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![[Flag of Anthisnes]](../images/b/be-wlgan.gif)
Municipal flag of Anthisnes - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 24 March 2005
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The municipality of Anthisnes (4,011 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 3,707 ha) is located in the region of Condroz, south of Liège. The municipality of Anthisnes is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Anthisnes, Hody,
Tavier and Villers-aux-Tours, encompassing the 21 villages and
hamlets of Anthisnes, Baugnée, Berleur, Coibehay, Hestreux,
Hody, Houchenée, Lagrange, La Ramée, La Rock, Les
Floxhes, Limont, Moulin, Rapion, Targnon, Tavier, Tolumont, Viegeay,
Vien, Villers-aux-Tours and Xhos.
Arable land and forests represent 61% and 21% of the municipality
area, respectively.
The name of Anthisnes might come from Anteus, the owner of
a Roman villa (estate). At that time, the
Roman way between Reims and Cologne crossed the territory of
Anthisnes.
In 946, Anthisnes became an ecclesiastic domain. From 1125, the
fief known as Antina belonged exclusively to the abbey of
Waulsort. The powerful prince-bishops of
Liège could not perceive any tax
on this fief until 1686. In 1664, Guillaume Natalis, abbey of the St.
Lawrence's church in Liège, bought the fief of Anthisnes. In
1768, the prince-bishop of Liège exchanged Anthisnes for other
domains with the Prince-Abbot of Stavelot.
When the county of Logne and the principality of
Stavelot-Malmédy were incorporated into France in 1795, the
villages of Anthisnes and Vien were merged into a municipality of the
department of Ourthe, which later constituted the Belgian
province of Liège.
Stone extraction was the main industry in Anthisnes. Extraction of
limestone locally called petit granite started in the area of Anthisnes in the Middle Ages in order to built fortresses and, later, churches and farms. Industrial
extraction of stone started in Anthisnes around 1875. There were in
1896 four quarries in Anthisnes, hiring 200 workers and 17 horses.
The annual production was 2,700 cubic meters of freestone, that is 17
% of the production of the province of Liège. An other 655
cubic meters of rubber stones were also produced, as well as 77,000
cobblestones. The quarries of limestone were located in Anthisnes
whereas sandstone was extracted in Tavier and Villiers-aux-Tours for
cobblestone production.
This industry reached its peak in 1909, with 819 workers hired by
fifteen quarries. Stone extraction started to decline after the First
World War, during which cheaper substitute materials were
popularized. After the Second World War, the quarries of Anthisnes
hired foreign workers, Italians and then Portuguese.
Today, there are only three quarries still in exploitation in La
Hazotte, Sprimont and Résimont, hiring 20 workers.
During the golden age of stone extraction, stones from
Anthisnes were used to build several monuments such as the Central
Post Office in Liège, the columns of the bridge of
Fragnée (1905), the Monument of the Fifteenth Anniversary
(cinquantenaire) of the independence in Brussels and
the statue of King Albert I on the starting point of the Albert Canal
in Liège.
Source: Municipal website
Ivan Sache, 8 February 2003
The municipal flag of Anthisnes is horizontally divided green-white-green,
with two yellow disks placed horizontally in the upper green stripe,
three black ermine spots placed horizontally in the white stripe, and
one yellow disk placed in the lower green stripe, all these elements
being placed close to the hoist.
According to Armoiries communales en Belgique. Communes wallonnes, bruxelloises et
germanophones, the flag of Anthisnes was adopted by
the Municipal Council on 7 June 1990 and confirmed by the Executive of
the French Community on 4 April 1996, as:
Trois laizes longitudinales verte, blanche et verte d'égale largeur,
la première chargée de deux besants jaunes, la deuxième de trois
mouchetures d'hermine noires, la troisième d'un besant jaune, ces
figures occupant la moitié à la hampe.
The flag is a quasi-banner of arms, the elements of the arms being
skewed to the flag hoist. The arms belonged to the Lierneux family (the
municipality of Lierneux, located not far from Anthisnes, uses
different arms and has no reported flag).
The official description states that the three stripes are of equal
width, which is unnecessary (the width of the stripes needs to be
stated only if they are not equal).
Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 17 May 2007