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Saint-Denis (Municipality, Reunion, France)

Current flag of Saint-Denis - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 14 February 2017

Presentation of Saint-Denis
Flags of Saint-Denis
- Current flags of Saint-Denis
- Former flags of Saint-Denis

See also:

Presentation of Saint-Denis

The municipality of Saint-Denis (131,649 inhabitants; 14,729 ha) is located in the north of Reunion island. Saint-Denis is the capital of the island and the biggest town in non European France.
In 1665, the French Compagnie des Indes sent a fleet to Reunion island. The fleet left the port of La Rochelle on 14 March 1665. During the journey, the ship "Saint-Denis" lost her way in Tenerife (Canary Islands). The ship eventually found her way and moored in 1667 in a a bay near the estuary of a river. The Governor of Reunion, Étienne Regnault, was a good friend of Chanlette, the captain of the "Saint-Denis", and he decided to name the bay, the river and the future capital of the colony Saint-Denis. The place was selected because "the mooring was the best and the place was to become the center of commerce and governemnt". In April 1671, the name and administrative status of Saint-Denis were confirmed by Jacob Banquet de la Haye, Vice-Roy of India. The decision was officialized only 69 years later, in 1738, under Governor Mahé de Labourdonnais. The population of the town was then 2,166. The island was divided into five quartiers, including Saint-Denis, by a Royal Ordinance in 1766. Saint-Denis became a municipality in 1790.

Source: Municipal website

Ivan Sache, 8 July 2006

Flags of Saint-Denis

Current flags of Saint-Denis

The white flag with modern logo, adopted in 2009, is currently the main flag in use: photo (2014), photo (2014), photo (2017), photo (2021), photo (2022), photo (2023).

Olivier Touzeau, 1 April 2023

Variant flag of Saint-Denis - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 1 April 2023

Another flag could be seen in 2022 in front of the city hall, white with the municipal arms (photo).

Olivier Touzeau, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 1 April 2023

Former flags of Saint-Denis

Former flags of Saint-Denis
Left, with pre-2009 logotype - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 17 January 2009
Right, former version - Image by Pascal Vagnat, 8 July 2006

The municipal flag of Saint-Denis, seen in several places of the town (observation in situ in november 2008), is diagonally divided per bend sinister yellow-green with a stylized version of the municipal coat of arms an the name of the town, which was the logotype in use before 2009.
A probably former version of the flag had the greater municipal arms in the middle. It is shown on the catalogue of the French flag manufacturer Faber (photo) and can be observed on this photo taken in 2006.

The coat of arms of Saint-Denis is blazoned as follows on the municipal website, "Firstly azure a galley argent sailing on waves of the same issuant from the base, secondly or two palm trees vert placed on an island supported sinister by an islet of the same, a chief sinople a chain of three volcanos argent, the central volcano ensigned by a smoking cloud gules, the chain supported by another chain of five mounts vert. The shield surmounted by a mural crown with five merlons or, masoned and gated sable, is placed on a radiation of 14 phoenix leaves argent. It is supported by an anchor of the same issuant from the base, holding a scroll or with linings gules overall the foliage and charged with the motto in Roman letters sable, "Praeter omnes angulus ridet".

This coat of arms was designed by Christol de Sigoyer, a Creole Municipal Councillor under the Second Empire. The design is strongly influenced by Romantism. The coat of arms was adopted by the Municipal Council on 13 February 1866.
The motto "Praeter omnes angulus ridet" is derived from Horatio's verse Ille terrarum mihi praeter omnes angulus ridet (Odes, Book II, Ode VI, Verse 13), which can be translated as "Of all the corners of the world, there is none that so charms me". Horatio meant the countryside in the neighbourhood of the city of Tarento in Apulia (Southern Italy). The same motto was added to the lyrics of the Danish national anthem Der er et yndigt land written in 1819 by Adam Gottlob Oehlenschläger.

Olivier Touzeau, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 14 February 2017