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Nord-Pas de Calais (Region, France)

Flag of Region Nord-Pas de Calais - Photo by Ivan Sache, taken in Dunkirk, 10 October 2009

Administrative data
Flag of the Region
Former flags of the Region
- 1982-1993
- 1993-2007

See also:

Administrative data

Departments: Nord, Pas-de-Calais
Bordering Region: Picardie
Bordering country: Belgium
Traditional provinces: Flanders, Artois, Picardy

Area: 12,414 km²Population (2007): 4,048,000 inhabitants
Regional prefecture: Lille

Ivan Sache, 14 November 2009

Flag of the Region

The flag of Region Nord-Pas de Calais, as seen hoisted over boats moored in the port of Dunkirk, is blue with the regional logo "countercoloured" in the middle: the logo shows on a white background a yellow-orange heart and a blue belfry and writing, while the flag shows on a blue background a yellow- orange heart and a white belfry and writing.

The current logo of the Region was adopted by the Regional Council on 19 October 2007. The heart is symmetric and the belfry, heavily stylized, is vertical. "Région / Nord-Pas de Calais" is written below the heart.

Ivan Sache, 20 September 2009

Former flags of the Region

1982-1993

Flag of Region Nord-Pas de Calais, 1982-1993 - Image by Ivan Sache, 20 September 2009

The first flag of the Region is white with the first logo of the Region. Created in 1982 by the OPN agency (Lille), the logo is made of a dark yellow heart with a triple black border. A black belfry surmonted by a small rectangular black flag emerges from the base of the heart. While the heart represents solidarity and open-mindness, being yellow as the youth, the light and the sun, the belfry represents the spirit of enterprise and liberty.

Belfries, as characteristic elements of the north of France and Belgium, were registered in 1999 (Belgium) and 2005 (France and Gembloux, Belgium) on the UNESCO World Heritage List, with the following comment:

Twenty-three belfries in the north of France and the belfry of Gembloux in Belgium were inscribed as a group, an extension to the 32 Belgian belfries inscribed in 1999 as Belfries of Flanders and Wallonia. Built between the 11th and 17th centuries, they showcase the Roman, Gothic, Renaissance and Baroque styles of architecture. They are highly significant tokens of the winning of civil liberties. While Italian, German and English towns mainly opted to build town halls, in part of north-western Europe, greater emphasis was placed on building belfries. Compared with the keep (symbol of the seigneurs) and the bell-tower (symbol of the Church), the belfry, the third tower in the urban landscape, symbolizes the power of the aldermen. Over the centuries, they came to represent the influence and wealth of the towns.

The registered belfries of Region Nord-Pas de Calais are located in Armentières, Bailleul, Bergues, Cambrai, Douai, Dunkirk (2), Gravelines, Lille and Loos (Department of Nord), and Aire-sur-la-Lys, Arras, Béthune, Boulogne-sur-Mer, Calais and Hesdin (Pas-de-Calais).
Another six belfries are located in Region Picardie (Department of Somme).

1993-2007

Flag of Region Nord-Pas de Calais, 1993-2007 - Image by Philippe-Pierre Darras & Ivan Sache, 20 September 2009

The Region's logo was "renovated" in 1993 by Jérôme Watrelot, from the Quetzal agency (Marcq-en-Barœul), in partnership with the PR Department of the Region and the Nickel agency. In the renovated logo, the heart is white with an orange border; the belfry is stylized and the whole emblem is tilted to the upper right corner of the flag. "RÉGION / NORD / PAS DE CALAIS" is written in blue letters in the lower right corner of the emblem.

The "renovated" flag of the Region is white with the logo in the middle and an orange vertical stripe placed along the hoist. The width of the stripe is ca. 2/9 of the length of the flag, the height of the logo corresponds to ca. 7/8 of the fly of the flag. The colour specifications are:
- Orange: Pantone 1235c / CMYK 0-30-100-0;
- Black: Pantone 288c / CMYK 100-70-0-20.

Variant of the flag of Region Nord-Pas de Calais, 1982-1993 - Image by Philippe-Pierre Darras & Ivan Sache, 20 September 2009 - after a photo taken in Maroilles on 1 May 2007

The flag was sometimes used without the orange stripe.

Ivan Sache, Philippe-Pierre Darras & Pascal Vagnat, 20 September 2009