^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Orne (Department, France)

Flag of Orne - Image byOlivier Touzeau, 6 January 2023

See also:

Administrative data

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

Flag of Orne

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 Departmental Council

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

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