Last modified: 2010-11-12 by ivan sache
Keywords: centre | centre-val de loire | heart (blue) | arrow (blue) |
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![[Flag of Region Centre]](../images/f/fr-r-ce.gif)
Flag of Region Centre - Image by Ivan Sache, 30 August 2009
See also:
Departments: Cher,
Eure-et-Loir,
Indre,
Indre-et-Loire,
Loiret,
Loir-et-Cher
Bordering Regions: Auvergne,
Bourgogne,
Basse-Normandie,
Haute-Normandie,
Île-de-France,
Limousin, Pays de
la Loire, Poitou-Charentes
Traditional provinces: Anjou,
Berry,
Bourbonnais,
Maine,
Marche,
Île-de-France,
Orléanais,
Poitou,
Touraine
Area: 39,151 km2
Population (1995): 2,433,200 inhabitants
Regional prefecture:
Orléans
The Regional Council of Centre decided to change the name of the Region to Centre-Val de Loire. The official adoption of the new name, by Law, required the preliminary approval by all the Region's departments and all the other Regions. Region Pays de la Loire rejected the new name, claiming "Loire" to belong to them. Accordingly the Ministry of the Interior a classé définitivement le dossier (definitively stopped the procedure of changing the name).
The Tourism Bureau of the Region Centre has decided, however, to use the rejected name of on its papers, posters, pamphlets, etc. According to the PR department of the Council, the results was astonishing, American and Japanese people understanding then that the Châteaux de la Loire (castles in the Loire valley) are in the Region Centre because of the use of the word Loire.
A mistake was indeed made when names were assigned to the Regions. Pays de la Loire should not have been giben such a name, since
River Loire waters only two departments on five of the
Region, whereas the river is watering four departments in the
Region Centre, which should have got this name.
Pascal Vagnat, 20 January 1999
The flag of Region Centre, similar to the "horizontal" logo of the Region (see the graphic chart on the Region's website), is white with a white map of France outlined in blue and pierced by a very stylized heart, represented in various shades of blue. "Région Centre" is written in blue letters below the emblem.
On the "vertical logo", "Région" is placed above the emblem and
"Centre" below it.
The flag can be seen, for instance, at the entrances of the Domain
(castle, park and gardens) of Chaumont-sur-Loire, owned by the
Regional Council of Centre.
Pascal Vagnat gives a reference for the flag dating back to March 2003
(Région Centre. Le Journal, No. 2).
![[Flag of Region Centre]](../images/f/fr-r-c1.gif)
Former flag of Region Centre - Image by Ivan Sache, 30 August 2009
Pascal Vagnat additionally shows the previous version of the flag, after his personal observation, dated August 1997. On that flag, the shape of the map of France is different, the heart is really heart-shaped with three shades of blue, lighter inside the heart, brighter outside it, ending in an arrow piercing the map. REGION CENTRE is written above the emblem, LE / CŒUR-DE-FRANCE below it.Ivan Sache, 30 August 2009