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# Subdivisions of La Rioja Province (Argentina)

## Departamentos de La Rioja

Last modified: 2026-07-18 by rob raeside
Keywords: la rioja | provincia de la rioja | capital | ilustre ciudad de todos los santos de la nueva rioja | ciudad de todos los santos de la nueva rioja | chamical |
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Subdivisions of La Rioja Province:
In the Province of La Rioja, each Department has only one municipality, that encompasses the whole territory of the Department.

- Angel Vicente Peñaloza Departament
- Arauco Department
- Capital Department (Ciudad de Todos los Santos de la Nueva Rioja)
- Castro Barros Department
- Chamical Department
- Chilecito Department
- Coronel Felipe Varela Department
- Famatina Department
- General Belgrano Department
- General Juan Facundo Quiroga Department
- General Lamadrid Department
- General Ortíz de Campo Department
- General San Martín Department
- Independencia Departament
- Rosario Vera Peñaloza Department
- Sanagasta Department
- San Blas de los Sauces Department
- Vinchina Department

See also:

- La Rioja Province
- Argentina
- Argentine subdivisions (clickable map)

Other sites:

- Interactive map of La Rioja departments at the official government website www.larioja.gov.ar with links to municipal websites
  Reported by Francisco Gregoric 05 Feb, 2006

## Arauco Department

image located by Valentin Poposki, 3 May 2026

(16.05.2025): The Intendente of the Arauco Department, Virginia López, received Anita, creator and designer of the Arauco flag, in her office. Anabel Diaz Anzalaz personally presented the flag to the Intendente, marking a significant moment for the department.
https://www.facebook.com/photo/

Valentin Poposki, 3 May 2026

image located by Valentin Poposki, 3 May 2026

On the other hand, Wikipedia since 2022 presented different flag, posted by user Polifermo Campos:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bandera_de_Arauco_La_Rioja.jpg

Valentin Poposki, 3 May 2026

## Capital Department

### Departamento Capital (Ciudad de Todos los Santos de la Nueva Rioja)

Current flag

image located by Valentin Poposki, 4 May 2026

A new, official flag was adopted in 2024:
"The initiative was launched by Ordinance No. 6,425 of March 27, 2024. Through this ordinance, the Deliberative Council entrusted the entire process to the local executive branch. The core text is reproduced below:
“Article 1.- Promote the creation of the Flag of the City of the Capital Department of La Rioja by calling for a competition for its design.
Article 2.- The Municipal Executive Department is authorized to call a public competition in order to choose a Flag design that will represent our City in all the acts and protocol events of our community and where our department is present.
Article 3.- The DEM is authorized to appoint a jury , with an odd number of members, for the purpose of selecting the winning work.”
News reports released after the competition results indicated that 53 proposals were submitted. It is basically structured on a fabric identical to the provincial flag and features the image of the monument dedicated to "Chacho" Peñaloza (1798-1863), a popular leader from La Rioja. The designer was 21-year-old Aldana Romero Toledo , then a visual arts student."
https://banderasargentinas.blogspot.com/2026/01/ciudad-de-la-rioja-fe-e-identidad.html
https://nuevarioja.com.ar/politica/la-municipalidad-presento-la-nueva-bandera-de-capital.htm
https://riojavirtual.com.ar/el-departamento-capital-ya-tiene-su-propia-bandera/

Former flag

9:14 image by Francisco Gregoric, 5 February 2006

At http://www.municipiolarioja.gov.ar/escudo_bandera_municipal.html we can find information about the flag and emblem of the municipality Todos los Santos de La Nueva Rioja in the province of La Rioja. At http://www.municipiolarioja.gov.ar/bandera_lar.html, there’s more information about the flag (in Spanish). There we can read that it has not been officially adopted but this should happen during the next constitutional convention (no date quoted).
Pascal Gross, 08 Jan 2002

According to information provided by the municipal government, all the flags made are 0.90 m wide × 1.40 m long. This is the same ratio than Argentine Ceremonial Indoors Flags 9:14.
The coat of arms in the flag is the official symbol of the City of La Rioja. It was created by municipal decree No.372 on December 24, 1941.
It has a Spanish heraldic shape. Inside it and above the Velazco Hills that are located next to La Rioja City. Then the silhouette of the city appears. There is an Argentine ribbon that appears as a sash. The cross stands for the Christian faith, and the "falucho" hat recalls the old municipalities. The golden key recalls the traditional "cities keys" of ancient cities,
Francisco Gregoric, 05 Feb 2006

Source:

- [???02] Francisco Gregoric (2002): Banderas de Ciudades Argentinas : Ciudad de La Rioja [published in Estandarte No. 38]

## Castro Barros Department

image located by Valentin Poposki, 4 May 2026

Image derived from original uploaded by user Polifemo Campos from 2022 in Wikimedia:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Bandera_del_Departamento_Castro_Barros.png
No further information, existence uncertain.

Valentin Poposki, 4 May 2026

## Chamical Department

### Departamento Chamical

image by Olivier Touzeau, 18 Oct 2005

The flag is obviously inspired from the provincial flag of La Rioja.
Olivier Touzeau, 18 Oct 2005

The flag of the Chamical has the colours, the shape and the dimensions of the flag of La Rioja Province, that is, a lower, celeste blue stripe and an upper, white stripe, the two of them crossed by a red diagonal stripe running from the lower left to the upper right part of the flag.
In the middle of the flag is placed a datura (chamico*) fruit, the municipality' namesake. The datura, abundant in the region, is the proud emblem of the aridity of our land. The fruit is depicted open, containing four parts representing the town's idiosyncrasy.
The white disk represents the town, with four divisions. In the middle, a much smaller, yellow circle represents a light. Since Chamical is a small town, everyone must keep the light on as a symbol of life and culture.
In the upper left quarter is portrayed the local landscape, highlighting the beauty of the mountains.
In the upper right quarter are represented a red poncho, symbolizing historical allegiance to Federalism, and a spear recalling the native origin of the first inhabitants.
In the lower left part is represented Chamico culture, with a bandoneon and a guitar, as symbols of melody, milongas, tangos and chacareras. A piece of raw tilery represents the works of our craftsmen. In the lower right part, religious feelings are evoked by the cross, the main symbol of Christian faith, and a bell recalling the legendary miracles of the Virgin of the Rosary of Polco**, a settlement to which Chamical once belonged.
The seeds represented in the lower stripe mean "Things to be made or dreamed, the message of a young generation for fertilisation and progress of Chamical in future".
* The poison plant Datura stramonium L. is called "chamico" in South America. Its seeds are included in a capsule that splits at maturity into four chambers.
** Polco is located 7 km of Chamical. The legend says that a lost muleteer about to die form thirst invoked the Virgin, who caused water to gush forth between the stones. As a reward, the muleteer brought to Polco a statue of the Virgin, whose clothing has been renewed every year for ages. The church housing the statue is registered as a National Historical Monument and Marian Sanctuary. The Festival of the Virgin of the Rosary is celebrated there on the first and second Sundays of October.
Ivan Sache, 14 Aug 2013

Other sites:

- The flag of Chamical at the provincial government official website
Reported by Ivan Sache, 14 Aug 2013

## Chilecito Department

image by Valentin Poposki, 4 May 2026 and António Martins-Tuválkin, 20 June 2026

Image derived from Wikipedia:
https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Departamento_Chilecito
Valentin Poposki, 4 May 2026

It is a 6 x 10 chequered flag of green and yellow, with square chequers.
The word "chilecito" is the hypochoristic form of "chile", meaning both the country and spicy peppers and some dishes made from them – but the flag refers to none of these meanings: The chequered field comes from the municipal arms, which contain a base chequy Or and Vert.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 20 June 2026

## Vinchina Department

image located by Daniel Rentería, 4 May 2026

The official flag of Vinchina is at https://www.facebook.com/photo
The heraldry Argentina site also mentions it at https://banderasargentinas.blogspot.com/2025/06/vinchina-en-sus-banderas.html

Daniel Rentería, 4 May 2026