Last modified: 2025-10-11 by olivier touzeau
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![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-38-ss.gif)
Flag of Sassenage - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 7 October 2025
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Sassenage (11,579 inhabitants, 1,300 ha) is a commune in the Isère department in southeastern France, lying in the north-west of the Grenoble urban area
The parish of Sassenage was historically the seat of one of the four baronies of Dauphiné, and it played a very important role in the construction of this province. The House of Sassenage, which enjoyed the title and suzerainty of the place, is said to have descended from the Lusignan-Poitiers, although the exact link between these two families is unknown, other than the fact that they largely shared the same coat of arms.
From the 12th century onward, the powerful lord of Sassenage used all his power and influence to enfeoff the entire mountainous area surrounding the parish. Under the Ancien Régime, the mandate of Sassenage was divided into two parts: the plain with the parishes of Fontaine, Sassenage, and Engins, and the mountain with the parishes of Lans, Villard, Autrans, and Méaudre. The latter four were also called the four parishes of the Sassenage mountains, and later the "Four Mountains," a term still used today to refer to the northern Vercors. For a long period of history, the name Sassenage enjoyed great regional, even national, renown, partly due to the presence of its 17th-century castle and its cave, known as the "vats of Sassenage," recognized as one of the Seven Wonders of Dauphiné, but also due to the production of its locally made cheese, "Bleu du Vercors-Sassenage," which is covered by a controlled designation of origin.
Sassenage, a town located at the gateway to the Vercors massif, was awarded the Croix de Guerre with Silver Star for its courage and commitment to the Resistance during the Second World War. This distinction is a testament to the important role the town and its residents played in the fight against the Nazi occupiers
According to some authors, the House of Sassange could be descended from the Lusignan-Poitiers family. These two families also bear the same coat of arms.
The coat of arms is blazoned: A barry of ten Argent and Azure a lion rampant overall Gules armed, langued and crowned Or.
Olivier Touzeau, 7 October 2025
The flag of Sassenage is white with the logo: a white shield with a stylized version of the coat of arms (sic! - barry of eleven Azure and
Sable) surrounded by branches of laurel and bearing Croix de Guerre,
with the name of the commune inside the shield: photo (on the flagmaker's website), photo (2022), photo (2023).
Olivier Touzeau, 7 October 2025
Former flag of Sassenage
In the former version, the colours of the coat of arms were correct (argent and azure), there was a different crown above the shield and the name of the commune was written on a golden listel: photo (2015), photo (2012).
Olivier Touzeau, 7 October 2025