The only Swiss cantonal standard with lettering: white on green with the motto Liberté et Patrie, decreed in 1803 and confirmed in the 2003 constitution.
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 rectangular field with a 1:1 ratio divided diagonally: green in the upper left and white in the lower right, with the words LIBERTÉ ET PATRIE 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.
Vaud was territory of Savoy and then a subject of Bern from 1536
The revolution of 1798, inspired by the French one
On 16 April 1803, at the birth of the canton
The constitution in force since 14 April 2003 closed the question: gold letters outlined in black
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Vaud is white above and green below, with the motto LIBERTÉ ET PATRIE in gold letters outlined in black. It is the only Swiss cantonal flag that carries words, and the words are part of its history: Vaud chose them as it freed itself from whoever governed it.
Vaud was territory of Savoy and then a subject of Bern from 1536; for two centuries it did not even have a flag of its own. The revolution of 1798, inspired by the French one, brought the green: the colour of hope and revolutionary liberty. On 16 April 1803, at the birth of the canton, the first decree of its authorities fixed white and green with a motto. Liberté et Égalité was considered, too French; Union et Concorde was proposed; Liberté et Patrie won, joining the newly won freedom to love of the canton and of Switzerland.
The arrangement is still that of 1803, but the decree did not say what colour the letters were: sometimes they were painted black and sometimes gold, sometimes with an outline. The constitution in force since 14 April 2003 closed the question: gold letters outlined in black.
Green and white
the colours of the revolution of 1798; the green also evokes William Tell, who appears on the arms that were discarded.
Liberté
the independence won from Bern.
Patrie
the small homeland, the canton, and the large one, Switzerland.
Gold letters with a black outline
a practical fix, because gold on white breaks the heraldic rule against joining metals.
Elsewhere in Switzerland the joke circulates of reading the motto as Liberté est partie, liberty has departed: the only canton with lettering lends itself to wordplay.
The constituent assembly voted to replace Patrie with Solidarité, but backed down when a poll showed more than seventy per cent popular rejection; it feared the change would sink the constitution.
By rule, the final E of LIBERTÉ always carries its acute accent, even on the flag written in capitals.
Test what you have read about the flag of Vaud.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Original: Unknown author Vector: SpinnerLaserzthe2nd, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
