The flag of Corsica is white with a black Moor’s head and a white bandage on the forehead. It is attributed to Paoli in 1755, and the region adopted it in 1980.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
StateFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field —the field is the cloth of the flag —with a 3:5 ratio, white, with the head of a black man in the centre.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
It already appears on coins of 1736
In 1755 the Corsican leader Pasquale Paoli adopted it as the flag of independent Corsica
Afterwards the flag fell into disuse, until in 1980 it was readopted as the flag of the region
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Corsica is white and has in the centre the head of a black man, in profile, with a white bandage tied round the forehead. The Corsicans call it bandiera testa mora, “the flag of the Moor’s head”. It is the symbol of all Corsicans, and it is seen flying in villages, houses and even mountain refuges.
The Moor’s head was a symbol of the Crown of Aragon, which in the Middle Ages dominated Corsica and Sardinia. It already appears on coins of 1736, when the adventurer Theodore of Neuhoff was proclaimed King of Corsica during the revolt against Genoa.
In 1755 the Corsican leader Pasquale Paoli adopted it as the flag of independent Corsica, which lasted until 1769. France then took the island and the flag fell out of use.
According to tradition, before Paoli the bandage covered the head’s eyes. He moved it up to the forehead to symbolise the liberation of the Corsican people, who were then fighting Genoa. Afterwards the flag fell into disuse, until in 1980 it was readopted as the flag of the region. Since then it is the only flag the Corsican institutions have used.
The meaning of the Moor’s head is much debated and mixes history and legend, so there is no single explanation:
Black head
according to one explanation, it is a defeated enemy, a “Moor”, the word used for the Muslims of the Mediterranean.
White bandage
according to tradition, over the eyes it was the sign of a prisoner and on the forehead it symbolises freedom. Other authors think it is a real ornament.
White ground
it is the colour of the traditional Corsican flag.
On the Chamber of Commerce building in Ajaccio, the Corsican flag flew in the place of honour and on a mast taller than the French flag.
Some guides presented it as the flag of the independence movement, but most Corsicans feel it as a symbol of the whole island, not of a party.
The Moor’s head also appears on the flag of Sardinia, which shares its Aragonese past with Corsica.
Test what you have read about the flag of Corsica.
Text based on the article “Bandera de Córcega” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Patricia.fidi, Wikimedia Commons · CC0.
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