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Hendaye (Municipality, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, France)

Flag of Hendaye - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 24 June 2022

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Presentation of Hendaye

Hendaye (Basque: Hendaia; 17,796 inhabitants in 2021; 795 ha) is a commune in the Pyrénées-Atlantiques department.

Hendaye is France's most southwesterly town and a popular seaside tourist resort, on the right bank of the River Bidassoa, which marks the Franco-Spanish border, at the point where it empties into the Atlantic Ocean.

Hendaye was first mentioned, as Handaye, in 1510, and, as Endaye, in 1565. Since then, 15 versions of the town's name have been recorded; in French sources: Handaye, Endaye, Andaye, Handaye, Andaie, Hendaie and Andayae; in Spanish sources: Endaia, Endaya, Handaya, Hendaia, Andaya, Aendaya, Handaya and Andaia. The present-day's name, Hendaye, was first recorded in 1620 and consistently used all along the next centuries.
Hendaye is named for the Basque words "handi" / "andu", "great"; "ibi", "a ford"; and "a", "the", therefore "the great ford. "ibi" can also be read "ibai", "a river", therefore, "the great river".

In 1598, Hendaye obtained the right to build its own church, and broke away from Urrugne. A border town between France and Spain, Hendaye has experienced many turbulences during the numerous wars between the two nations. During the Franco-Spanish war, the city was taken in September 1636 by the Spaniards. On the Île des Faisans (Pheasant Island) in the river Bidassoa, the Treaty of the Pyrenees was signed in 1659, ending decades of intermittent war between France and Spain. Authority over the island alternates between France and Spain every six months. Witness to this past, Fort Gaztelu zahar, which was repeatedly destroyed and then rebuilt, was embellished by the work of Vauban and then definitively razed, along with the entire town, during the Revolutionary Wars.

In 1867, Urrugne returned to Hendaye 762 hectares granted by Louis XIV. The town was until then a village living on 33 hectares. It was at Hendaye station that the interview between Hitler and General Franco took place on October 23, 1940, the latter respecting the commitment made during the Bérard-Jordana agreements signed on February 25, 1939 and reaffirming the non-engagement of his country in the Second World War.

Olivier Touzeau & Ivan Sache, 27 June 2022

Coat of arms of Hendaye

The arms of Hendaye are blazoned:
Azure a whale Argent on a sea proper, surmounted by three harpoons Or, two crossed in saltire and one palewise, and above a royal crown of the same, between the captital letters H and E Sable. The current representation of the arms has the letters Or.

The oldest report of the arms of Hendaye is given by Pierre Lemau de la Jaisse (1667-1745) in "Carte générale de la monarchie françoise, contenant l'histoire militaire...") (1733) and "Plans des principales places de guerre et villes maritimes frontières du royaume de France" (1736). The two drawing feature the whale, the crown, the harpoons and the letters. Since the latest version of the Armorial Général (1709) does not list Hendaye, the arms must have been adopted between 1709 and 1727, the year of release of the and-written pre-print of the 1733 book.
The whale and the harpoons recall the already ld tradition of whaling in Hendaye and the Bay of Biscaye. The royal crown most probably recalls the municipal status granted to Hendaye in 1654 by Louis XIV, as a reward for the bravery of the seamen of the town during the liberation of Ré island in 1629; separated from Urrugne, Hendaye was granted in 1663 to weekly markets and a yearly fair, while Louis XIV increased in 1689 its municipal territory.
The letters "H" and "E" have been interpreted as the initials of "Herriko Etxea", in Basque, "Town Hall". They are indeed, more prosaically, the first and last letters of the name of the town. IT has been argued that the town is named "Andaye" on the first sources showing the arms, but it is known (see above) that "Hendaye" was already widely used at the time.

In 1897, Dubarat and Haristoy ("Recherches historiques et religieuses du diocèse de Bayonne") described the arms of Hendaye as "Azure a dolphin argent on a sea of the same the tail raised to a royal crown in chief surrounded dexter by letter 'H' sable and sinister by letter 'E' of the same". These arms are still visible on the facades of the old Town Hall (1924) and of the railway stations of Hendaye-Ville and Hendaye-Plage (1925). In an earlier (1883-1884) description, Haristoy mentions a triton instead of the dolphin.

In 1949, G. and J.R. Olphe-Gaillard ("Hendaye, son histoire") re-established the genuine arms of the town, as "Azure a whale argent swimming on a sea of the same ensigned by three harpoons two in saltire and one in pale in chief a royal crown surrounded dexter by letter 'H' sable and sinister by letter 'E' of the same." A stained-glass oculus set up in the 1950s in the St. Vincent church features the coat of arms with the whale and the harpoons. The pedestal of the Virgin of the Missions, a monument designed at the same period, also features the complete design of the arms.
Lamant ("Armorial de Bayonne, Pays Basque et Sud-Gascogne" (1981) reports the same blazon, with the sea proper and the crown or.

In the 1960s, the municipality of Hendaye placed a big coat of arms on the facade of the newly built Town Hall; the design was compliant with the genuine arms, but the harpoons were omitted. The official version of the arms, seemingly not registered but used since the end of the 20th century, features the harpoons, the crown and the letters or. Such arms were already presented on the Coffee Sanka card, but with the sea argent.

[Pierre Léon Thillaud, Histoire de Hendaye : de son nom et de ses armes]

Ivan Sache, 27 June 2022

Flag of Hendaye

The flag of Hendaye, observed in 2012, is white with the coat of arms, flanked by the name of the commune in French and in Basque, in basque-style font (photo from Sud-Ouest newspaper).

Olivier Touzeau, 24 June 2022