Last modified: 2024-10-18 by olivier touzeau
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![[Flag of Auch]](../images/f/fr-32-au.gif)
Flag of Auch - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 8 July 2022
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The municipality of Auch (23,041 inhabitants in 2021; 7,248 ha) is a commune and the capital of the Gers department. Auch is also the historical capital of Gascony.
In Roman times, the city experienced significant development and became one of the main urban centers of Aquitaine, located at the crossroads of two Roman roads. After the sack of the main city of the province, Eauze, Augusta Auscorum became the main urban and administrative center. At the time of the great invasions, the unfortified Roman city was looted and then deserted by its inhabitants who then returned to the site of the ancient Eliumberrum which was more easily defensible. It became the urban core and was surrounded by walls. During the advent of Christianity, Auch was logically erected as a bishopric and then as an archbishopric in 879. It then became (and still remains today) a religious place of primary importance.
During medieval times, the city of Auch was the capital for a time of the counts of Armagnac (10th and 11th centuries). The city was taken and retaken at many times and served as the backdrop for anecdotal quarrels between the ecclesiastical, municipal and seigniorial powers. From the 12th century, the city was a paréage, shared between two authorities, that of the Armagnacs and that of the archbishop. The lines of demarcation which separated the two seigniories were carved on the gates of the city and on the pillars of the old hall. They were visible until the Revolution.
As if to underline the place of religion in Auch and the scope of their powers, the archbishops (notably François de Savoie) had one of the most majestic cathedrals in the South-West of France (15th–16th centuries). The Basilica of Saint Mary still dominates the city with its gigantic proportions. After the Battle of Lectoure in 1473, which marked the definitive fall of the dynasty of the Counts of Armagnac, the town was invaded by the troops of the King of France, Louis XI. The restart was slow during the 16th century. Finally, in the 18th century, the generality of Auch separated from that of Montauban (1715). Its governors (intendants) were primarily concerned with economic development and the improvement of living conditions and surroundings: more particularly under Louis XV, the intendant Antoine Mégret d'Étigny transformed the city by giving it its current face with the construction of most of its remarkable buildings (town hall, hotel of Intendance, promenade…). This is the golden age of Auch. In the 19th century, the installation of a gasworks and the construction of the railway station favored the development of the districts of the lower town.
The coat of arms of the town still reveals today the struggle between the red lion (Armagnac coat of arms) and the lamb (symbol of the archbishops) in medieval times.
The arms are blazoned: Party 1. Gules a Paschal lamb Argent, head turned, holding a banner Azure a crosslet Argent too, the hoist of the same per bend sinister, 2. Argent a lion Gules armed Sable.
Olivier Touzeau, 8 July 2022
French vexillologist Pascal Vagnat reported the use of a flag vertically divided R/W, observed in situ in august 2000.
Olivier Touzeau, 8 July 2022
Banner of Auch
![[Banner]](../images/f/fr-32_au.gif)
Banner of Auch - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 8 July 2022
French vexillologist Pascal Vagnat reported the use of vertical
swallowtailed banners vertically divided R/W, observed in situ in august 2000 [website Emblèmes de France]
Another picture of the banners in 2009: photo.
Olivier Touzeau, 8 July 2022
![[Flag]](../images/f/fr_32ace.gif)
Flag of La Caserne Espagne - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 8 July 2022
In 1776, the city of Auch acquired a house on the road to Roquelaure
to convert it into barracks that could house men and horses, called “Petit Quartier”. As needs evolved, the barracks grew little by
little, to cover 13.6 hectares on the edge of the Gers river,
downstream from the historic center. In 1860, it could accommodate 968
men and 810 horses, which represented an important economic stake for
the city: outlet for local food products and fodder, production of
manure for agricultural land, but also products from the granting for
the benefit of the inhabitants. The "Petit Quartier" was destroyed and
replaced by a vast U-shaped building whose construction spanned from
1816 to 1844 on the left bank of the Gers. The right bank extension
was envisaged in 1844: four stables were established on either side of
the extension of the bridge (1851-52), forming a new parade ground.
Accessory buildings (carousel, fodder store, tack rooms, infirmaries,
etc.) are located to the north. Finally, around 1905-1906, nine
stable-docks were built in accordance with the new standard model to
accommodate an additional 288 horses. The last soldiers left the site
in 1997.
The City of Auch bought 4 hectares to develop a new cultural center
which was born in 2012. Then in 2017, the city acquired from the State
the former military site of the barracks Espagne, i.e. 5.5 hectares on
either side of the Gers and no less than 11 buildings to be renovated.
The City has launched a very important work on the rehabilitation of
this site. The main projects are, on the right bank, the arrival of
the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the installation of the Thursday
market, the presence of work rooms for training in kitchen trades, the
establishment of the nursing school, and under a shed the creation of
leisure facilities. On the left bank, which has 11,000 m2 of living
space, the creation of a “health professions” center and accommodation
for medical interns and students.
For more than a century and a half, the French flag flew from the top
of the mast of the barracks Espagne. At the initiative of the town
hall of Auch and the intercommunality of Grand Auch, a new flag 4
meters long and 3.5 meters wide has been hoisted on June 26 2022, in
the colors and symbols of the operation of rehabilitation of the
barracks Espagne.
[source: Le Journal du Gers and municipal website]
Olivier Touzeau, 8 July 2022