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Jura (Department, France)

Flag of Jura - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 3 April 2019 and 26 October 2024

See also:

Administrative data

Code: 39
Region: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (Franche-Comté until 2014)
Traditional province: Franche-Comté
Bordering departments: Ain, Côte-d'Or, Doubs, Haute-Saône, Saône-et-Loire
Bordering country: Switzerland (Canton of Vaud)

Area: 4,999 km²Population (2016): 260,517 inhabitants

Préfecture: Lons-le-Saunier
Sous-préfectures: Dôle, Saint-Claude
Subdivisions: 3 arrondissements, 17 cantons, 509 municipalities.

The department is named after the Jura mountains.
On 1 June 1974, the municipality of Antorpe was transferred from the department of Jura to the department of Doubs and incorporated into the municipality of Saint-Vit.

Ivan Sache, 11 April 2019

Flag of Jura

The flag hoisted since 2015 in front of the Departmental Council (photo, photo) is black with the logo in white.
In 2015, General Councils were renamed to Departmental Councils while a new majority took the head of the Departmental Council. A new logo, created by the services of the department and not by a communication agency, came in use.
[Le Progrès, 26 June 2015]

Olivier Touzeau, 3 April 2019

A white flag with black logo can be seen too, for example during a communication operation bringing together several communities served by Dole airport: photo, photo (2024).

Olivier Touzeau, 26 October 2024

Flags of the former General Council

Flag of the former General Council of Jura, 2011-2015 - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 3 April 2019

In September 2011, the new majority ruling the General Council of Jura decided to adopt a new logo: "An intention is to create a more consistent brand image for the General Council and its activities. The new logo is a modern calligraphic mark in a color called "fuchsia pink", relying on the strength of the name 'Jura' ".
[The Branding Source, 1 September 2011]

White flags with the fuchsia pink logo, and fuchsia pink flags with the logo in white were in use in front of the seat of the General Council (photo).

Older flags of the former General Council of Jura, 2010-2011 and 2003-2010, respectively - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 3 April 2019

The flag in use at the seat of the General Council in 2003 (photo, photo, Juramag, No. 7, Winter 2010)) was white with the logo adopted in 1996, which is composed of the word “jura” in red letters on a map of the department in blue and green.
A white flag charged with the logo slightly modified in 2010 was spotted in April 2011 (photo; photo). The letters of word "Jura" are a little bolder, there is no more white space in the loop of letter "J". The words "Conseil général" are bigger, in a more readable font, and in blue.

Olivier Touzeau, 3 April 2019

"Made in Jura" flags

Original "Made in Jura" flag - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 7 April 2019

The "Made in Jura" was initiated in 2003 by the General Council; its purpose was the establishment of a common strategy between the General Council and business owners in Jura to assert, promote and develop the Jura production system. The campaign started in 2003, on a rest area of the A39 motorway, in a set of pavilions called "Aire du Jura", intended to promote the industry and products of the area. To boost the image of the department, the "Made in Jura" concept was launched. A collective identity was created with the aim to make it easily identifiable thanks to its logo. Labelled companies, which were promoted on the "Made in Jura" website, had to meet several criteria to guarantee know-how and quality. They had to develop or manufacture products (totally or predominantly) in the territory of Jura.

A white flag with the logo in dark blue could be seen near the flag of the General Council (photo<, October 2003)

Yellow "Made in Jura" flags, 2004 and 2016, respectively - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 7 April 2019

In 2004, the route of Tour de France went through Jura. This was considered by the General Council as an event not to be missed for Jura, and a rare opportunity to point out his landscapes and its economy to millions of spectators around the world. The General Council decided to produce 5,000 yellow square flags with the "Made in Jura" logo in red, to be waved throughout the race. "Made in Jura" became step by step a territorial mark with a big network, many events... The General Council and the "Made in Jura" label suggested to the inhabitants of the department to travel the world with the "Made in Jura" flag and take pictures with it (photo, photo).
The "Made in Jura" trademark was registered in 2010 by the General Council with INPI, the French national institute for intellectual property. The label became a big success; in 2011, "Made in Jura" was said to bring together a network of more than 700 companies.
Between 2011 and 2015, the General Council was ran by a new political majority, which showed less interest to the development of the label, more and more used without control by companies.

In 2016, the General Council transferred the management of the label to a local entrepreneurs' association, which aimed "to make known and recognized the expertise and know-how of Jura companies; to affirm the territorial belonging that guides their activity and daily functioning; to bring the values of the singular Jura identity, which is reflected in the quality and reliability of products and services from Jura businesses". It is claimed on the label website that "Jura identity found its banner under the 'Made in Jura' logo." The association wants to "be a bearer of this identity, enriched by the entrepreneurial spirit of the massif and the quality of production that characterizes it".
The logo emblem is totally free to use out for commercial action, as the well-known sign of the "Made in Jura" to the public's eyes. In contrast, the certification logotype is reserved for professionals members of the association: the two outer thin circles of the logo emblem are replaced by a broad one. It is usable for commercial purposes and must be associated with a membership number.
["Made in Jura" charter]

The flag mainly in use (photo, photo) is still yellow with the red logotype; different variants (URL of the website or of the Facebook page, name of an event, logo of the Departmental Council added in the lower fly, lettering "l'original - since 2003" inside the circles...) can often be seen. While the original logo had the word "France" below the word "Jura", the current logo has "France" in the inner circle, above the "Jura".

"Made in Jura" media flag - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 7 April 2019

The Departmental Council of Jura launched on 17 February 2017 its multimedia platform, whose vocation is an illustration of Jura life, in all its facets, from business life to culture through sport, education, etc. The platform is regularly refuelled, at least twice a week, in trailers, news, events, portraits, reports, promotion (of any action made in Jura). The platform logo is basically derivated frome the "Made in Jura" original logo, with the word "media" in the center.
A medium blue flag with logo in white (photo, photo) is extensively displayed with the Departmental Council's flag in front of the Council's seat. Yellow flags with the logo in red, the departmental logo in the lower fly and the website URL in the lower hoist (photo) can be seen, too.

Olivier Touzeau, 7 April 2019

Flag of Jura, 2002-2003

Flag of Jura, 2002-2003, three versions - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 7 April 2019

A flag for the department was created in 2002 or 2003 by a public officer of the General Council, based on elements of the departmental coat of arms. The flag was hoisted on the A39 motorway's rest area named “Aire du Jura”, where many tourists, mostly Belgians, Dutch and Germans have the opportunity to make a stop. A part of the area is dedicated to tourism promotion by the General Council. Because the departmental logo was not very emblematic, it was decided to hoist a flag that would be more representative of the department.

The coat of arms of Jura was assigned by Jacques Meurgey de Tupigny & Robert Louis in Marques symboliques des départements français, as "Per fess, 1. Azure billetty or a crowned lion or armed and langued gules issuant from the base, 2. Dancetty of three points argent and gules". The upper quarter features the arms of Franche-Comt&eeacute;; the lion is cronwed as on the seal of Otto VI, Count of Burgundy. The lower quarter represents the Jura mountains. An alternative version has the base dancetty of three points or and gules.
The original flag was square, inspired by the Swiss flags. It features the lion or of Franche-Comt&ecaute; on azure, but the billets are changed into stripes in the fly ; the dancetty of gules on argent is transformed into a red stripe and a larger white stripe in the lower part of the flag. This basic design was supposed to be used on stickers, possibly license plates, on various documents, and as a flag. The 1:1 drawing was expected to be extended if needed into a 2:3 drawing, as flags are more commonly designed in France.

The design had a rather big success, filling the need for a symbol of Jura, a department with a strong identity. It was supposed to become the department's flag, to be used by the inhabitants and associations of Jura. It seems that the 2:3 flag hoisted on the motorway area included the word "JURA" on a the white lower stripe, so that people knew what it represented. A square flag of the very same design was produced, too. The square flag, without "JURA"; was seen in 2003 in front of the seat of the General Gouncil, together with the white flag with the Council's logo. The flag was still be seen in 2005 near the village of Lac-des-Rouges-Truites, in the La Gypserie hamlet where a member of the General Council's administration displayed a copy near his home.
There is no more information about the flag's designer, nor about the date at which it ceased to be hoisted on the A39 motorway rest area and in front of the General Council. Whether it was use jointly with the "Made in Jura" flag is not known.

Pascal Vagnat, Ivan Sache & Olivier Touzeau, 7 April 2019

Banner of Jura, 2008

Banner of Jura, 2008 - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 7 April 2019

Nicolas Vernot (website), President of ARCHEE (Association de Recherche Comtoise en Héraldique, Epigraphie et Emblématique, Franche-Comté), reported in 2008 that a new banner, white with a red border and a red Cross of Burgundy, was hoisted on the A39 "Aire du Jura" rest area. The creation of this banner was attributed to Joêl Simon, in charge of the promotion of Jura and creator of the "Made in Jura" label. There is no more information about the date at which the flag ceased to be hoisted on the A39 motorway rest area.
J. Simon was the chief animator of the departmental label "Made in Jura", curator of the industrial fair of Lons-le-Saunier, named "Made in Jura" too, and director of promotion on "Aire du Jura". He founded in 2014 a "cyber-micronation" named the Republic of Jura to promote the territory of Jura. In April 2015, he was appointed Director of the Cabinet of the new President of the Departmental Council, Clément Pernot.
[Trace Ecrites, 5 February 2015; Le Progrès, 11 April 2015]

Olivier Touzeau, 7 April 2019