Moselle (Department, France)

Last modified: 2010-12-03 by ivan sache
Keywords: moselle | lorraine | wave (green) | tree (green) | sword (white) | eagles: 3 (white) | alerion | fishes: 2 (yellow) | crosses: 4 (yellow) | lion (red) | metz | bar | luxembourg |
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Flag of the General Council of Moselle - Photo by Pascal Vagnat, 19 March 2007

• Administrative data
• Flag of the General Council
• Former flags of the General Council
• Municipal flags
  • Bitche
  • Bouzonville (Busendorf)
  • Diebling
  • Gandrange
  • Hambach
  • Puttelange-lès-Thionville
  • Rodemack
  • Sarreguemines
  • Thionville
  • Yutz
• Yacht clubs

See also:

• France
• France: Metropolitan departments
• Clickable map of France (departments)

Administrative data

Code: 57
Region: Lorraine
Traditional province: Lorraine
Bordering departments: Meurthe-et-Moselle, Bas-Rhin, Vosges
Bordering countries: Germany (Federal States of Saar and Rhineland-Palatinate), Luxembourg

Area: 6,216 km²
Population (2006): 1,036,776 inhabitants

Préfecture: Metz
Sous-préfectures: Boulay-Moselle, Château-Salins, Forbach, Sarrebourg, Sarreguemines, Thionville
Subdivisions: 9 arrondissements, 51 cantons, 730 communes.

The department is named after river Moselle (550 km), tributary of the Rhine.
The original department of Moselle was suppressed by the Treaty of Francfort (18 May 1871), being incorporated into Germany except the arrondissement of Briey. In 1919, the department of Moselle was reinstated, with the addition of the arrondissements of Châterau-Salins and Sarrebourg, originally parts of the defunct department of Meurthe.

Ivan Sache, 13 November 2009

Flag of the General Council

The flag of the General Council of Moselle, adopted in 2006, is hoisted on all buildings belonging to the General Council in the department.
The flag is white with the small-sized logo of the General Council in the lower left part of the flag, blue and green elements scattered over the upper right quarter of the flag and the writing "Moselle / ?" in black letters in the lower right part of the flag.

Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 17 November 2009

Former flags of the General Council

Former flag of the department of Moselle, 2000-2006 - Image by Pascal Vagnat, 28 November 2000

The former flag of the department, officially adopted by the General Council in 2000, features the logo of the General Council.
Blue represents the rivers of the department, including Moselle, while green represents the natural environment of the departement.
The flag was offered to all the municipalities, districts and associations of the departement. It was used in the inner courtyard of the General Council, along with the former flag!.

Former flag of the department of Moselle, 1999 - Image by Pascal Vagnat, 28 November 2000

An older, former flag of the department, probably designed in 1999, is white with the departmen's coat of arms and the name of the department writen in black capital letters below the coat of arms.

The arms of the Department of Moselle, are:
Écartelé, au premier de gueules au dextrochère de carnation, vêtu d'azur, mouvant d'un nuage d'argent, tenant une épée haute du même, garnie d'or, accostée de deux cailloux du même ; au deuxième, d'or à la bande de gueules chargée de trois alérions d'argent ; au troisième d'azur à deux bars adossés d'or, cantonnés de quatre croisettes recroisettées, au pied fiché, du même ; au quatrième burelé d'argent et d'azur de dix pièces, au lion de gueules, couronné, armé et lampassé d'or avec sur le tout un écusson parti d'argent et de sable ("Quarterly, 1. Gules a dexter hand proper clothed azure issuant from a cloud in sinister base holding a sword in pale argent pommelled or, 2. Or on a bend gules three alerions argent, 3. Azure crusilly fitchy two barbels addorsed or, 4. Barry of ten argent and azure a lion rampant gules armed langued and crowned or, overall an inescutcheon per pale argent and sable").

These arms, adopted in 1948, highlight the complex history of the department, as follows:
- 1. The arms of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Metz recall the Province of Three Bishoprics (Metz, Verdun and Toul);
- 2. The arms of Lorraine recall that the Bailiwick of Sarreguemines, once part of the Duchy of Lorraine, bore such arms in the 19th century;
- 3. The arms of Bar stand for the region of Moyeuvre-Grande, once part of the Duchy of Bar;
- 4. The arms of Luxembourg stand for the region of Thionville, once part of the Duchy of Luxembourg;
- The escutcheon bears the arms of the medieval Republic of Metz, used today by the town of Metz, capital of the department.

Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 3 October 2009