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In 1896, Raphael Bordallo Pinheiro registers the patent of its ceramic swallows probably realizing that it could become a true Portuguese symbol. He wasn’t wrong, the artist’s flights of swallows started inhabiting houses, in Portugal and in several countries where Portuguese people lived (easy to identify by the swallows).

It was just an anonymous and pale Sardine. It sought colour and participated in the “Festas de Lisboa” (Lisbon Festivities). As the event’s icon, it deserved a monumental illustration. So, I tried to create a symbiosis between the sardine and the Santa Justa Elevator. The Santa Justa Sardine, once anonymous and pale, now parades in colour and tradition. Designer: Frederico Lencastre

The sardine, with its silvery blue and black hues, darker on the back and lighter on the sides and belly, is found in the northeast Atlantic and the Mediterranean Sea, where it dwells on coastal areas, between 25 and 100 meters deep. It undertakes migrations in large shoals that protect fish from predators during the day, in deeper waters, and move at night-time to shallower waters to feed on algae and small crustaceans. It reproduces from October to April, a time when sardines are leaner and not so tasty. The sardine is the most popular fish in summer festivals and fairs in Portugal, as well as the main species used in the Portuguese canning industry.

The Tagus Sardine has the best view of Lisbon. From the river she sees the people, the roofs and the Castle; she sees the bridge and the boats, and the departures and returns that make the city live. She is a lucky Sardine – and, as Amália used to say, She has water, she knows how to swim / I wish I were a sardine. Designer: Sofia Fischer

The Tenório Sardine is a true portent of the Portuguese guitar. Known in the most exclusive world of Fado for being a bon vivant, irresistibly seductive and a confessed lover of the nightlife and “escabeche” (pickle), Tenório oozes charm through all of his scales. And no gilt-head bream, mullet or ray can resist his charms. Designer: Paulo Galindro

Tóni is a Sardine prone to gallantry, born as a tribute to the Lisbon hustler. A raunchy pushy sort, with a loud mouth and fire in his belly, Tón i makes a living out of odd jobs. Up one street, down an alleyway, he walks nimble, with a watchful thirsty eye, while distributing flirts to the girls that pass by – “Eh carapau” “hey mackerel!” Designer: Vera Valentim

The High Tide Sardine is an allusion to deep sea fishing, symbolizing both the lull and the storm that diminishes us. The whole of the sea inside of a sardine. Designer: Filipa Oliveira

Sardine! The Queen! To promote the Sardine to Queen, giving her power and sovereignty, was one of the goals. Of hearts, because the heart is symbolically associated with love; in this case, for a city that smells of basil and is kissed by the Tagus.