^{This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website}

Watten (Municipality, Nord, France)

Flag of Watten - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 13 December 2025

Presentation of Watten
Flag of Watten

See also:

Presentation of Watten

Watten (2,567 inhabitants, 732 ha) is a commune in the Nord department.
The municipality of Watten is located on the northern edge of the
Audomarois marshland. It is here that a narrow channel partially
retains the waters of the Aa River in the marsh before the river
reaches the coast by crossing the coastal plain. This narrow channel is the origin of the municipality's name; Watten is thought to derive from Wotten, meaning "ford" in Flemish. Thanks to some archaeological discoveries made on Watten Hill, evidence of human occupation dating back to Roman times has been established.

When the sea still covered the lands now built upon and cultivated, Roman tribes chose to settle in Watten. They were overthrown by the Franks, who were themselves driven out by the Normans, who destroyed the town in 881. It was the presence of monasteries that saved Watten from abandonment. In 1072, a priest decided to found a monastery on Watten Mountain. Over the centuries, the town was the prize in numerous battles and suffered from the conflicts between the sovereigns of France, England, Flanders, and Spain, to whom it belonged alternately until 1678, the date of its definitive return to France. From the end of the 19th century, the town experienced a flourishing industry: tile works, spinning mills, and shipyards, whose growth was facilitated by the town's geographical location at the crossroads of communication routes.
The village is famous for its old ruined abbey, and for its mill, which was restored in the 1990s.

Olivier Touzeau, 13 December 2025

Flag of Watten

The arms of Cobrieux are blazoned :
Argent, a chevron gules between 3 crescents sable.

The flag is white with the arms and the name of the village : photo, photo (2025).

Olivier Touzeau, 13 December 2025