City Title
According to Gorosabel, Fuenterrabía has long aspired to hold the titles of very noble and very loyal town. This claim was based on a letter from Emperor and King Charles V, written from Ocaña on December 18, 1542, in which he granted the treatment of very noble and loyal, adding that his royal successors had entitled it very loyal. However, the province only allowed the use of the title noble and loyal, like other towns in its territory, according to a decision of the Juntas Generales of Tolosa in 1622. This decision was protested by the representatives of Fuenterrabía and San Sebastián.
Fuenterrabía continued to insist on its claim, and in 1632 it styled itself very noble and very loyal town in a power given to its delegates. For this reason, they were required to leave the congress hall until they obtained a new power without the aforementioned title. This situation remained until King Philip IV, following the siege of 1638, granted it the titles of very loyal and very valiant city by privilege issued in Madrid on April 12, 1639. Fuenterrabía ed the addition of the title very noble, and the king granted this petition by a new royal decree dated December 4, 1650, awarding the full title of very noble, very loyal, and very valiant city. Finally, a royal decree from Charles IV on June 11, 1799, allowed the addition of the title ever faithful, in recognition of services rendered during events in the neighboring kingdom of France.
Coat of Arms
The coat of arms of Fuenterrabía is divided into four quarters, the first two being medieval:
- First quarter: gold, with an angel holding a key in its right hand.
- Second quarter: silver, with a rampant lion.
- Third quarter: green waves with a ship and a harpooned whale beneath.
- Fourth quarter: green waves with a mermaid holding a mirror in her right hand.
In the center is a blue escutcheon with waves, displaying a silver castle and two stars above. At the ends, bordered in red with twelve flags and white banners, appear trophies of artillery, bombs, muskets, etc. In the circle are the titles and names of the city, and it is crowned by Our Lady of Guadalupe, patron and protector of the city since 1639.
Flag
The flag is white with the red cross of Burgundy, featuring the city’s coat of arms in the center.
Seal
Fuenterrabía’s seal is an important piece of medieval Guipuzcoan sigillography.
- Obverse: a light boat with four crew members fishing a harpooned whale in the foreground. It reads: Sigillum Concilii de Fonte Arrabia.
- Reverse: a slender castle or wall gateway. The inscription is more problematic: Frange, le… tege.
Name and Etymology
Historically, the city appears under the Basque names Ondarribia and Hundarribia, as well as in Romance texts as Fontem Rapidum and Fuente Rrabya, and under the toponyms Monzón or Andara and the port of Asturiaga or Astuniaga. The etymology of Ondarribia, consistent with the local paleogeography, means “sandy ford”, an interpretation accepted by Serapio Múgica. In a Basque text from 1778, it appears with the same sound and spelling, retaining the final organic a.