The Aragonese bat and other stories about the señera

Abstract

The article uses data from sigillography, numismatics and pictorial sources to analyze the composition of the coat of arms of the Autonomous Community of Aragon, known since 1499. The legends associated with it are considered. This is the legend about the origin of the red and gold pillars of Aragon, the appearance of the red cross of the Sobrarbe tree, the legend about the cross in the dream of Inigo Arista on the eve of the battle of Arajuest, the legend about the Alco-rass cross of St. George with the four heads of the Moors. The author notes that the dragon in the crest of the Aragonese kings appeared under Pedro IV, and apparently is a vowel version of his knightly name Pedrodragon. The term «señera» in Aragon was applied exclusively to the royal coat of arms. The transformation of the dragon into a bat occurred in con-nection with the fading of the medieval meaning of this visual image.

Keywords

• history of spain
• aragonese heraldry
• legends of coat-of-arms