Last modified: 2024-10-26 by olivier touzeau
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Flag of Orne - Image byOlivier Touzeau, 6 January 2023
See also:
Code: 61
Region: Normandie (Basse-Normandie until 2014)
Traditional provinces: Normandy,
Maine
Bordering departments: Calvados,
Eure, Eure-et-Loir,
Manche, Mayenne,
Sarthe
Area: 6,103 km2
Population (2016): 285,308 inhabitants
Préfecture: Alençon
Sous-préfectures: Argentan, Mortagne-au-Perche
Subdivisions: 3 arrondissements, 21 cantons, 412 municipalities.
The department is named after river Orne (152
km), a tributary to the English Channel.
On 21 July 1824, the municipality of Madré was transferred from the department of Orne to the department of Mayenne, while the municipality of Saint-Denis-de-Villenette was transferred from Mayenne to Orne, suppressing two enclaves / exclaves.
Ivan Sache, 14 November 2009
The flag of Orne is white with the Departmental Council logo (photo, 2021).
The logo has entered in use at the beginning of 2020 [source: Tendance Ouest].
“This transformation of the graphic
identity of the department is the result of a process of reflection
undertaken over several months”, explained the departmental council.
For its president Christophe de Balorre: "The rush to Orne [pun in
French : ruée vers l'or (goldrush) / ruée vers l'Orne] is a reality.
This new identity embodies a collective desire to grow and win our
territory."
Olivier Touzeau, 6 January 2023
Former flag of the Departemental Council of Orne - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 30 April 2019
In 2015, General Councils were renamed to Departmental Councils. The Departmental Council modified its logo, replacing the words "Conseil général" by the words "Conseil départemental" (photo).
Olivier Touzeau, 30 April 2019
Flag of the former General Council of Orne, newer and older versions - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 30 April 2019, and Ivan Sache, 3 October 2009, respectively
The flag of the General Council of Orne was white with the Council's logo.
The logo is made of a white horse outlined in black, with grey shadowing, running on a green rectangle charged with the writing "L'ORNE" in white letters and surmounting
"Conseil Général" in black letters.
The green rectangle recall the forests (for instance, the forests of
Écouves, Andaines and Gouffern) representing 17% of the area of the
department) and the two Regional Nature Parks (Normandie-Maine and
Perche) of the department.
The horse is a symbol of determination, spirit of conquest and
dynamism; horse breeding is a traditional activity in the department.
Before 2001, the General Council used a green flag with the logo of the time, in white, created 10 years earlier.
The pride, and most visited tourist spot (more than 60,000 each year),
of Orne is indeed the "Horse's Temple", Haras du Pin, located in the
municipality of Le Pin-au-Haras. The oldest of the 29 national stud
farms (haras), Haras du Pin, aka the "Horse's Versailles", was
founded by Colbert and Louis XIV; the site was selected in 1714
because of the neighbouring pastures and abundant water resources. The
historic buildings were mainly erected in 1715-1730, under the reign
of Louis XV. Involved in the fightings of the French Revolution, the
Franco-Prussian War and the Battle of Normandy, Haras du Pin
miraculously escaped destruction.
Today, Haras du Pin, surrounded by a 1,000 ha domain, caters 230
horses, including 50 studs representing some ten horse breds
(especially the four breds whose cradle is Normandy: Percheron, Pur
Sang Anglais, Trotteur Français and Selle Fran¸ais). Some 700 mares
are serviced every year on site and another 300 are serviced on farms.
Also commissioned to teaching and training, Haras du Pin maintains a
research unit dedicated to genetic improvement of horse breds.
Olivier Touzeau, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 30 April 2019