1878 CC SILVER DOLLAR VALUE

Na Fonte da Telha, num antigo quartel, a bandeira la estava... ao sabor do vento!

The flag of Portugal consists of a 2:3 rectangle vertically divided into green, at the hoist, and red, at the fly, with a simple version of the national coat of arms (armillary sphere and Portuguese shield) centered over the color junction. It was officially adopted on June 30, 1911, thus replacing the old constitutional monarchy flag
Since the foundation of Portugal, the national flag was always linked to the royal arms and, up until 1640, there was no official distinction between both.[13] It evolved in a way that incorporated stepwise most of the symbols present on the current coat of arms.


[edit] 1095 - 1248

Banner of Henry, count of Portugal (1095).
Banner of King Afonso I (1143).
Banner of King Sancho I (1185).

The first banner that can be associated with what would be the Portuguese nation was a shield used by Henry of Burgundy, during his battles in Iberia against the Moors. For his services, King Alfonso VI of Castile offered him the County of Portugal, in 1095, which he ruled until his death (1112). This square (1:1) shield was heraldicly very simple – a blue cross over a white (or silver) field.

Henry's son Afonso Henriques succeeded him on the county and took on the same blazon. On 1139, he defeated an outnumbering army of Almoravid Moors at the Battle of Ourique and proclaimed himself King of Portugal, as Afonso I in front of his troops. Following the castilian king's recognition in 1143, Afonso quickly changed his banner in order to reflect his new status. Sources state he charged the cross with five groups of eleven silver bezants (most likely large-headed silver nails), on the center and each arm, symbolizing Afonso's newly gained right to issue currency.[14][15]

In these days, it was not usual to repair damages inflicted to the battle shields, so changes like loss of pieces, color shifts or involuntary stains were natural. When Sancho I of Portugal succeeded his father, in 1185, he inherited a very worn off banner – the blue-stained leather that made the cross was lost except where the bezants (nails) held it in place. This unwanted degradation of the shield became the basis for the next step on the evolution of the coat of arms, where a plain cross was transformed into a compound cross of five blue bezant-charged escutcheons – the quinas were thus born.[14][15]

Now, Sancho's personal banner (called "Portugal ancien"[16]) consisted of a white/silver field with a compound cross of five quinas, with the side ones' points facing towards the center; each was still charged with eleven silver bezants. Both Sancho's son Afonso II and grandson Sancho II inherited and used this banner unchanged, as it is usual on direct succession lines (father to first-born son). A new modification of the royal arms was made when the Sancho II's younger brother became king, in 1248.


[edit] 1248 - 1495

Banner of King Afonso III (1248).
Banner of King Joao I (1385).
Banner of King Joao II (1485).

Afonso III of Portugal was not a first-born, so heraldic practices stated he should not take his father's banner without any personal variation. Before becoming king, Afonso was married with Matilda II of Boulogne; her inability to provide him with a royal heir led Afonso to divorce her, in 1253. He remarried with Beatrice of Castile, an illegitimate daughter of Alfonso X of Castile. It was most likely this connection with Castile that justified the new addition to the royal banner – a red bordure charged with an undetermined number of yellow castles – instead of the definitive conquest of the Algarve with its Moorish fortresses, considering that the number of castles was only fixed in 1640.[17]

Nevertheless, the majority of the reconstructions display this banner with 16 castles. The inner portion contained the arms of Sancho I, though the number of bezants varied between 7, 11 and 16 (this number was used on Afonso's personal standard while he was still Count of Boulogne).[15] This same banner was used by the Portuguese kings until the end of the first dinasty, in 1383, when a succession crisis put the country in war with Castile and without a ruler for two years.

In 1385, in the wake of the Battle of Aljubarrota, a second dinasty was installed when Joao, Master of the Order of Aviz, an illegitimate son of King Pedro I, acceeded to the throne as Joao I. Into his personal banner, which was the first to be used effectively as national flag, Joao I added his Order's green fleur-de-lys cross, displayed as flowery points on the red bordure; this reduced the number of castles to nine. The number of bezants per escutcheon were reduced from the regular eleven to seven.[15] It lasted a hundred years until Joao I's great-grandson Joao II restyled the flag in 1485, introducing important changes – removal of the Aviz cross, downward arrangement and rounding of the five quinas, and definitive fixing of five

A list of just some streets which have disappeared or changed their names since 1900.

This list will be updated as more information becomes available.

Barr's Street (Lane until 1848) - Milk Street to St James's Barton - demolished and built over post-war for Broadmead Shopping Centre.

Barton Alley - widened in 1860s and became Bond Street.

Carey's Lane - Old Market Street to Ropewalk - demolished for underpass and roundabout.

Castle Mill Street - Merchant Street to Narrow Weir - blitzed, now Newgate.

Clark Street - now Midland Road.

College Street - Anchor Lane (now Road) to College Green - Deanery Road built and houses later demolished 1950s.

Counterslip - although the name remains,it was transferred from the original Countess Quay to a new road off Victoria Street in the 1960s.

Cross Street - off College Street -removed for building of Council House on College Green.

Dolphin Street - Union Street to Bridge Street - destroyed by blitz, now part of Castle Park.

Duck Lane - off Nelson Street - now part of Fairfax Street.

Ellbroad Street - Narrow Weir to Redcross Street - removed post-war for Broadmead Shopping Centre.

Frogmore Street - Park Street to Trenchard Street - most buildings demolished for new road pattern.

Griffin Lane - now Lower Park Row.

Hawkin’s Lane - it was off Bath Street, by the old Courage’s (George’s) brewery. An old inn, the Fourteen Stars, stood next to it until 1857. The name disappeared in 1968 when some of the old buildings (possibly the 1788 brewery) were demolished, but will be resurrected, I’m told, when all the flats and apartments on the site are finally completed. Sir John Hawkins owned the brewery in 1702.

Lampblack Hill - although a continuation of Redland Road, it became known as Arley Hill after Arley Chapel.

Limekiln Lane - became part of St Georges' Road.

Mary le Port Street - High Street to Dolphin Street - blitzed and now part of Castle Park.

Milk Street - Horsefair to Newfoundland Street- now covered by Bond Street extension/M32 approach road.

Montague Street - St James's Barton to Dighton Street demolished for Bus Station.

Old King Street - buildings removed post war and now part of Merchant Street.

Peter Street - Dolphin Street to Castle Street - blitzed, now part of Castle Park.

Philadelphia Street - Broad Weir to Milk Street - demolished and built over post-war for Broadmead Shopping Centre.

Pile Street - demolished and became part of Redcliffe Way.

Redcliffe Hill - houses demolished for road widening 1960s.

Ropewalk - later known as Wellington Road.

Rosemary Street - became the eastern part of Broadmead.

Sims Alley - Broadmead to Horsefair - destroyed due to post-war Broadmead Shopping Centre.

St James's Back - Broadmead to Horsefair - now Silver Street.

St James's Square - St James's Barton to Milk Street - part blitzed, part wantonly destroyed in 1968.

St Philip's Plain - now Broad Plain and Narrow Plain.

Steep Street - Host Street to Griffin Lane (see above) -road line altered and became Colston Street.

The Quay - now Colston Avenue.

Thunderbolt Street - off Prince Street -built over by the CWS building, later replaced by Broad Quay House.

Can anyone name anymore?