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City of Żebbuġ (Malta Island) (Malta)

Città Rohan

Description
Former Flag

See also:

Description

Zebbug changed its flag and the new flag is in HAVSOM 2 [possibly [itb], issue no. 2?].

Jaume Ollé, 5 March 2000

The heraldic device standing for Rohan (blazoned Gules nine mascles Or) on the bottom fly of the Société d'Emulation des Côtes-du-Nord flag is the same as the arms of the current maltese city of Żebbuġ in Malta island (there is another Żebbuġ in Gozo). This city's nickname, given afer a Grand Master of the Order, is Città Rohan. Perhaps Rohan was originally a nobility estate in Brittany and its lord become Master of the Malta Order, taking there his coat-of-arms, which later was given to his (nick)namesake city.

António Martins, 24 October 2002

The Rohans are a very ancient Breton family. In 1488, Duke John II of Rohan sided with the King of France. As a revenge, Duke of Brittany François II seized the Duke's castle in Josselin and demolished it. François' daughter, Duchess Ann of Brittany, allowed John of Rohan to rebuild his castle, which is one of the most beautiful Breton castles of that time, according to Rohan's motto: "Roi ne puis, prince ne daigne, Rohan suis" (I cannot be King, I do not deign to be a Prince, I am Rohan). (...) The castle of Josselin is still owned by the Rohan-Chabot family. The Rohans still "reign" over Brittany, since the (elected) President of the General Council of Brittany is Josselin of Rohan.

The lozenge is a mascle, which is the Rohan family characteristic charge. In cristallography, a macle (from Frankish maskila, mesh) is made by the association of cristals of different species, with different orientations and partial interpenetration. (...) Rault 1998 [rau98] reports that geological macles can be found in the forest of Quénécan (...) property of the Rohan family until the French Revolution.

Ivan Sache, 25 and 27 October 2002

Pascal Gross' Atlas Géographique Mondial website, with good images of Maltese local flags reported by Thomas Borg (a Maltese from Mellieha), shows the same flag but with a blue top stripe, bordered white, charged with a white dove carrying an olive branch (and with more squarish mascles, image here). Presumably this is the current Zebbug flag.

Ralf Hartemink's International Civic Heraldry website shows both coats-of-arms and says "The arms show a canting olive branch (zebbug=olive) above the arms of Grand Master de Rohan". So it seems that, at some point, the Zebbug arms was modified with the addition of that chief and the flag was modified accordingly.

Santiago Dotor, 10 March 2006

Former Flag

3:5
image by Dirk Schönberger, exported to GIF by António Martins, 28 October 2002

Blazon: Gules nine mascles Or.

António Martins, 24 October 2002