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Flag of Vertou, current and former versions - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 12 May 2021
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The municipality of Vertou (25,045 inhabitants in 2018; 3,568 ha; municipal website) is located in the south-western outskirts of Nantes.
Excavations made in the village of la Blandinnière have yielded a tomb
with human bones and pottery fragments; other Prehistoric artefacts
(arrowheads, bowls) have been found elsewhere in Vertou.
Around 600, the Bishop of Nantes asked St. Martin to found two abbeys
in Vertou; the first one was located behind the today's presbytery and
its 18th century gate still stands, whereas the second one was
located behind St. Peter's Cross. A legend says that Martin planted his
pilgrim's staff on the site of today's cure; the staff took root,
branched out and grew up as a big yew for centuries. The first parish
church was built by St. Martin in 576; the building of a new, bigger
church started in 840 but was never completed because of the Norsemen's
invasions; a third church was consecrated in 945 and destroyed on 17
September 1793. The current church was built between 1875 and 1887.
From 1470 to 1650, the monks undertook large-scale work. They built the
Monks' Causeway, a dam regulating the flow of river Sèvre and
allowing navigation, which dramatically contributed to the development
of Vertou. In the 17th century, the regulation system was completed
with locks; the main lock, still in use, was built by Pierre Desprez in
1755. Trade on the Sèvre was important in the 19th century: in 1830,
1,639 ships carrying 13,082 tons of goods crossed the Monks' Causeway.
The writer François Rabelais (c. 1494-1553) visited the region of Vertou; he stayed in La Haie-Fouassière, where he enjoyed the local fouaces (wheat pancakes baked in the ashes), and in Vertou, where he enjoyed the local green salads, blood sausage and wines. The white wine produced in Vertou belongs to >Muscadet de Sèvre-et-Maine.
Ivan Sache, 15 May 2018
The flag of Vertou (photo) is white with the municipal logo, which was adopted in 2019, featuring the motto "inspirer...". Beforehand, the flag (photo, photo) was used with a slightly different, horizontal version of the logo.
Olivier Touzeau, 12 May 2021
Flags of Vertou seen in Morges (Switzerland)
Knatterfahne (left), square flag (middle) and anniversary flag (right of Vertou used in Morges - Images by Arnaud Leroy, 22 June 2006
Vertou has been twinned since 1956 twinned with the Swiss town of Morges, where another excellent white wine is produced. The flag of Vertou has been seen in Morges along with the municipal flag of Morges and the flag of
the canton of Vaud. The three flags are in the Knatterfahne format, that is with a square part
showing the arms of the entity and a vertical, bicolor tail (white and
red for Morges, white and green for Vertou and Vaud). The flags were
also seen in square format, following the Swiss use for municipal
flags.
Yet another flag representing Vertou was seen in Morges during the celebration of
the 50th anniversary of the partnership between the two towns.
The flag looks more French than Swiss in its shape than the two
previous ones. It is a white rectangular flag with the coat of arms of
Vertou in the middle, with the name of the town in green capital
letters added in chief.
The coat of arms of Vertou, adopted in 1957 by the Municipality and
registered in 1972 by the Commission of Civic Heraldry of the
Department of Loire-Atlantique, are "Argent on the trunk of a yew tree eradicated vert a fleur de lis or dexter an ermine spot sable ensigned by a fleur de lis azure and
sinister a fleur de lis also azure ensigned by an ermine sport also
sable".
The yew recalls the legendary foundation of Vertou by St. Martin. For
the Celts, the yew, as a symbol of eternity, was often planted near
cemeteries; several villages in Normandy, Brittany... still have a big
yew near the cemetary, which indicates a very ancient Celtic origin.
ND & Ivan Sache, 22 June 2006
Flag of the Quadrille Sèvre-et-Maine - Image by Raphaël Vinet, 9 November 2002
The Quadrille Sèvre-et-Maine (website) is Vertou's Celtic circle, which was
founded in 1973 as the Cercle Celtique Saint-Martin and later renamed
Quadrille Sèvre-et-Maine, for the Sèvre nantaise and
the Maine, the two rivers that water Vertou. The circle was renamed to Cercle celtique de Vertou in October 2010.
The flag of the Quadrille Sèvre-et-Maine (photo<.A>, designed in 2002 by Raphaël Vinet, also the Quadrille's regular standard bearer, is based on the historical flag of the Duchy of
Brittany, the Kroaz-Du (black cross on
white). The canton is yellow, charged in the center with the
Vertou yew featured on the municipal arms. The yew is
flanked by two green grapes, recalling the Vertou vineyards and two diagonal green
waves recalling rivers Sèvre and Maine. The three other
cantons are charged with five ermine spots.
[Raphaël Vinet - Kreabreizh]
Ivan Sache, 9 November 2010