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Virton (Municipality, Province of Luxembourg, Belgium)

Municipal flag of Virton - Images by Arnaud Leroy, 29 May 2005
Left, flag in use
Right, flag proposal, not used

Presentation of Virton
Municipal flag of Virton

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Presentation of Virton

The municipality of Virton (11,228 inhabitants on 1 January 2007, 9,450 ha) is the capital of Gaume, the southernmost part of the province of Luxembourg. The municipality of Virton is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Virton, Bleid, Ethe, Latour, Ruette and Saint-Mard.

In the Middle Ages, the domain of Virton depended on the County of Chiny.
Ethe is a village made of two sections, Ethe and Belmont, which are lined along a street on more than two kilometers. In August 1914, the village was burnt down by the Germans, who shot more than 200 civilians, including a 70 year old woman they had brought from Latour in order to bury the dead. Ethe is the birth town of Pr. Dr. A. Hustin, Professor at the Free University of Brussels, who improved blood transfusion by adding citrate as an anticoagulant.
Saint-Mard is the site of the old village of Virton. The village was famous for its basket makers and railwaymen.

Source: Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 29 May 2005

Municipal flag of Virton

The municipal flag of Virton, as confirmed by the municipal administration, is red with a yellow saltire.

According to Armoiries communales en Belgique. Communes wallonnes, bruxelloises et germanophones, the Heraldry and Vexillology Council of the French Community proposed a flag as Rouge chargé de deux flèches jaunes posées en diagonale (Red charged with two arrows placed in diagonal), which would be a quasi-banner of the municipal arms (assuming that "placed in diagonal" means "crossed in saltire").

The municipal website shows and explains the arms of Virton, De gueules à deux flèches d'or posées en sautoir, ayant pennes et dards d'argent, les pointes en bas.
Therefore, the arrows are crossed in saltire, pointing downwards, with white flights and spears. They are shown on a municipal seal dated 1602, with the caption Sigillum Magistratus Virtonensis.
The municipal arms of Virton were granted by Royal Decree on 17 January 1837. On the municipal seal granted by the same Decree, the shield is surmonted by a crown with nine pearls, recalling that Virton was vassal of the County of Chiny. After the municipal reform, the crown was changed for a mural crown with a creneled rampart recalling that Virton was a fortified town.
The local tradition says that the first arms of Virton were granted by Emperor Charles V in 1521, when the garrison of Virton resisted to Robert de la Marck, who besieged the town for the king of France. The arrows pointing downwards mean that the besieged town did not surrender and are a sign of peace.

Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 29 May 2005