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Versailles (Municipality, Yvelines, France)

by Pascal Vagnat

Municipal flag of Versailles
Colour variant of the flag of Versailles

See also:

Municipal flag of Versailles

The municipal flag of Versailles is divided horizontally white over blue in a ratio of about 1:3. It is defaced with the arms of the town, namely a shield with three three gold fleurs de lis on a blue field in the base and a double-headed rooster in natural colours on a white field in the chief. The shield is crowned with a mural crown composed of alternating towers and fleurs de lis.

Vincent Morley, 9 October 1999

The colours of the flag are of course those of the coat of arms. This coat of arms is dating back to the Revolution. The three fleurs de lys or on azure reminds that Versailles was a Royal city in the past. The actual design of the coat of arms is by the French heraldist Robert Louis.

Pascal Vagnat, 11 October 1999

The coat of arms of Versailles was adopted in September 1789. The double-headed roaster issuant symbolizes the burgeoning freedom. Fleurs-de-lys were logically added in chief since Louis XVI was still King of France when the arms were created. The coat of arms was painted on the flag used by the National Guards in Versailles.

Source: GASO

There are in fact slightly different versions of the municipal flag:

the greater flag, hoisted in front of the city hall, has no black border betweem the shield and the main field. However, the brain is able to reconstruct the shield border probably because it expects to 'see' a shield (and you need to look carefully to 'blur' your brain and see there is no border).
the smaller flag, hoisted in various places in the city, has a rather thick and not so aesthetical black border, as on the image shown on this page.
on the "main" flag, the mural crown surmonting the coat of arms is the only part of the coat of arms to be placed into the white stripe of the flag. On some flags, however, a more or less big portion of the shield is also placed into the white stripe.
there is a plain white flag with the municipal coat of arms flying over a hotel in the center of the city.

Ivan Sache & Pascal Vagnat, 18 June 2004

Colour variant of the flag of Versailles

by Pascal Vagnat

Some of the municipal flags recently seen in Versailles have the upper part of the coat of arms light blue instead of white. This is the case on the greater flag hoisted in front of the city hall. We guess that several flags were recently changed together. Why light blue instead of white? It might be a manufacturer's mistake or someone's choice in the municipality.

Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 18 June 2004