Flag of Tenerife Tenerife as Nivaria, derived from the Latin words "nix", "nivis" or "nives", meaning snow, in clear reference to the snow-covered peak of the Teide volcano. The name of Tenerife is derived from the language of the Benehaorits - the natives of nearby La Palma. "Tene" means "mountain" and "ife" means "white". After colonisation by Spain, the letter "r" was added, uniting both words. The flag was first adopted as a maritime registry flag of the maritime province of the Canary Islands. It was initially adopted in 1845 by Royal Order and was adopted as the flag of Tenerife by an
Canary Islands third tallest volcano on Earth on a volcanic ocean island. All the islands except La Gomera have been active in the last million years; four of them (Lanzarote, Tenerife, La Palma and El Hierro) have historical records of eruptions since European discovery. The islands rise from Jurassic oceanic crust associated with the opening of the Atlantic. Underwater magmatism commenced during the Cretaceous, and reached the ocean's surface during the Miocene. The islands are considered as a distinct physiographic section of the Atlas Mountains province, which in turn is part of the larger African Alpine System division. In the summer of