. And, as an extra added bonus, we’re going to touch on two “Words of the Day!”

Much of the symbolism on the Portuguese flag goes back to the 11th and 13th centuries as the Portuguese took back their territory from the Muslim Moors of North Africa who had conquered the country. The five shield symbol within the white background evolved from the coat of arms of King Afonso I, known as the father of the Portuguese nation, who defeated five Moorish leaders in a series of battles that by 1140 had established the territorial core of what eventually became the modern Portuguese state. Each of the five shields contains five marks, (originally silver nails) said to represent the five wounds of Christ. The seven castles in a red border surrounding the shield represent further military victories against the Moors in southern Portugal by King Afonso III around 1249. (And as a side note, although I’m not aware of any use of this phrase on signs in New England, the term “Five Wounds” is also a type of Portuguese religious symbol — the Portuguese National Parish in San Jose, California is named Five Wounds Catholic Church.)

A monument showing the five shield symbol. Photo by the author.

Taken together, the shield within a shield symbol — the five shields and the seven castles — is basically a national shield for Portugal, in the way that the bald eagle on the Presidential Seal is for the USA. Above is an example of the use of the five shield symbol on a small roadside monument in New Bedford, a memorial to a young man who died in the Vietnam War. Locals will recognize his name, Tiago Reis, as Portuguese, but other than the five shield symbol there is no indication on the monument of his Portuguese ancestry or mention of any Portuguese organization erecting the monument. So this is a good example of a hidden signifier that would be invisible to a typical visitor.

Back to the flag. The gold lines on the flag are a ribboned armillary sphere. So here’s our first Word of the Day. What the heck is an armillary sphere? It’s like an astrolabe showing important navigational lines on the earth related to the sun’s movement. The word comes from the Latin armus, meaning ring or band, which Roman soldiers wore around their …. BZZATT (nasty buzzer sound for wrong answer): shoulders. Related word: think of the protective rings around an armadillo.

So, maritime navigation again. If you read my previous post on explorers you’ll recall the issue under discussion of having old-time Portuguese exploration of the world “define” Portugal. The lines or ribbons represent the equator, the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, a line of longitude and the plane of the ecliptic. Word of the Day #2. What the heck is the plane of the ecliptic? Quick answer: an imaginary line traced by the sun as it moves around the earth over a year; it represents the plane of the earth’s orbit around the sun. It would be the same thing as the equator if the earth were not tilted on its axis.

Symbols and colors of the flag on a restaurant sign. Photo by the author.

The colors of the Portuguese flag, mainly red and green and gold used separately or together, are also important indicators of Portuguese cultural influence in the landscape. Take a look at the sign for Antonio’s Restaurant in New Bedford (above) that combines the shield symbol with the red, green and gold colors. The colors are also on a former sign for the Café Portugal restaurant (below), also in New Bedford. Note green on the left, red on the right, as on the flag.

Colors of the Portuguese flag on a restaurant sign. Photo by the author.

Obviously display of the Portuguese flag is an important indicator of a Portuguese neighborhood as in the photo from Fall River below. But here’s something fascinating: a case can be made that this trait is not so much a simple transplantation of a cultural symbol as it is an acquired trait or even a reaction to American culture. While on one level the Portuguese national banner is a cultural symbol to Portuguese like the American flag is to Americans, the semiotic meaning of the Portuguese flag in the Portuguese American context is different. 

A geography scholar, Wilbur Zelinsky, has written about the display of flags in nations around the world. He notes that the United States is one of the nations where private display of the national flag is most common. Portugal, on the other hand, and Brazil, heavily influenced by Portuguese culture, are nations where such private exhibition is much less common. He writes that the Portuguese flag is seldom seen on private residences and privately owned businesses in Portugal and on the Portuguese islands of the Azores and Madeira. It turns out that private display of the Portuguese flag is more common in the Portuguese communities of New England almost as if it’s a reaction to or an imitation of the common display of the Stars and Stripes.

American and Portuguese flags on a residence in Fall River. Photo by the author.

Dual flags are a common symbol too, not just on signs and on buildings but on car decals and lapel pins. An example from a Portuguese social club in New Bedford is shown below with two flags surrounding a shield symbol. (My grandfather used to be president of this club years ago!)

A dual flag combined with a shield symbol. Photo by the author.

And here come the Brazilians! Brazilians speak Brazilian Portuguese and many came initially to Massachusetts because others spoke their language. Some came to live in the Portuguese American area (both cities we’ve mentioned have about 2,000 Brazilian immigrants), although Boston had more job opportunities. Middlesex County in Massachusetts, the county west and northwest of Boston, especially around the city of Framingham, now has the largest concentration of Brazilian immigrants in the United States — about 35,000 in that county. With the Brazilians came their flag, as shown below on a store selling Brazilian goods in Fall River. Probably their display of the Brazilian flag is a reaction to seeing so many American and Portuguese flags.

Brazilian flag on a store in Fall River. Photo by the author.

The Brazilian flag is a descendant, so to speak, of the Portuguese flag. Brazil took the green and the gold and one of the astronomical and navigational ‘ribbons’ from the Portuguese flag. Now here’s another quiz question for you. Which ribbon did Brazil choose for its flag? Recall that Brazil is one on the few countries in the entire world that has territory directly on the equator. Now before you answer. I’ll give you a hint by telling you that the judge has a finger perched on that nasty BZZATT buzzer expecting to pounce. So which ribbon did Brazil choose for its flag? Correct — the plane of the ecliptic! Go figure. You can read about the origin and complicated symbolism of Brazil’s flag on Wikipedia. Like the USA, Brazil adds stars to its flag as states are added but they add clusters of stars and constellations.

These three flags include the flag of the Madeira Autonomous Region. Photo by the author.

Last point(s). With all these flags flying, regional pride among the Portuguese shows up as well. Most Portuguese in the area came not from mainland Portugal, but from the Atlantic islands of the Azores and Madeira. Above is the flag of the Autonomous Region of Madeira along with the two other flags flying in New Bedford over the grounds of the annual Feast of the Blessed Sacrament (commonly, referred to as the “Madeiran feast”). The Madeiran flag features the Cross of St. John you may recall mention of in earlier posts, and we’ll hear more about it. Also below is the flag of the Autonomous Region of the Azores, and you can see its obvious derivation from the Portuguese flag. The nine stars represent the nine islands of the Azores. Portuguese Americans from the Azores sometimes say “The Tenth Island” to refer to southern New England, especially Fall River.

Flag of the Azores Autonomous Region (from Wikipedia)

I grew up in this area and in the Portuguese American culture. Now I’m a retired geography professor and I’ve outlined these ideas in detail in my book Making History — Creating a Landscape: The Portuguese American Community of Southeastern New England. 

Available on amazon.com. https://www.amazon.com/Making-History-Creating-Landscape-Southeastern/dp/1722258462/ref=monarch_sidesheet_title