Flag of Department of Ardèche

The flag associated with Ardèche is an armorial banner: the coat of arms of the department drawn over the whole field, with a yellow border and eight small blue coats of arms.

How it came about

Ardèche is a department in southern France. Its flag is an armorial banner, not a flag with a coat of arms in the centre.

The field is blue and sown with golden fleurs-de-lis, the royal emblem. The yellow border carries eight small coats of arms: one at each corner and one in the middle of each side.

How it has changed

It has never changed. No approval date is recorded.

What it means

• Field

  blue and sown with golden fleurs-de-lis.

• Border

  a yellow band goes all around the field.

• Eight coats of arms

  small blue ones, one at each corner and one in the middle of each side.

Fun facts

1. Eight coats of arms on the border

   The yellow border is not a plain band: it carries eight small blue coats of arms, arranged symmetrically. Four at the corners and four in the middles of the sides. It is a way of expressing the origin of a coat of arms that came from eight pieces.

2. Fleurs-de-lis everywhere

   The field is sown with golden fleurs-de-lis, the same figure that appears on the flag of Allier. The fleurs-de-lis are the emblem of the French crown, and a departmental flag with this figure states its tie to the crown.

3. A banner, not a flag with a coat of arms

   The description insists that it is an armorial banner: the coat of arms of the department drawn over the whole field, not a coat of arms placed on top. The difference is the position —the whole field is the coat of arms, not just the centre.

Location