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Football-Club Nantes-Atlantique (France)

Presentation of the FCNA
The Melen-ha-Gwer flag
A variant of the Melen-ha-Gwer
Brigade Loire supporters' flag

See also:

Presentation of the FCNA

The FC Nantes Atlantique was founded in 1946 as the FC Nantes by the merging of several amateur clubs of the city of Nantes. It joined the First League in 1963 and never left it since then. Nantes was national champion in 1965, 1966, 1973, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1995 and 2001; won the national cup in 1979, 1999 and 2000; was semi-finalist of the European Cup Winners' Cup (the defunct C2) in 1980; and was semi-finalist of the Champions' League in 1996.

François Tournier, 14 December 2002

The supporters of the FCNA use different combinations of the club colours, green and yellow (divided horizontally, vertically, quartered...), and we show below only the most striking of them

Ivan Sache, 14 December 2002

The Melen-ha-Gwer flag

by Raphaël Vinet

The Melen-ha-Gwer (Yellow and Green) was designed by Raphaël Vinet for the supporters of Football-Club de Nantes. He substituted to the Gwenn-ha-Du the colours of the FCNA.

Source: P. Rault. Les drapeaux bretons de 1188 à nos jours [rau98]

Ivan Sache, 8 March 2002

A variant of the Melen-ha-Gwer

by Ivan Sache

During the football match Nantes-Sochaux, 29 August 1998, a variation of the Melen-ha-Gwer (see above), was seen and reported in Ar Banniel [arb], #7 (Winter 1998), p. 22. The flag had five black ermine spots placed horizontally in the yellow canton.

Ivan Sache, 27 February 2001

Brigade Loire supporters' flag

by Ivan Sache

This flag was designed in 1999 by François Tournier for the Brigade Loire supporters' club.

The design should obey the following rules:

including the three colours yellow and green (colours of the club) and black (colour of Brittany, highlighting the historical inclusion of Nantes into Brittany). The association of yellow, green and black is the "trademark" of the Brigade Loire.
being easily manufactured
being easily recognizable
being easily waved in the stadium
highlighting the identity of the supporters' club

Therefore, the flag was based on the following elements:

association of geometrical parts easy to stitch together (vertical and/or horizontal elements), without anything painted on them
stripes of different height, to be different from the chequy, horizontally or vertically striped flags already used by other groups.

The resulting flag was made of five horizontal yellow-black-green-blck-yellow stripes, with the respective proportions 2:1:2:1:2.

Yellow stands for the city of Nantes and the football club, the players being nicknamed Les Jaunes (The Yellows).
Green stands for the river Loire, which waters Nantes. Loire is also the name of the stand used by the Brigade Loire.
Black, on both sides of the green stripe and therefore of the river Loire, means that Nantes, and by extension the department of Loire-Atlantique, north and south of the Loire, historically belongs to Brittany. These two black stripes also recall the two arms of the cross on the flag of the Duchy of Brittany, the Kroaz Du.

The square proportion is not mandatory, especially for the manufacturing of the velum, a huge flag that covers the whole stand, but the stripe proportion must be respected in all cases.

François Tournier, 14 December 2002