Last modified: 2024-03-23 by olivier touzeau
Keywords: périgueux | dordogne |
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Flags of Périgeux - Image by Olivier Touzeau after a drawing by Pascal Vagnat, 13 March 2022
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Marsac-sur-l'Isle (29,516 inhabitants in 2021, 982 ha) is a commune and the prefecture of Dordogne department, and the capital city of Périgord.
Périgueux is built upon the site of the former Roman city, Civitas Petrocoriorum which flourished during the Roman occupation of Aquitaine in the first centuries AD. A monastery and a church were built on the hill (called le puy Saint Front) near by the Roman city. Puy-Saint-Front grew between the 5th and 13th centuries around the abbey sanctuary containing the body of St. Front, the evangelizer of Périgord, and the first bishop of Périgueux. In the 12th and 13th centuries the old religious buildings were replaced by a Romanesque style basilica. The new church became not only a stop for the pilgrims on their route to Compostela but also the centre of a thriving town. In 1240 the Roman city and the Ville du Puy-Saint-Front united to form Périgueux.
During the Hundred Years Wars Périgueux town was loyal to the French King while its Earl became an ally of the King of England. As a result he was stripped of his title and the county given to the Duke of Orleans, the brother of Charles VI the King of France. Périgueux suffered under Protestant occupation (1575–81) during the 16th-century Wars of Religion. In the 17th century, Périgueux took part in the civil disturbances of the Fronde (1648–53) but was given amnesty by Louis XIV in 1654.
Olivier Touzeau, 13 March 2022
The arms of Périgueux are blazoned: Gules a three-towered castle Argent masonned Sable, the towers at dexter and senester roofed and flagged, the central tower surmonted y a fleur-de-lis Or. The two towers and the gate together symbolize the feudal alliance between the municipalities of Puy-Saint-Front and the roman city. Sometimes the arms are shown with a terrace in base vert; it the version which could be seen on the municipal flag.
No flag is currently spotted in the town. However, before the years 2010, the municipal flag could be observed, as reported by Pascal Vagnat (website) with a photographic evidence from a flagmaker's catalogue: Dejean marine. It is horizontally divided R/V, withe the shield in a yellow outline, and the name of the commune in green on a white label below.
On the Mataguerre tower, the long forked bicolor R/V banner with the coat of arms that could be seen in 2009 (photo) was replaced by nothing during several years (photo, 2015), and now an occitan flag is flown (photo, 2020).
Olivier Touzeau, 12 March 2022