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Fougères (Municipality, Ille-et-Vilaine, France)

Flag of Fougères - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 7 February 2002

Presentation of Fougères
Flag of Fougères
Flags on the castle of Fougères

See also:

Presentation of Fougères

Fougéres (22,819 inhabitants) is a sous-préfecture of the departement of Ille-et-Villaine. The city is located on the banks of the river Nancon, on the historical boundary between France and Brittany.

In the 13th century, Raoul II led a revolt of the Breton barons against their suzereign, Henry II Plantagenet, King of England and Duke of Normandy. In 1166, Henry II seized the city and destroyed the castle, which was immediatly rebuilt by Raoul, and is still standing on the right bank of the Nancon. Although strongly fortified, the castle of Fougères was seized several times, e.g. by Saint-Louis and Constable Du Guesclin.

Marquis de la Rouerie (1751-1793), one of the leader of the chouannerie, the Royalist insurrection which spread over western France between 1793 and 1800, was born in Fougères. The French novelist Honoré de Balzac (1799-1850) located episodes of his novel Les Chouans in Fougères.

Fougères is known for its crystal-works, founded in 1645, and shoe industry, which started in 1852.

Ivan Sache, 7 February 2002

Flag of Fougères

The Flag of Fougères is quartered, 1 and 4 yellow with three fern fronds (leaves), 2 and 3 semy of ermine spots. According to P. Rault (Les drapeaux bretons de 1188 à nos jours [rau98]), this flag was used in Fougères in the late 1960s.
The flag is canting since fougère means fern in French. First mention of the town's name is Fulgeriis (1144), from Latin filicaria, fern.

Arnaud Leroy & Ivan Sache, 7 February 2002

Flag of on the castle of Fougères

Banners of arms on the castle of Fougères - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 25 January 2025
1st row: Lusignan, Guibé, Plesguen;
2d row: Haye-Saint-Hilaire, Pommereul, and (currently lacking) barony of Fougères

The castle of Fougères was built on a naturally protected site, a rock emerging from a swamp surrounded by a loop of the Nançon river acting as a natural moat. It had three different enclosures: the first for defensive purposes; the second for day to day usages in peacetime and for safety of the surrounding populations in times of siege; and the last for the protection of the keep. In all it has an impressive 13 towers.
The first wooden fort was built by the House of Amboise in the eleventh century. It was destroyed in 1166 after it was besieged and taken by King Henry II of England. It was immediately rebuilt by Raoul II Baron de Fougères. Fougères was not involved in the Hundred Years' War until 1449, when the castle was taken by surprise by an English mercenary. In 1488, the French troops won the castle back after a siege and the castle lost its military role. Today the castle belongs to the municipality and is one of Europe's largest medieval fortresses.

Five banners of arms can be observed on the castle: photo (2008), photo (2011), photo (2022), photo (2024).
The flags are the banners of arms of:

the Lusignan family. The Lusignans, originally from Poitou, took control of Fougères following the marriage of Hugues de Lusignan, Count of Angoulême, to Jeanne de Fougères in 1253. Their coat of arms
is a combination of the Lusignan coat of arms (barry of ten argent and azure [see too in Parthenay]) with a lion of gules, the initial coat of arms of the Kingdom of Cyprus.
the Guibé family. The Guibé family came to power in Fougères through Jacques de Guibé in 1498. Their coat of arms is blazoned Argent silver three bars gemel Gules accompanied by six escallops Azure, with a chief Or". The banner of arms was produced without the Chief Or.
the Plesguen family. They took control of Fougères with Bertrand de Plesguen who became its captain in 1527. After the article, their coat of arms is blazoned Gules three escallops Azure. But the banner of
arms is white (Argent) with red (Gules) escallops.
the Haye-Saint-Hilaire family. The family of La Haye-Saint-Hilaire brought five governors to Fougères, starting with René (1568-1593). Their coat of arms is "Argent, a lion Sable".
the Pommereul family. The Pommereuls began to manage the castle around 1770 through François de Pommereul, an artillery officer. Their coat of arms is Gules, a chevron Or, accompanied by three mullets of
six points pierced and of the same.

The article on actu.fr (2022) underlines that the banner of arms of the Barony of Fougères is missing (a fern on a background Or). The Fougères were the first family to have reigned over the town and the castle.
This banner was present before the beginning of the 2000s, flying alongside the Gwen-ha-Du (flag of Brittany) at the top of the Gobelins Tower. They were simply stolen by tourists and the municipality never put them back in place. The bare mast there is the last witness to this.

Olivier Touzeau, 25 January 2025

The banner of arms of the Lusignan resembles the ensign of Luxembourg very closely: the order of the 10 fesses/stripes, Argent and Azure instead of the opposite — sheer coincidence, or is there a story around it?

António Martins, 25 January 2025

The banner of arms of Lusignan hoisted on the castle of Fougères seems to be erroneous, with the order of bars reversed - it should be argent and azure, although there are sources (minority, though) which display
azure and argent.
Regarding the similarity of Lusignan arms with those of Luxembourg, it shall be noted that:

The Luxembourgs and the Lusignans have had different founts of honour - Holy Roman Empire and Kingdom of France, respectively.
The arms of Luxembourg were derived from those of Limburg by replacing the plain argent field with a barry one. On the other hand, the Lusignan arms were originally a simple barry shield, while the
lion was added as an augmentation to those Lusignans who fought in the Third Crusade under Richard I of England; some of those armigers returned to France, where their arms went out of use after a few
generations, while those who remained in the Outremer succeeded to the throne of Cyprus and used the arms for nearly three centuries, also modifying it by replacing the barry field with a plain argent one to
create the territorial arms of Cyprus.

Tomislav Todorović, 25 January 2025