Last modified: 2012-10-13 by ivan sache
Keywords: virton | saltire (yellow) | cross: saltire (yellow) | arrows: 2 (yellow) |
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Municipal flag of Virton - Images by Arnaud Leroy, 29 May 2005
Left, flag in use
Right, flag proposal, not used
See also:
The municipality of Virton (11,228 inhabitants on 1 January 2007, 9,450 ha) is the capital of Gaume, the southernmost part of the province of Luxembourg. The municipality of Virton is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Virton, Bleid, Ethe, Latour, Ruette and Saint-Mard.
In the Middle Ages, the domain of Virton depended on the County of
Chiny.
Ethe is a village made of two sections, Ethe and Belmont, which are
lined along a street on more than two kilometers. In August 1914, the
village was burnt down by the Germans, who shot more than 200
civilians, including a 70 year old woman they had brought from Latour
in order to bury the dead. Ethe is the birth town of Pr. Dr. A. Hustin,
Professor at the Free University of Brussels, who improved blood
transfusion by adding citrate as an anticoagulant.
Saint-Mard is the site of the old village of Virton. The village was
famous for its basket makers and railwaymen.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 29 May 2005
The municipal flag of Virton, as confirmed by the municipal administration, is red with a yellow saltire.
According to Armoiries communales en Belgique. Communes wallonnes, bruxelloises et germanophones, the Heraldry and Vexillology Council of the French Community proposed a flag as Rouge chargé de deux flèches jaunes posées en diagonale (Red charged with two arrows placed in diagonal), which would be a quasi-banner of the municipal arms (assuming that "placed in diagonal" means "crossed in saltire").
The municipal website shows and explains the arms of Virton, De gueules à deux flèches d'or posées en sautoir, ayant pennes et
dards d'argent, les pointes en bas.
Therefore, the arrows are crossed in saltire, pointing downwards, with
white flights and spears. They are shown on a municipal seal dated
1602, with the caption Sigillum Magistratus Virtonensis.
The municipal arms of Virton were granted by Royal Decree on 17 January
1837. On the municipal seal granted by the same Decree, the shield is
surmounted by a crown with nine pearls, recalling that Virton was vassal
of the County of Chiny. After the municipal reform, the crown was
changed for a mural crown with a creneled rampart recalling that Virton
was a fortified town.
The local tradition says that the first arms of Virton were granted by
Emperor Charles V in 1521, when the garrison of Virton resisted to
Robert de la Marck, who besieged the town for the king of France. The arrows pointing downwards mean that the besieged town did
not surrender and are a sign of peace.
Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 29 May 2005