Montesson (Municipality, Yvelines, France)

Last modified: 2013-12-29 by ivan sache
Keywords: yvelines | montesson | flowers: 3 (blue) | crown (yellow) |
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Flag of Montesson - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 2 January 2002

• Presentation of Montesson
• Flag of Montesson
• Cercle de la Voile des Boucles de Seine

See also:

• France
• Yvelines (Department, France)

Presentation of Montesson

The municipality of Montesson (16,188 inhabitants in 2006; 765 ha) is located 15 km downstream from Paris, in a curve ("boucle") of river Seine.

Ivan Sache, 3 January 2010

Flag of Montesson

The flag of Montesson, as communicated by the municipal administration, is white with the municipal coat of arms placed in the middle.

The coat of arms of Montesson, "Argent, three cinquefoils azure placed two and one", originally belonged to the Montesson family, which might have descended from Ms. Dallard, one of King Louis XIV's wet nurses. The model of the cinquefoil could be the borage (Borrago officinalis L.), a hairy medicinal herb used in the past to expell the devil.

Other elements of the arms are a mural crown with three open towers creneled or and masoned sable, which represents the free and sovereign town, and branches of oak and olive added in the 14th century. Oak symbolizes strength, longevity and wisdom, whereas olive symbolizes peace, fecundity and victory.

The last official version of the arms of Montesson was designed by the heraldist Robert Louis. In 1993, a graphist working for a design studio simplified and modernized the design.

Source: Unofficial municipal website (no longer online)

Arnaud Leroy & Ivan Sache, 2 January 2002

Cercle de la Voile des Boucles de Seine

Flag and burgee of the CVBS - Images by Ivan Sache, 3 January 2010

In autumn 1932, owners of Plongeon sailboats sailing in summertime at Bénodet (Brittany) decided to find a place suitable for sailing all the year round. On 25 January 1933, the General Assembly of the Association des Propriétaires de Plongeon (Association of Plongeon Owners) commissioned Philippe Dauchez, the designer of the Plongeon, and Marcel de Baudoin to find a sailing site located closer to Paris than Meulan, where they had sailed before. In March 1933, the Plongeon owners settled in a garage located at Rueil near the Merle Blanc (White Blackbird) restaurant, upstream from the old bridge of Chatou, in a site often portrayed by the Impressionist painters. The club was incorporated the same year, as Cercle de la Voile de Rueil (CVR).
In 1942, threatened by the air raids targeting the bridge of Chatou, the club moved to a less exposed site located on the borders of the municipalities of Montesson and Sartrouville, and was renamed, accordingly, Cercle de la Voile de Montesson-Sartrouville (CVMS).
Subsequently sponsored by other neighbouring municipalities, the club was eventually renamed Cercle de la Voile des Boucles de Seine (CVBS, website).

The flag of the CVBS (photo) is blue with a red triangle in the middle, whose base covers one third of the flag height, with a white disk superimposed.
The photo confirms the design of the flag, as shown on an old brochure of the club (undated).

The burgee of the CVBS (photo) is a triangular version of the flag.
The burgee painted on the facade of the CVBS club house (still inscribed CVMS) has the triangle's base covering the whole of the hoist, which does not match the real burgee!

Ivan Sache, 3 January 2010