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Pantin(Municipality, Seine-Saint-Denis, France)

Presentation of Pantin
Former flag of Pantin

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Presentation of Pantin

Pantin (60,954 inhabitants on 501 ha) is a commune located on the northeastern edge of the city of Paris.

Permanent occupation of the site is attested in the 2nd century. The Catholic parish may be of Merovingian origin. The first acquisitions of the Saint-Martin-des-Champs priory in Pantin are documented between 1082 and 1089. In 1563, the prior of Saint-Martin sold the seigneury of Pantin and Pré-Saint-Gervais. Long a rural area, the territory truly began to develop in the 19th century, driven by the Industrial Revolution and the construction of the Ourcq Canal.
Primarily to supply Paris with clean water, the construction of the Ourcq Canal was ordered by Bonaparte by decree on 29 Floréal, Year X (May 19, 1802). The canal diverted water from the Ourcq River to a reservoir in the city of Paris, located near the village of La Villette, and its foundation stone was laid on September 23, 1803. The canal was put into service in 1804 and also served as a freight transport hub, subsequently fostering industrial development in the surrounding area. It became a strategic route for transporting goods and left a lasting mark on the city's identity.

Pantin was one of the villages that, during the 1814 campaign, served as an outpost for the French garrison of Paris during the Battle of Paris. Following the capitulation of the French army, signed on March 31, the French army surrendered. Pantin was occupied for three months by Anglo-Scottish troops who looted the village, devastated by the battle. The Paris-Strasbourg Railway Company opened the Pantin station in 1864, facilitating travel for residents and the economic development of the town. Numerous industries and warehouses sprang up there. It was in the former match factory that the harmless phosphorus sesquisulfide paste was discovered, replacing the dangerous white phosphorus. Like many other companies, Félix Potin had large warehouses in Pantin at the beginning of the 20th century, connected to the railway.
In 1923, Charles Benoît, along with Abel Bardin, founded the Motobécane workshops (after bankruptcy in 1981, it was purchased by Yamaha and reformed in 1984 as MBK). Also in 1923, Eugène Haug rebuilt the Grands Moulins de Pantin, an industrial flour mill constructed in an Alsatian style, modeled after the Grands Moulins de Paris and those of Corbeil.

The town suffered severe damage during bombing raids in World War II. On August 15, 1944, the last convoy of deportees from the Paris region, composed of 2,500 men and women released from Parisian prisons and Fort Romainville, departed from the cattle platform at Pantin station. In 1959, construction began on Les Courtillières, designed by Émile Aillaud. Comprising 1,500 apartments in one long building and two smaller ones that wind around a 4-hectare park, it was one of the first large housing developments in the Paris region.

Olivier Touzeau, 10 December 2025

Former flag of Pantin

Former flag of Pantin - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 10 December 2025

As reported by our late friend Pascal Vagnat (website):
The former flag of Pantin was a banner of arms. It was used between 1930 and 1939 during festivals organized by the town.
Source: archives and personal observations of French vexillologist Lucien Philippe †.

The coat of arms is blazoned: Argent a cross between four mullets pierced all Gules.
In July 1942, by decree establishing the coats of arms of the municipalities of the Seine department, the coat of arms of Pantin officially became "argent, a cross gules cantoned with four spur rowels of the same," that is to say, a white shield with a red cross and, in each corner, a red spur rowel. This decision merely ratified a situation dating back to the previous century. In the 19th century, Pantin "borrowed" its coat of arms from the Pantin de Landémont family — whose fiefdom never included the town.
NB: In the Pantin de Landémont family arms, the cross is Sable and the mullets have 5 rays.

Olivier Touzeau, 10 December 2025