Last modified: 2025-04-26 by olivier touzeau
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![[Flag]](../images/r/re!03.gif)
De facto local flag - Image by Mark Sensen, 28 March 2003
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This flag (photo, photo) was selected on 1 March 2003 by the jury presided in Reunion by Michel Lupant. The designer of the winning proposal, Guy Pignolet, an engineer at CNES (Centre National d'Études Spatiales), from Sainte-Rose, and M. Lupant defined the size and colours. The Association Réunionnaise de Vexillologie (ARV) proposes to use it as the flag of the Region.
Guy Pignolet, who originally designed the flag in 1975, called it Lö Mahavéli, often shortened to Lö Mavéli, a name built on the Malgache word mahavel, "the beautiful country" and on the Tamoul word veli, "the morning star".
The meaning of the colours is "Red for the volcano and strength, blue for the sky and sweetness, yellow for the sun and clearness".
Michel Lupant & Ivan Sache, 14 June 2014
The contest, organized by the Association réunionaise
de vexillologie (ARV), presided by Vincent Défaud,
was closed on 31 January 2003 and had been launched one year
earlier (Clicanoo, 2 March 2003). Proposals in format A4 or A5 could be made on any kind of support.
Some of the rules of the contest were:
- the proposal shall not be identical to an existing national flag;
- logos and writings shall not appear on the proposal;
- a banner of arms is allowed;
- the darkest stripe shall be placed on the bottom of the flag if the flag is horizontally divided;
- the darkest stripe shall be placed along the hoist of the flag if the flag is vertically divided;
- a monochromous field with arms or a local symbol is allowed;
- the colours shall be constrasted in any case.
According to the ARV, the new flag shall not have any political or
ethnical meaning but shall represent all the islanders.
There seems to be some local controversy about the original design of the flag. Joseph Varondin claims that the flag was indeed designed by a group of militants of the Mouvement des radicaux de gauche, himself included, and that Pignolet, who was not even member of the movement, was commissioned to officially register the design, which he did, but on his sole name [Le Quotidien, 31 December 2013].
Ivan Sache, 16 June 2014
Name of the flag
Concerning the name of the flag, in this October 2014 article, the Reunion Island artist Maloyab, given the enthusiasm of Reunion Islanders for the Reunion Island flag and the fact that a few municipalities seem to have adopted it, explained he had contacted Nassimah Dindar (President of the General Council of Reunion Island) to ask if it would be possible to display the flag on all the General Council's offices. She replied that she wouldn't mind the idea, but that the name "lo mavéli" bothered her because it wasn't very flattering for the island.
Guy Pignolet told Maloyab: "Personally, I never use the name lo
mavéli, and I don't know where this name comes from. The only name I
use, apart from the "Regional Flag of Reunion Island," is "Radiant
Volcano"... But this name, like the other, is not official, and the
flag belongs to all the Reunion Islanders who have adopted it."
However, the word "lo mavéli" could mean "the spoiled flag" (rotten)
in Malagasy, and therefore not very flattering for the island at all!
Mayolab concludes: since the name "lo mavéli" has a pejorative
connotation for some, the flag could not be placed on certain public
buildings (e.g., the General Council). We can therefore see that a
name—and therefore the language—has altered the image of the flag, and
therefore its visual appearance... For these reasons, and to the
extent that the name "lo mavéli" can indirectly harm the image of the
island, I think it would be better to call the flag what its inventor
himself calls it: the Radiant Volcano... Indeed, if we are to have a
regional flag representing Reunion Island tomorrow, we cannot allow
its name to harm or embarrass the people of Reunion Island...
(10/10/2014)
Olivier Touzeau, 23 March 2025
![[Construction sheet]](../images/r/re!'03.gif)
Flag construction sheet - Image by Mark Sensen, 28 March 2003
The colour specifications are:
Pantone CMYK (%)
Red 032 0 100 100 0
Blue Process Blue 80 60 0 0
Yellow Process Yellow 0 0 100 0
Michel Lupant, 28 March 2003
On 28 September 2013, Cyril Hamilcaro, General Councillor of Saint-
Louis, sent a letter to the President of the Regional Council of Reunion, to the President of the General Council of Reunion, and to
the Mayors of the 24 municipalities of the Reunion, asking them to
officially hoist the flag designed by Guy Pignolet beside the flags of
France, of the European Union, and of the relevant institution [Info-Réunion, 28 September 2013].
The flag was officially hoisted on 7 December 2013 in Sainte-Rose (video), while it was already used in Le Port (photo). These were the only two municipalities of La Reunion that had "adopted" the flag. The flag was also used by local champions during sports events (photos); its design is featured on the 10 euro coin released on 20 September 2010 by the National Mint (image).
The issue re-emerged during the campaign for the municipal election
held in March 2014. A poll organized by a local TV channel revealed
that the issue was controversial: 47% of the voters approved the
proposal, while 49% rejected it (article). The 133 chief candidates were also asked to evaluate the proposal: 106 did not care answering, 10 answered they would adopt the flag if elected, 10 answered they would not, and 7 had no opinion on the issue (article).
The Municipal Council of Saint-Denis, the island's capital, decided on 26 April 2014 to hoist the flag [zinfos974 and imazpress]. The Municipal Council of Saint-Philippe decided on 26 May 2014 to hoist the flag "during all kind of public and official acts", after 65% of the citizens had approved the proposals, while 36% had rejected it (but only 10% of the population cared answering) [zinfos974].
Ivan Sache, 14 June 2014
Some article about the hoisting of the flag in several communes of la Réunion:
- in Le Port: article in zinfos974 (2014)
- in Sainte-Rose: article in linfo.re (2014)
- in Saint-Benoît: facebook page (2020)
It should be noted that the flag adorned the 10 Euro coin dedicated to Réunion by the Monnaie de Paris in 2010, in a series where each region was identified by a representation of its coat of arms or its flag: photo.
Olivier Touzeau, 23 March 2025
![[Flag]](../images/r/re!03-v.gif)
![[Flag]](../images/r/re!03-w.gif)
Two variants of the flag - Images by Mark Sensen & Ivan Sache, 14 June 2014
he surfers Johanne Defay and Jorgann Couzinet, when celebrating their
victory in the French championship 2013, used a Mahavéli flag with the writing "974 REUNION" inscribed in white letters at the bottom of the
flag (photo, photo, photo, photo). "974" is the numeral code of the department of Reunion.
Yet another variant of the flag exists, with the numeral "974" written
in black letters in the middle of the red triangle (photo).
Ivan Sache, 14 June 2014
Progress pride flag
![[Flag]](../images/r/re}pride.gif)
Progress pride local flag - Images byOlivier Touzeau, 23 March 2025
In 2024, a "progress pride" variant design of the Radiant volcano, created by the LGBTQIA+ center of the Indian Ocean (an association born in Saint-Denis in 2021), was hoisted in Saint-Denis town hall, but also on the préfecture (French central state authority in the departments): photo, photo.
Olivier Touzeau, 23 March 2025