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Vaud canton (Switzerland)

Last modified: 2002-01-12 by pascal gross
Keywords: switzerland | vaud | canton | liberte et patrie |
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[Flag of Vaud]
by António Martins
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Description of the flag

 Per fess argent and vert, in chief the motto "Liberte' et Patrie" or, fimbriated sable.

Horizontally divided into equal parts white over green. The white part is inscribed in gold "Liberte' et Patrie" (freedom and fatherland), and the letters are outlined in black. Lettering on a flag violates rules of heraldry which aim to maximize ease of recognition. (Since flags hang limp, flutter in the breeze, and take on altered forms according to the light, lettering is normally a pointless addition.) But since Vaud is the only Swiss cantonal flag to contain lettering, it is not readily confused with any other. Although rendered in upper case, the last E in "Liberte'" is always accented. The rest of Switzerland occasionally pokes fun at Vaud by deliberately misrepresenting their motto as "Liberté est partie" (freedom is departed).

T.F. Mills, 03 November 1997

I read in the newspaper 24-Heures from Lausanne that the description of the official arms were put upside down in the law. The law states that the arms of the Canton of Vaud are two bars of Sinople and Argent (Green and White) and as in heraldry the first colour mentioned is always on the top.

Pascal Prince, 8 January 2001

Symbolism of the flag

Green and white were the colours of revolution, and were incorporated in the first flag of the Vaudois insurrection in the 1790s. A modified version of the revolutionary flag was adopted when Vaud became a canton in 1803.

T.F. Mills, 03 November 1997

History of the flag

 Vaud was urbanised in ancient Roman times, and contained the Roman capital of Helvetia (Aventicum, or Avenches). Later it was part of Burgundy, and in the 13th century came under the control of Savoy. Parts were annexed by Fribourg and Bern, and in 1536 Bern annexed all the land of Vaud. From 1536 Vaud no longer had its own flag, but it previously had three different ones. At the end of the 13th century it was a black eagle on a gold field, with a red "label of five points" (across the chest of the eagle). During the 14th and 15th centuries it was a red field with a white cross over which ran a narrow diagonal band of blue and gold squares. In 1530 it was changed to a black three-domed mountain floating on a white field.

A Vaudois insurrection against Bern in the 1790s, inspired by the French revolution, was largely responsible for inviting the French invasion in 1798 which destroyed the old Swiss Confederation and replaced it with