In Memory of Pascal Vagnat (1972-2016)

It is with a great sadness that I have to announce to you the death of Pascal Vagnat. He has left us on 30 May 2016. His departure was a big surprise! I have had the chance to know him for a long time. He took part in many meetings organized by the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Flaggenkunde and in 2011 at the International Congress of Vexillology of Rotterdam. I present my deep condolences to his mother and to his family.
Michel Lupant, FIAV President, Ottignies-Louvain-La-Neuve, Belgium

Very sad news. We appreciate Pascal's work for vexillology.
Jens Pattke, Germany

How sad and sudden, indeed. He had posted an article on his site just two days before...
Corentin Chamboredon, Le Folgoët, Brittany, France

Oh, no - that is very sad news. I shall miss Pascal's comments on this forum - he was a fine, respected member of our community. RIP
James Dignan, Dunedin, New Zealand

I am totally upset and saddened. I had no news from him for some weeks but had no idea he had passed away. Let me express publicly my sadness and my respect to him. I had the opportunity to meet him several times and he was - he is and will always be in our hearts - a very nice and kind person. I will keep in mind our first meeting, when he showed me several French regional flags of big size in a café and people stared at us through the window as if we were fools. It is a great loss for vexillology of course, but it is above all a great loss for everybody who knew him. We will miss you, dear Pascal.
Olivier Touzeau, Fontenay-sous-Bois, France

I always loved the knowledge that he brought; I still have issues of NAVA News where he reported on a lot of capital city flags in Europe and how some went to more of a logo style than anything traditional. It is a shame I never got to meet him in person, but his kindness on FOTW-FB and through the mailing list is something I will never forget.
Zachary Harden, Russellville, Arkansas, United States of America

It is indeed sad news to learn of the death of our colleague Pascal Vagnat. Several Australians, including myself, had the pleasure of meeting Pascal at the Rotterdam ICV25. Others on this list have already commented on his kindness and ready friendship - we can readily affirm our respect for him. Pascal's website Les emblèmes de France demonstrated the high standard of his vexillological knowledge and research, which he generously shared with other vexillologists through his numerous contributions to FOTW over many years. On behalf of the members of Flags Australia, I express my condolences to Colette Vagnat and his family for their loss.
Ralph Bartlett, President, Flags Australia

Sad news to hear of the passing of Pascal. He had been frequently a very welcomed guest in the meetings of DGF. I chanced to meet him in person twice during the annual DGF meetings and during the ICV meeting in Rotterdam. When I first saw him in Rastatt, I noticed not only his proficiency and his passion but also his profound knowledge about German language. So without having had any information about him I concluded, he must be a Swiss. I remember also his well tempered and calm style of presentation. Reading these sad news about him, I was affected that he was such a young person. I would like to add my condolences to his family. Furthermore I want to express my deep compassion, not only for myself but also in the name of my German comrades of the DGF. I am sure, many of them will miss him. We have lost a friend!
Klaus-Michael Schneider, Hamburg, Germany

It is with pain and surprise that I learn the death of Pascal. He created his first website before I created mine in 2002. His inquiring mind, associated with preciseness and designer talents, have made of his site a reference. We discussed on FOTW-list, then on Francovex before we have physical meet at the Internationals Congresses of Vexillology of Berlin 2007 and Rotterdam 2013. I appreciated his kindness and erudition. On April 27, he showed us on Francovex his proposals flags for the new French regions. On May 28, he was updating his website Les emblèmes de France. On May 30, he left, leaving a vacuum in the sphere of French vexillologists.
Dominique Cureau, Marseille, France

I was very sad to learn about the news of the passing of Pascal. To commemorate our 10th anniversary in 2000, SAVA published a volume co-authored by Pascal and Jos Poels entitled "Constitutions - what they tell us about national flags and coats of arms". I later had the good fortune to meet him at an ICV. On behalf of the South African vexillological community, our condolences to his family. He will be sorely missed.
Bruce Berry, Johannesburg, South Africa

Sad news indeed. Pascal was great vexillologist and true friend. We have met on FOTW some 20 years ago and remained in frequent contact on many projects. We had chance to meet in person on several Congresses of Vexillology, where we confirmed what we knew already for years - that we were good friends. I will miss him so much.
Željko Heimer, Pazinska, Zagreb, Croatia

Sorry to hear the untimely death of Pascal Vagant. I remember Pascal Vagant's lecture presentation "Regional flags in France: History, Use, Legality and identities" at the 25th ICV at Rotterdam in 2013.
Sekhar Chakrabarti, Kolkata, India

It is indeed sad new about Pascal, he will be much missed in the vexillogical community and I would like to add my condolences to his family.
Christopher Southworth, Lancashire, England

This is terrible news. Pascal Vagnat was younger than most of us, born in 1972. We were counting on having him contributing to our field for many years to go. We're sad to witness his career cut short so early, and I'm especially saddened that a closer collaboration with FotW never materialized (I'm not the only one, for sure, who had been regularly nagging Pascal Vagnat to become a FotW-ws editor, only to be met with his good-nurtured, only slightly ironical, refusal).
As soon as I learned about his death, I made sure that his Les emblèmes de France website will not be lost, by (re-)spidering it into web.archive and archive.is. Now - Željko, Jonathan, Zach, and all of you veteran FotWers who are younger than me: Please stay alive, okay?!
António Martins-Tuválkin, Lisbon, Portugal

Indeed shocking news to all of us! I met Pascal several times during ICVs and in particular during German DGF meetings. The first time I met him, I gave him a ride to the meeting in Bonn (I picked him up in Mannheim, AFAIR). We had a long and vivid discussion all the way to Bonn, and I guess this somewhat impaired traffic safety... A big loss, and shockingly way too early!
Manuela Schmöger, Munich, Germany

Sad news, indeed. His was not the age for leaving. While I never communicated with him directly, he once commented about my use of his site as a source. I was familiar enough with his enormous, yet unfinished work, which may now probably remain as such. I can only hope that it will not disappear forever, nor the memory of him either.
Tomislav Todorovic, Zrenjanin, Serbia

in memoriam ce 2016