Vaud canton (Switzerland) (original) (raw)

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

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 the unitary Helvetic Republic. The flag of the Vaudois revolution was green inscribed in white with the motto "Liberté, Egalité" (freedom, equality). Within the Helvetic Republic, the Vaudois territory became independent of Bern as the new Canton of Léman.

With the Restoration of the Swiss Confederation in 1803 (Act of Mediation), Vaud became one of the six new cantons, and adopted as its flag a variant of the insurrectional flag of the previous decade. At first the lettering of "Liberté et Patrie" was in black, and there may also have been some in green. In 1819 Vaud organised its army and adopted a war flag which featured an escutcheon of the cantonal arms on a flamed green and white field. This escutcheon fixed the arms and equivalent flag in their current form (source: [ges43]).

Stained glass pane (1961) by François Ribas. The woman with the grapes represents the old viticulture of Vaud. Its main focus is on the production of white wine (despite this picture), which fits perfectly to the Vaudoisian colours white, green and gold (source).

Variations of the Flag

[](../images/c/ch-vd3.gif) image by António Martins

[](../images/c/ch-vd2.gif) image by António Martins

An often variation, with the lettering not only outlined but also shadowed.
António Martins, 4 January 1998

[](../images/c/ch-vd%5Fw.gif) image by António Martins

A simple white over green bicolor, used, for instances, in license plates.
António Martins, 4 January 1998

[](../images/c/ch-pvd.gif) image by António Martins

An often pun, meaning instead "Freedom has gone".
António Martins, 4 January 1998

[](../images/c/ch-vd!n.gif) image by António Martins

An oddly colored image from an outside source: A 1911 Swiss postage stamp, seen at http://naxum.tripod.com/heraldry/17xch109.jpg (in Nahum Shereshevsky's excellent thematic philatelic collection, see it fullyhere [retrieved]): Black letters, instead of black-fimbriated golden letters. This must be an often "practical" variation, as also the letterless variation above.
António Martins, 3 January 2006

Mühlemann (1991) reports that the decree from 1803 about the cantonal coat of arms doesn't define the colours of the writing. Initially, he writes, it always was depicted in black. I suppose this has to do with the printed version (and the seal) on documents which has always been black-and-white. Mühlemann doesn't define the time when the colour turned from black to gold. He reports about three green-white military flags with golden writings, which could explain the origin of the golden letters. The one flag from 1804, white over green, has the golden writing LIBERTÉ ET PATRIE on the upper half and CANTON DE VAUD on the lower half; the other two are battalion flags from 1819 (white cross "traversante" and green-white flames) with the same writings in reverse order, also in gold (picture from [mue91]). However, the change from black to gold was not radical. There are examples of black writing when the gold variant was already established, e.g. the flag from 1849 of a philanthropic society which shows the cantonal coats of arms beside each other.
Martin Karner, 4 January 2006

Colour Flag

[](../images/c/ch-vd%5F56.gif) image by Ole Andersen

Simple rectangular cantonal flag, as shown in Kannik (1956) [So-called colour flag (_Farbenfahne_ in German). See also postcard from 1903]].
Ole Andersen, 4 August 2002

See also: STATE COLOURS in Dictionary of Vexillology

Flaggen, Knatterfahnen and Livery Colours
[](../images/c/ch-vd%5Ff.gif)	[](../images/c/ch-vd%5Fkf.gif)	[](../images/c/ch-vd%5Fff.gif)

images by Pascal Gross

Flaggen are vertically hoisted from a crossbar in the manner of gonfanon, in ratio of about 2:9, with a swallowtail that indents about 2 units. The chief, or hoist (square part) usually incorporates the design from the coat of arms – not from the flag. The fly part is always divided lengthwise, usually in a bicolour, triband or tricolour pattern (except Schwyz which is monocolour, and Glarus which has four stripes of unequal width). The colours chosen for the fly end are usually the main colours of the coat of arms, but the choice is not always straight forward.

Knatterfahnen are similar to Flaggen, but hoisted from the long side and have no swallow tail. They normally show the national, cantonal or communal flag in their chiefs.

Željko Heimer, 16 July 2000

See also: HANGING FLAG, VERTICALLY HOISTED FLAG,LIVERY COLOURS in Dictionary of Vexillology

Attempted Flag Change

There will be a new consitution for Vaud canton which will take effect on 14 April 2003, on the bicentenary of the entry of Vaud canton into the Swiss confederation. There is a motion to change the text on the arms from "Liberté et Patrie" (Freedom and Fatherland) to "Liberté et Solidarité" (Freedom and Solidarity). A popular vote will be held in 2002 to accept or refuse this decision adopted by the Constituent Assembly of the canton (75 in favour, 64 against this decision). Vaud canton is the only one in Switzerland to have lettering on its blazon.
Pascal Gross, 6 September 2000

It is worth reporting on all the aberrations of the "Constituante" (constituent assembly) which is a group of people working on the future constitution of Vaud canton. I would not put all the people from Vaud canton in the same basket as there have been a lot of reactions on all these decisions, and I'm quite convinced that they will keep the current flag in the new constitution. Effectively, I can't see how they would take the risk of seeing the constitution refused for "a modification like that" (words of Christelle Luisier, chief of the radical group).
Pascal Gross, 8 January 2001

Early 20th Century Flag Design

images located by Martin Karner
(Postmark: 1933 | source) (source)

At the beginning of the 20th century, flamed flags were still in use, with the white cross replaced by a (baroque) shield in the centre of the flag. These decorative flags had been used until WWII and then somewhat forgotten in preference of the current cantonal flags. [Today they are being produced again, see right image]
Pascal Gross, 30 June 2002

See also:

• National flag and other cantonal flags with "Early 20th century flag design"
• Modern flamed flags
• FLAMMES in Dictionary of Vexillology

Logo

logo.jpg) image located by Martin Karner (8 May 2024)
(source)

Horizontal Logo

logo_hor.jpg) image located by Martin Karner (8 May 2024)
(source)

The horizontal logo was made for institutions and projects which are supported by the Canton.

Cockade

image located by Martin Karner
(source)

Cockade for the cantonal troops' headgear (regulation from 1869, size: ca. 40 mm, reverse side).
Martin Karner, 14 March 2025

See also: Cockades (Swiss Army)