Last modified: 2022-03-11 by ivan sache
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![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-35-mg.gif)
Flag of Montgermont - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 31 March 2016
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The municipality of Montgermont (3,243 inhabitants in 2013; 467 ha, therefore one of the smallest municipalities in Ille-et-Vilaine; municipal website) is located just north of Rennes.
Montgermont was first mentioned in 1152 as a trêve (subdivision of a parish, usually located quit far from the parish's seat; the root trev-, treo-, or tre- is found in several toponyms) depending on the parish of Pacé, ruled by the St. Melaine (Rennes) abbey. The parish of Montgermont was probably erected in the early 13th century; a parish priest named Raoul is mentioned on a document dated 1218. The village developed around a medieval motte-and-bailey castle.
The local hero of Montgermont is Michel Gérard, a farmer who lived in the village of Tuel. Elected Representative for the Third State at the General State, Gérard went to Versailles in his working clothes. He was noticed by King Louis XVI, who welcomed him saying Bonjour, mon bonhomme (Hi, old chap). Nicknamed "Père Gérard" (Father Gérard), he delivered several speeches that were highly estimated for good sense. He remained an example of parliamentary probity, refusing any wage when he was not present and asking the representatives at the Convention to abandon their wages until the Constitution is completed. At the end of the parliamentary session, Gérard went back to his farm, where he worked until his death in 1815.
Ivan Sache, 31 March 2016
The flag in use in Montgermont since 2006 (photo, photo, photo, photo) is white with the municipal logo. Made of a "modernized shield", the logo evokes "a green and dynamic municipality through its colours and significant elements of its heritage: valleys, the feudal motte-and-bailey castle and the church - which form a "M", for "Montgermont".
[Municipal website]
Ivan Sache, 31 March 2016
![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-35-m1.gif)
Former flag of Montgermont - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 25 December 2003
The former flag of Montgermont (photo, Town Hall), was white with the municipal coat of arms and the name of the municipality
written in blue below the shield.
The municipal arms of Montgermont, "Lozengy or and gules a fess azure fretty argent", are shown on a gothical window located above the main gate of the St. Martin church. They were the arms of the lords of Montgermont, known from 1086 to extinction of their lineage in the 15th century.
[Municipal website]
Ivan Sache, 31 March 2016