History
The club was founded in 1893 by a wine merchant, António Nicolau de Almeida. The original stadium still exists (the field of constitution), currently serving the formation of the club, under the name Dragon Force.
FC Porto's nickname, "Dragões" (Dragons), as well as the name of their stadium, Estádio do Dragão (Dragon's Stadium), is related to the club's coat of arms. Until 1922 the club's emblem was a blue football with the letters FCP in white. That year, one of the club's players thought of combining that emblem with the city of Porto's coat of arms at the time. These arms, given by Queen Maria II in 1837 (subsequently altered in 1940), had a quartered shield, showing in the first and fourth quarter the arms of Portugal, and in the second and third quarter the Virgin Mary holding the Child Jesus. The crest of the Royal House of Portugal was a dragon holding the motto "Invicta" (undefeated), surrounded by the collar of the Order of the Tower and Sword, Portugal's highest honour, bestowed on the city by the queen after the undefeated siege of July 1832 – August 1833. Still today the official titles of the city of Porto are: "Antiga, Mui Nobre, Sempre Leal e Invicta" (ancient, very noble, always loyal and undefeated), and to this date, the city is often referred to in Portugal as "a (cidade) Invicta" (the undefeated ). The colours of the club may likewise be inspired by the historical colours of Portugal: until the overthrow of the Monarchy in 1910, the Portuguese flag was blue and white (instead of the modern green and red) with the coat of arms of Portugal in the centre, crowned by a royal crown.
The Dragon The traditional symbol and crest of the House of Braganza is a green dragon, representing Saint George, patron saint of Portugal. Because of the use of the dragon in heraldry by the Braganza and Pedro IV's link with Porto, a dragon was added to the old coat of arms of the municipality of Porto and is still a part of F.C. Porto's coat of arms, who are nicknamed "the dragons".
Read more about this topic: F.C. Porto
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