Last modified: 2024-11-16 by olivier touzeau
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![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-51-cc.gif)
Flag of Châlons-en-Champagne - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 29 April 2023
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Châlons-en-Champagne (43,877 inhabitants in 2021; 2,605 ha) is a commune and the capital of the department of Marne, despite being only a quarter the size of the city of Reims. Formerly called Châlons-sur-Marne, the city was officially renamed in 1998.
Châlons is conjectured to be the site of several battles including the Battle of Châlons fought in 274 between Roman Emperor Aurelian and Emperor Tetricus I of the Gallic Empire. The Catalaunian Fields was the site of the battle of Châlons in 451 which turned back the westward advance of Attila.
The 11th century marked the beginning of the city's economic and topographical development, which accelerated in the 12th century. The bishops of Châlons favored the establishment of Cistercians and Templars in their diocese. The economic boom in Châlons centered on textile production was accompanied by an intellectual boom (development of schools, in particular under the pontificate of Guillaume de Champeaux), and a real artistic flowering. At that time, the bishop of the diocese became lord of the city. Like that of Reims, he made his seigniory an independent enclave in the center of the hereditary county of Champagne. When the county of Champagne passed to the crown of France in 1304, thanks to the marriage of Jeanne with Philippe le Bel in 1284, the bishop did not lose his rights. Under the Capetians, twelve peerages had been instituted, including six ecclesiastics among which the Count-Bishop of Châlons. As such he took part in the coronation of the king by giving him the ring. The city was a famous. Crossing point for pilgrims stopping at Notre-Dame-en-Vaux cathedral, Châlons experienced significant architectural activity oriented towards religious art from the 12th to the beginning of the 14th century. The economic prosperity that drove this embellishment was fueled by the cloth industry.
The invasions took place regularly. From the English threatening the walls of the city in 1429 to Charles V who set up his camp two leagues from Châlons in 1544, to finally spare the city an assault, the inhabitants of Châlons always had to reckon with the presence of royal troops inside the ramparts and in the immediate countryside. With the Wars of Religion, troubles began again. Always faithful to the power in place in Paris, then rallied very early to Henri IV, the city obtained various compensations. The tendency to reduce the temporal powers of the bishop gradually prevailed.
On June 21, 1791, when the royal family fled Paris, they stopped in Châlons. Châlons was occupied from February 5 to March 15, 1814. The city was taken over by the Cossacks on March 17.
The Châlons camp was created by Napoleon III by decree on November 15, 1856, he inaugurated it on August 30, 1857. He would come there every year until the end of the Empire. Napoleon III went to Camp de Châlons on August 17, 1870, during the last days of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, with the aim of organizing the general retreat of the French army. Only the Army of Alsace commanded by General Mac Mahon managed to reach the city on August 16, 1870.
Châlons was occupied from September 4 to September 12, 1914. The city was forced by the occupier to pay a sum of 30 million francs under penalty of destruction. This sum will finally be reduced to 500,000 francs, thanks to the intervention of its bishop, Mgr Tissier, thus allowing the rescue of the city. During this occupation, fifty thousand bottles of Champagne wine disappeared from the champagne houses.
On October 24, 1921, the American Unknown Soldier was designated at the City Hall; he is buried in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington.
On June 10, 1940, during the Battle of France, the city center was bombarded by the Luftwaffe causing the death of 44 civilian victims and about thirty soldiers staying with locals and the destruction of 150 houses. It was occupied on June 12, 1940. The city was bombed on April 27, 1944 and many civilian victims were killed; it was liberated on August 29, 1944 by General Patton's troops. It was also hit by a hundred-year flood in November 1944.
Olivier Touzeau, 3 April 2023
The coat of arms of Châlons-en-Champagne is blazoned: Azure a cross Or between four fleur-de-lis of the second.
The flag is white with the full coat of arms: photo from this page (2022), photo (2013), photo (2013).
Olivier Touzeau, 3 April 2023
The municipal archives service kindly sent me a photography of the flag in the Mayor's office, giving us the possibility to have an accurate drawing.
Olivier Touzeau, 29 April 2023
Logo flag of Châlons-en-Champagne
![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-51-cc2.gif)
Logo flag of Châlons-en-Champagne - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 29 April 2023
According to French Vexillologist Pascal Vagnat, a logo flag was
in use : white field according to observations made by Pascal in 2008;
orange field according to Cyber-flag [source: Emblèmes de France website].
The municipal archives service of Châlons-en-Champagne specified to me that the flag with
the logo of the city only has a white background.
Olivier Touzeau, 29 April 2023