Thirteen stars in three rows on white and red: each star is a district of the canton, and the number was fixed by the constitution of 1815.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
CivilFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a square field, of a 1:1 ratio, divided horizontally into two halves of sixteen alternating red and white stripes, with thirteen white five-pointed stars, each on red.
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.
The red and white belong to the bishop of Sion, lord of the valley since the Middle Ages:…
in 1628 France, Savoy and the Confederation recognise Valais as a free republic
The law of 4 September 1802 fixes twelve stars: when the lower valley joined
The constitution of 12 May 1815
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Valais cuts the field in two, white by the hoist and red after it, and lines up thirteen five-pointed stars in three rows: four red, five straddling the line and four white. Almost nobody put stars like that on a flag when they were first drawn.
The red and white belong to the bishop of Sion, lord of the valley since the Middle Ages: his standard, divided in the two colours, is documented around 1220. Valais was not a state but a republic of communities called dizains, almost independent, each with its own flag. When they unified, around the turn of the sixteenth century, they added stars to the bishop’s field: at first without counting districts, and in a number varying between six and sixteen.
The stars were counted from the seventeenth century, and the number followed politics: seven when Valais was recognised as a free republic, twelve on the creation of the Helvetic canton and thirteen when it joined the Confederation.
1498-1628
The first drawings with fixed stars: six, corresponding to the six dizains united in a republic.
1628-1802
A seventh dizain joins the republic and adds its star; in 1628 France, Savoy and the Confederation recognise Valais as a free republic.
1802-1815
The law of 4 September 1802 fixes twelve stars: when the lower valley joined, they are divided six and six across the two fields.
1815
The constitution of 12 May 1815, with the entry into the Confederation, creates the thirteenth district: the thirteen stars in three rows of today are born.
White and red
the colours of the bishop of Sion, documented since 1220.
Thirteen stars
the thirteen dizains or districts of the canton; the central row is shared, astride the line. Their number has not moved since 1815.
The historian Whitney Smith noted that in 1795 five-pointed stars on a flag were almost a world rarity: Valais, the German town of Norden and a few military standards were among the few examples.
In 1810 France annexed Valais outright, as the department of the Simplon, in order to control the alpine passes; in 1815 Valais returned to Switzerland already with thirteen stars.
Test what you have read about the flag of Valais.
Flag image: Original: Unknown author Vector: SpinnerLaserzthe2nd, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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