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Alsace (Region, France)

Flag of Region Alsace - Image by Pascal Vagnat, 21 February 2004

Administrative data
Flag of the Region Alsace

See also:

Administrative data

Departments: Bas-Rhin, Haut-Rhin
Bordering Regions: Franche-Comté, Lorraine
Bordering countries: Germany, Switzerland
Traditional province: Alsace

Area: 8,280 km²
Population (1995): 1,689,800 inhabitants
Regional prefecture: Strasbourg

Flag of the Region Alsace

The flag and arms of Alsace are a simplification of the flag and arms of the traditional province of Alsace. The arms can be blazoned as following:

De gueules à la bande d'argent accompagnée de deux cotices fleuronnées du même et accostée de six couronnes d'or posées en orle, celles de la pointe opposées à celles du chef.

These arms are based on Alsatian arms that already existed in the XVIth century but have been hardly used since then.
Instead of the two confronted bends of the former arms, the new arms have kept only the white bend representing Lower-Alsace. The crowns representing Upper-Alsace are now placed on both sides of the white coticed bend.
These arms have been designed and used by the Regional Council since the 1990s.

The new flag is hoisted over the building of the Regional Council of Alsace in Strasbourg. Beforehand, the Regional Council used the flag of the traditional province of Alsace.
The foundation stone of the maison d'Alsace, the future building of the Regional Council, was laid on 3 June 2003. The stone is a block of pink sandstone from the Vosges mountains. A transparent cylinder was included into the block, which contains nine samples of Alsatian soils, separated by mini-CD-ROMs. One of these CD-ROMS shows the regional logotype and the coat of arms of Alsace.

Pascal Vagnat, 21 February 2004