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Flag of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté

A flag with four quartered coats of arms that unite the symbols of Burgundy and Franche-Comté. It was presented in 2017, a year after the region was created.

Flag of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
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The flag, in figures

Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.

Proportions
3:55 wide for every 3 high. 24 flags in the catalogue share it.
Properties
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
Use
CivilFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.
Adopted
20172017 · 9 years ago
Colours
  • blue
  • yellow
  • red
  • white
Reference shades: the official one may vary slightly.
123

Take a closer look

  1. The four quarters

  2. 1

    The fleurs-de-lis

  3. 2

    The lion

  4. 3

    The bands

How it is described

The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.

Vexillological description

It is an armorial banner with a 3:5 ratio: the whole field —the cloth of the flag —is the coat of arms of the region, divided into four equal quarters.

Division
four quarters; there is no separate coat of arms, no crown and no motto.
Top left
a blue field sown with yellow fleurs-de-lis, with a border of red and white checks.
Top right and bottom left
the two identical, blue with a crowned yellow lion on yellow billets.
Bottom right
oblique yellow and blue bands with a red border.

What it carries

Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.

Its history in dates

Every date in its story, at a glance.

  1. 2016

    The region was born on 1 January 2016 when Burgundy and Franche-Comté joined

  2. 2017

    In February 2017 the regional president announced there would be a new flag

The full story

How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.

The flag of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (in French, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté) is an armorial banner: the coat of arms of the region drawn over the whole flag. It is divided into four quarters that mix the symbols of the two old regions.

How it came about

The region was born on 1 January 2016 when Burgundy and Franche-Comté joined, two territories with very different histories. At first it had no flag of its own: on some occasions the two traditional flags were used, and on others none.

In February 2017 the regional president announced there would be a new flag, without the logo. The commission went to a group of historians and archivists from the two regions, who designed a coat of arms following the rules of heraldry. The national commission on heraldry gave its favourable opinion on 6 April 2017 and the flag was presented on 12 July 2017 in Saint-Jean-de-Losne, a town on the banks of the Saône, right on the border between the two old regions.

How it has changed

It has not changed since 2017. That said, the region also uses a white flag with its logo, since the beginning of 2017, which is seen on official buildings alongside the armorial banner.

What it means

The coat of arms brings together four quarters, one for each historic symbol:

  • Top left

    this is the symbol of modern Burgundy.

  • Top right and bottom left

    these are the arms of Franche-Comté, which is why they are repeated in two quarters.

  • Bottom right

    these are the arms of old Burgundy.

Fun facts

  1. A coat of arms made by historians

    The project was led by the historian Jean-Claude Duverget with archivists from the two regions, and the final drawing was made by Rémi Mathis, curator at the Bibliothèque nationale de France.

  2. Real fleurs-de-lis

    The fleurs-de-lis of the first quarter are drawn as a field covered with them, and not as three or five loose ones as was done on the flags of the old region of Burgundy.

  3. The logo received much criticism

    The logo of the region, presented in November 2016, received a great deal of criticism. The regional president later said the new flag would not carry it.

Location

How much have you learnt?

Test what you have read about the flag of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté.

  1. 1. Which one is the flag of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté?

  2. 2. Which of these elements appears on the flag?

  3. 3. What are the proportions (height:width) of the flag?

  4. 4. In which year was the current flag adopted?

Sources

Sources consulted:

Credits

Flag image: Thom.lanaud, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.

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