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Indre (Municipality, Loire-Atlantique, France)

Flag of Indre adopted in 2024 - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 17 January 2025

Presentation of Indre
Flag of Indre
- The three finalist proposals of the 2024 vote
Former flags of Indre

See also:

Presentation of Indre

The municipality of Indre (4,172 inhabitants in 2022; 472 ha) is located 10 km west of Nantes.

In 630, Pasquier, bishop of Nantes, invited Lambert, abbot of the Fontenelle Abbey, subsequently known as St. Wandrille Abbey to authorize the monks of his order to settle around Nantes in a place of their choice. Monk Hermeland and another twelve friars left Fontenelle for Nantes, where they boarded on two boats to sail down the estuary of the Loire; they soon landed in an island (Basse-Indre) covered with thick forests surrounded by meadows, dominating all those that surrounded it. Hermeland found caves in the island, which he named Antrum (Latin, "den"). He visited a second, smaller island (Indret), which he named Antricinium. After a discussion with Pasquier, Hermeland founded on Antrum a monastery and two churches dedicated to Sts. Paul and Peter. Completed between 670 and 678, the foundation was granted in 680 by bishop Agatheus to the order of Saint Benedict.
The monastery was destroyed in June 843 by the Normans, who sailed down the Loire after having sacked Nantes. A prioty was soon built on the ruins of the monastery.

In 1005, Budic, count of Nantes, had a castle built on Indret island, where marriage of his sister Judith with Alain Canhiart, count of Cornouaille, was celebrated in 1036.
In the 15th century, Indret belonged to the dukes of Brittany, who were also counts of Nantes); Francis I offered the castle to Marguerite d'Orl&ecute;ans, Countess of Étampes and of Vertou. The island was then given to Gilles de Condest following a contract drawn up by master Rolland de La Villéon, acting on behalf of duchess Ann of Brittany. Following Ann's marriage, the island and its dependencies returned to the crown of France.

In 1588, the island was given by Henry II to the duke of Mercœur, while Philippe-Emmanuel of Lorraine restored the castle.
The subsequent owner of the castle, Louis Duplessis, lord of Guenouville, swapped it in 1642 with Louis XIII for possessions on the islands of Nantes. In 1650, regent Ann of Austria offered the land and the castle to Abraham Duquesne to compensate him for the cost of the fleet that had defeated the English and the Spaniards at the mouth of Gironde. Abraham Duquesne, who was Protestant, went into exile in Switzerland, after the revocation of the Edict of Nantes./P

In 1777, the Indret foundry was established as a Royal Navy factory for the production of cannons. This is the origin of the current Naval Group, formerly known as Direction des Constructions Navales (DCNS). In 1821, the Indret foundry hired two thousand people to manufacture steam engines for the navy. An iron rolling factory was founded in the same year in Basse-Indre by Welsh people in an old shipyard belonging to the Crucy family. The Nantes-based shipowner Thomas Dobrée Sr. became its general agent. The Forges de Basse-Indre were one of the first English forges established in France under the Restoration. On 8 March 1846, the factory became A. Langlois et Cie. At the end of the century, the company merged with one of its major customers, Jules Joseph Carnaud, a tinsmith from Paris based in Nantes, to form Carnaud-Basse-Indre, a French leader in tinplate and tin cans. It was subsequently absorbed by Sollac, Usinor, and, eventually, Arcelor-Mittal. The Compagnie bordelaise built a big fertilizer factory in the 1920s.

Olivier Touzeau, 22 May 2021

Flag of Indre

The municipality of Indre has chosen and unveiled at the end of 2024 a new flag, designed following the recommendations of the Société française de vexillologie (SFV).

According to this article, the municipality was contacted in 2023 by a citizen, indicating that the flag used until then was only a standard in terms of the criteria of vexillology. It seized the opportunity and proposed a competition open to its inahbitants to equip themselves with a real flag.

In september 2024, the City of Indre invited the inhabitants to create the new flag of the municipality [source: municipal website]:
"Many municipalities fly their flag on the pediment of the town hall or at the entrances to towns. Not to be confused with a coat of arms or a logo, it is a highly visible decorative and symbolic element that contributes to the identity of the municipality. To provide Indre with its flag, the City launched a competition open to all, and invited the people of Indre you to submit a graphic proposal before October 18, 2024."
The city gave some examples and sources of inspiration: Saint-Malo, Guérande traditional flag, Besançon, Lisbonne, Arcachon, and as a resource a document by the French Society of Vexillology (SFV): "Why provide your municipality with a flag?". Some tips for a successful flag were listed:

a simple and understandable drawing (the flag must be so simple that a child could draw it from memory)
use meaningful symbolism (the images of the flag, the colors or the patterns must relate to what it symbolizes)
no more than three colors (limit the number of colors on the flag to three, which contrast well and come from the standard color series)
ban typographic characters and seals (never use writing of any kind or an organization seal)
be original or related (avoid copying other flags, but use similarities to show relationships)

The competition was open to any person residing in Indre, adult or under 18 (in this case, parental authorization may be requested) or group of people.
From November 12 to December 1, the people of Indre were asked to vote online to choose the city's flag from 3 proposals [source: municipal website].
About twenty graphic proposals created by inhabitants as well as drawings made by three school classes reached the town hall. Among the proposals, three were selected by a jury, composed of two elected officials, a municipal agent and a representative of the local association "Indre Histoire d’Îles", which met on November 5. The jury was largely helped in its choices by the French Society of Vexillology which sent an informed and reasoned opinion for each of the proposals received.

The result was announced on the municipal website.
"At the end of the vote, proposal no. 1 came out on top with 261 votes out of the 449 cast. Proposed by Mr. Swan Ollivier-Bardoux, this creation became the official flag of the City. It will fly from the pediment of the town hall next year and will contribute to the identity of the town. Mr. Yannick Cléarc'h's proposal came in second place (101 votes) followed by that of Mr. Corentin Cléarc'h (88 votes). The City of Indre thanks all the participants, including the students from 3 classes of Indre schools, for their contributions and creativity. Thanks also to the French Society of Vexillology, whose detailed analysis of each contribution was of great help to the jury."

From this article in a local media:
The flag will join the flag recently installed on the pediment of the town hall, which we do not know if it complies with the criteria of vexillology, but which carries a message of solidarity with the victims of conflicts, genocides and discrimination".

Olivier Touzeau, 17 January 2025

The three finalist proposals of the 2024 vote

Finalist proposals for the flag of Indre in 2024 - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 17 January 2025

About the three proposals:

#1 (261 votes out of the 449 cast). Proposed by Mr. Swan Ollivier-Bardoux, this creation became the official flag of the City. The flag of Indre represents the local identity with the Loire which separates the three villages: Indre, Basse Indre and Haute Indre, illustrated by ermines. The latter on the flag of Indre symbolize the historical belonging of the commune to Brittany. Although located in Loire-Atlantique, Indre claims its Breton roots, thus affirming its cultural identity and heritage. I chose to illustrate the river Loire because it is an essential geographical element in the region, due to the fishing activity which has been important for a long time and on the other hand, the factories which have been created over the last three centuries thanks to this river.
Today, the Loire remains an essential factor for the people of Indre and the residents who live along it every day for the beauty of its landscapes and natural environments.
#2 Mr. Yannick Cléarc'h's proposal came in second place (101 votes). "This proposal is a “landscape flag”, representing the topography of the commune, the Loire, the common denominator of our three islands, is probably the strongest character trait of the commune. In Indre, the river does not separate: it unites all the inhabitants who recognize themselves in the Loire. Also, a privileged place is given to the representation of the Loire which meanders between the wet meadows in green. The three old islands by which the inhabitants of the commune like to identify themselves are distributed on either side of the Loire, symbolized by two ermine spots in the North (Haute-Indre and Basse-Indre) and one in the South (Indret).
#3 The proposal of Mr. Corentin Cléarc'h came in third place (88 votes). "My proposal uses the colours of the old logo of the city of Indre: yellow, green and blue, which can be interpreted as follows: - yellow for industry - green for meadows - blue for the Loire. The 3 ermine spots obviously represent the 3 islands Haute-Indre, Basse-Indre and Indret."

Olivier Touzeau, 17 January 2025

Former flags of Indre

Former flags of Indre; left, between 2014 and 2024; right, before 2014- Images by Olivier Touzeau, 22 May 2021

The former flag of Indre (photo, photo) was with the municipal logo. An older flag was white with a slightly different logo (photo), used until 2014.

Olivier Touzeau, 22 May 2021