Oct 26 2007
Symbols of Valencia
We will try to explain some the origin of the symbols for the city of Valencia.
- Drac Alat (in Valencian means Winged Dragon): Used nowadays as symbol for the Generalitat Valenciana (Region of Valencia) and in many other sculptures, paintings and facades of Valencia. It represent the winged dragon of Saint George, saint patron of the Aragon Kingdom.
- Rat Penat (in Valencian means Bat): Probably most of you have noticed the symbol of Valencia F.C, Levante or some other Valencian sport teams, is a bat. The reason of using the bat as a symbol of Valencia is not completely clear and there are some legends about it. The most famous tells that one night, while Valencia was sieged by the Cristian army, the king Jaime I and some soldiers were awaken by a strange noise. At that time they discover that the Moorish army was preparing an ambush for them. In this way they could alert the rest of the army and to fight against the raid. The result was that the Moorish army had to move away, loosing lots of soldiers. When the king asked the soldier about the noise, they told that it was a bat that did the noise beating against the alert drum of the army. This was a very important and definitive battle, so when finally Valencia was conquered by Cristians, the King Jaime I decided to use the bat in the coat of arms of the city to show his gratitude to this animal. Other theory is that the bat is an evolution from the drac alat (and this began to look like Pokemon!)
- Senyera (in Valencian means Flag): It is the name of the flag historically linked to the Aragon Kingdom. Nowadays the senyera and it multiple variants is used in all territories linked in the past with the Aragon Kingdom, including the city of Valencia and the region of Valencia.


[...] every year, there will be a civil procession in which Valencia’s regional flag known as the Real Senyera, will be paraded through the streets to the Cathedral. Of course, there will be no lack of festive [...]