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Nioaque, Mato Grosso do Sul (Brazil)

image by Dirk Schönberger, 4 November 2010
Source: http://www.nioaqueonline.com.br/modules.php?name=Content&pa=showpage&pid=15

About the Flag

About the Flag

Green-white-red horizontal tricolour, with + PRIMUS INTER PARES written in red on the central white band.

Official website at http://www.prefeituranioaque.com.br
Dirk Schönberger, 3 November 2010

The flag of Nioaque http://www.educamor.net/cg/bandeiras_municipios_ms5.htm has lettering slightly different, with the cross more prominent. This may indicate different versions exit. But the colours here are much more faded.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 4 November 2010

The municipality of Nioaque (18,064 inhabitants in 2006; 3,924 sq. km) is located in the south-west of Mato Grosso do Sul, not far from the border with Paraguay. The exact date of foundation of Nioaque is not known. Most historians believe that Nioaque was founded on 8 April 1849 by Joaquim Francisco Lopes; built on the confluence of rivers Urumbeva and Nioaque, the first settlement was named São João de Antonina. The settlement was made a District on 24 May 1877 by Law No. 506 and the Municipality of Levergeria on 18 July 1890 by Decree No. 23. Law No. 13 of 26 October 1892 renamed the municipality Nioac, subsequently amended as Nioaque.

The flag of Nioaque is horizontally divided green-white-red with, in the white stripe, a red Christ's Cross and the red motto "PRIMUS INTER PARES". Designed by the former Mayor of Nioaque Altevir Soares de Alencar, the flag was adopted on 28 January 1978 by Municipal Decree No. 767.

The green stripe symbolizes the municipality's agricultural potential, flora and watercourses. The white stripe represents peace that followed the Paraguay War. The red stripe symbolizes the blood shed by the heroes during the Paraguayan War, recalling that Nioaque was the place of war acts, including the sufferings of Colonel Carlos de Moraes Camisão's column during the Laguna Withdrawal. The very same blood circulates today in the veins and arteries of the active and heroic inhabitants of Nioaque, putting them on the tracks of progress and justice.

The Christ's Cross is a symbol of Christian faith and moral, and of religious traditions as well. The Latin motto "PRIMUS INTER PARES" (The first among equals) recalls that Nioaque was the municipality the most hit by war, was the first municipality to struggle for peace, and the first municipality to break its geographical isolation after the war.

Paraguay War: The War of the Triple Alliance opposed from 1864 to 1870 Paraguay to an alliance set up by Uruguay, Argentina and Brazil, ending with the Paraguayan defeat.

Colonel Carlos de Moraes Camisão: (1821-1867) led a column set up in April 1865 to expel the Paraguayans from the south of Mato Grosso that they had invaded a few months before. Noticing that the Paraguayans had left Brazil, the colonel decided in January 1867 to invade the Paraguayan territory, and was eventually repelled in Laguna by the Paraguayan cavalry. Moraes' troops then contributed to the complete reconquest of Mato Grosso, which was achieved in April 1868.

The flag can be seen on photos taken during the celebration of the 160th anniversary of the town, 8 April 2009: http://www.nioaqueonline.com.br/modules.php?name=Sections&op=viewarticle&artid=177.
Ivan Sache, 12 November 2010