Blazons of the French territorial collectivities

In France, all the territorial collectivities can adopt Armoiries, if they do not have any already, and to make use of it.

In the facts, with some exceptions, only the common is holders.

Weapons of the communes

Several hundreds of communes, any size or any importance, have noncontestable armorial bearings. Ones by a constant use since centuries, which can come:

of the granting of these weapons by a higher authority (the king);
of others still by a use inspired of the weapons of the local lord (example: Évreux having modernized the weapons of Louis d' Évreux, while following the general movement of replacement of the sown flowers of gold lily by three flowers of gold lily).

History

Before at the 17th century, the royal authority does not intervene at all in the drawing or the recording of the armorial bearings of the cities, except in the case of concessions which will occur especially as from the 15th century, and by which the king alone grants to a city the privilege to carry the lilies or other pieces of furniture, even a complete ecu according to a very specified drawing.

The edict of November 1696, the first, promulgates a general regulation of the armorial bearings. Still it is only about one edict of finances, which was to lead to the recording, by the care of the genealogists of the king, all the existing blazons and with the imposition of office, by series, of armorial bearings in the cities which did not have any.

The decree of the May 17th 1809, returned in accordance with the opinion of the Council of the Seal, determines, for the towns of France, a whole of regulations which from now on will be applied, in the order of the mural crowns, the distinctive signs, the external ornaments. Its provisions do not have today any more of prescriptive nature; they remain however a fundamental reference, that the legislation of the Restauration (Ordonnance of the September 26th 1814), and the specific measures taken under Louis-Philippe or Napoleon III did not modify in a significant way.

Pursuant to the Law of the April 5th 1884, the communes have from now on total sovereignty as regards armorial bearings. The deliberation of the Municipal council, which will have accepted the composition of it, is the instrument by which the communal blazon acquires its legal existence. It follows that the description of this blazon, which appears in the text of the deliberation, becomes the official description of these armorial bearings.

Practical current

Beside this historical use, a scientific movement of creation of communal armorial bearings was born there is a score of years, often under the aegis of a departmental Conseil of heraldic urban (for example in the department of Loiret) or of commissions of the same type, composed departmental archivists and specialists in the fields in the culture, the communal businesses, the history and the heraldic one.

At the national level, exists also a National Commission of heraldic to the ministry for the culture, placed under the supervision of the Archives of France. It is the only public agency to exert a mission of council officially. It examines the dossiers which are submitted to him by the territorial collectivities. If necessary, she proposes with these communities modifications to take account of the traditional rules of heraldic, or to avoid, as far as possible, any confusion with other blazons already existing. Its role remains however only advisory.

Services of these commissions, as well main road as local, are without expenses.

Ornaments external of the ecu

The ecu is usually accompanied by external ornaments which are: the mural crown, them holding, the currency, possibly decorations.

The mural crown was prescribed by Napoleon i with the urban armorial bearings. It comprises in theory a crênelé wall and money or gold turns which can be open. The unit is generally built. The number of revolutions is usually of three for the simple communes, four for the chief towns of department, five for the capital.

The supports (called supports when they are objects or plants) usually employed consist of branches of oak and olive-tree which are tied in saltire with the point of the ecu. One can use other branches (beech, apple tree), or human beings (holding) or of the animals (supports).

Decorations must be presented moving of the point of the ecu. The central place is occupied by the Legion of honor if the commune is decorated with it.

The currency is reproduced on a stringcourse placed obligatorily in the bottom of the armorial bearings.

Weapons of the other territorial collectivities

Few departments or areas officially adopted armorial bearings.

The general advices and the council generals adopt more généralements advertizing logos, supposed being more “modern”, rather than to choose weapons while benefitting from the advised council of the existing commissions, than to sometimes instituted them-even. These logos are the subject sometimes of polemics, on the one hand because of their defect of rooting in the local history and on the other hand because of the costs high of their realization.

The “departmental blazons” that one sees sometimes for some, were decided arbitrarily in the 2 half of the 20th century by heraldists to which the local government agencies concerned did not entrust a mandate for such a development.

Others, were created on the initiative of heraldists financed by the Public records after the Second world war.

Except for some exceptions (for example the Low-Rhine and Haut-Rhin, which was satisfied to begin again such as they are the weapons of the Low-Alsace and the High-Alsace; To combine, of which the territory is appreciably that of the Bourbonnais of Old France), the blasonnements are original compilations of historical heraldic elements inherited the old provinces.

Departments having officially adopted armorial bearings

department of the Finistere: the General advice defined a blazon in 1975, duly described on his site

department of the Corrèze: the General advice adopted in 1975 a blazon gathering the weapons of the four Viscounts of the territory (see Corrèze and).

Areas having officially adopted armorial bearings

area Provence-Alp-Coast of Azure: the area uses as emblem a blazon inspired by that of the old provinces which compose it

National Commission of heraldic

A National Commission of Héraldique was established by a decision of the Minister for the culture and communication the December 14th 1999.

It is charged “to deliver an opinion on the heraldic projects which are subjected to him by the territorial collectivities and of advising those in the creation of armorial bearings having all the scientific and artistic guarantees desirable. ”

The National Commission of heraldic includes/understands:

the director of the files of France, chair.
Four members of right:

* the conservative responsible for the service of the seals of the public records,

* the director of the department of the manuscripts of the national library of France,

* the conservative responsible for the museum of the Currency,

* the president of the association of the mayors of France or his representative.

Five qualified personalities named for three years, by decision of the minister in charge for the culture.

Circulars emanating of this same ministry specify the regulations in force and point out the rules and the tradition of the heraldic one.

Intellectual property

In France and in a case of protection, the blazon is compared to a Registered trademark, its provision is authorized within the limit of the rights that the article L-713-3 of the Code of the intellectual property grants to its holder.

If the blazons escape the rules well from the royalty , their representations as for them are subject to the same rules as all other works.

Blasonnement itself, if it is of contemporary development, also can, like any work of the spirit, protected being.

One can consult the Management of the Departmental records of Loiret or the legal departments of the ministry for the Culture for more information on protection of the blazons worked out at the time contemporary.

See too

Project, Blazons
List of blasonnements without figure
List of figures without blasonnement

References

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