Indre (Department, France)

Last modified: 2026-09-19 by olivier touzeau
Keywords: indre |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors

Flag of Indre - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 8 September 2026

• Administrative data
• Flag of Indre
• Former flag of the Departmental Council
• Flag of the former General Council
• Fire service in Indre
• Municipalities
  • Châteauroux
  • La Châtre
  • Mézières-en-Brenne
  • Saint-Gaultier
  • Saint-Maur
  • Valençay
  • Vatan
• Intermunicipal Authorities
• Firefighters of Indre (Sapeurs-pompiers de l'Indre)
• Departmental sports field (Plaine Départementale des Sports)

See also:

• France
• France: Metropolitan departments
• Clickable map of France (departments)

Administrative data

Code: 36
Region: Centre-Val de Loire
Traditional provinces: Berry, Touraine, Poitou, Marche
Bordering departments: Cher, Creuse, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher, Vienne, Haute-Vienne

Area: 6,903 km²
Population (2021): 217,228 inhabitants

Préfecture: Châteauroux
Sous-préfectures: Le Blanc, La Chatre, Issoudun
Subdivisions: 4 arrondissements, 13 cantons, 242 municipalities.

The department is named after river Indre (265 km), a tributary to the Loire.

Ivan Sache, 11 April 2019

Flag of Indre

In 2025, a new logo was adopted y the departmental council of Indre.
According to this article on the official LinkedIn page of the departmental council:

"This new logo features:
- a modern design, where the frame has been removed to allow for freedom of movement. The kestrel is no longer confined; it is taking flight. This is a deliberate choice: the Department of Indre is open, dynamic, and forward-looking.
- the addition of the word "Berry," a powerful identifier for our region. By including this geographical and historical reference, the Department of Indre reaffirms its roots and its pride in belonging to a land rich in history, customs, heritage, and craftsmanship. This new visual identity reflects our commitment to modernization and innovation, while remaining true to our roots. The kestrel - our local authority’s emblem for nearly forty years- has not aged a day, and the qualities it embodies continue to guide the way we operate.
This bird:
- knows how to gain altitude to better analyze situations before acting,
- possesses the great quality of a clear call that ensures it is understood,
- is a staunch defender of its territory,
- protects crops - the fruits of the land and the hard work of our farmers."

Altough it can be translated as kestrel, the word chosen by the department, "émouchet", refers in French rather to another bird, the sparrowhawk (Accipiter nisus).
But, surprisingly enough, the current flag derivated from the new logo doesn't show  the famous bird, but only the textual parts of the logo, insisting on the links of Indre with Berry: photo (oct. 2025), photo (July 2025).

Olivier Touzeau, 8 September 2026

Former flag of the Departmental Council

Former flag of the Departental Council of Indre - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 8 September 2026

After 2015, general councils vers replaced by departmental councils, and Indre adopted a new logo, with the words "Le Département", and a refreshed drawing of the bird (traditionnally identified as a common kestrel). This logo was in use from 2015 to 2025.
A white flag with this logo existed: photo (2023).

Olivier Touzeau, 8 September 2026

Flag of the former General Council

Flag of the former General Council of Indre - Image by Ivan Sache, 30 September 2009

The flag of the former General Council of Indre (photo, 7 August 2001) was white with the logo of the General Council.

The logo of the General Council, derived from a former logo, was made of a blue rectangle charged with a white raptor and "INDRE" in white letters. "CONSEIL GENERAL" is written in blue letters under the rectangle.
The raptor is a Common Kestrel (Falco tinnunculus L.), locally known as scarcelle (in usual French, crécerelle). The bird is represented on the logo in its specific flight behaviour, known as "Holy Spirit", as a reference to the Holy Spirit's Dove. This is a nearly stationary flight, the bird facing the wind with its spread tail and wings forming a cross.
The bird most probably alludes to the region of Brenne, a flat area made of moors and more than 2,000 ponds, listed as a "humid area of international significance" by IUCN. More than 300 bird species can be spotted there; 40 of them, including the kestrel, live there all the year round.

Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 30 September 2009

Firefighters of Indre

Flag of SDIS36 - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 23 March 2019

The departmental fire and rescue services (Services départementaux d'incendie et de secours, SDIS) are the public administrative bodies with a deliberating assembly that manage the firefighters at the departmental level. In the CASDIS (board of the departmental fire and rescue service) seat departmental councillors, mayors, presidents of intermunicipal authorities. The President of the Departmental Council is, by right, President of the CASDIS.

The flag of the SDIS36 (photo, photo), as seen in front of the headquarters of the fire service inaugurated in 2018, is white with the words "Sapeurs-Pompiers de l'Indre", a firefighter helmet, and the logo of the SDIS36 (a map of Indre with the departmental coat of arms, on which the blue field has been modified into black and with the word "Indre" on the shield, and a red helmet above).

Olivier Touzeau, 23 March 2019

Departmental sports field (Plaine Départementale des Sports)

Current (left) and former (right) flags of Plaine Départementale des Sports - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 8 September 2026

Established in 2014, the Plaine Départementale des Sports (departmental sports field), located alongside the ring road at the Maison Départementale des Sports site in Châteauroux (Indre), is an "exceptional facility, unique in France, spanning 7.5 hectares. This free, multi-sport complex offers the sporting community (including sports committees and registered club members) state-of-the-art facilities featuring the latest technology, enabling both practice and introductory sessions for around fifty different sports. The Plaine Départementale des Sports is open and accessible to a wide audience - particularly registered sports club members - by reservation." Source: Indre departmental website

The flag until 2025 was white with the former logo, including the former departmental council logo next to a black logo: photo (2023), photo (2024), photo (febr. 2025).

The logo was modified with the adoption of the new emblem of the departmental council ; next to this full emblem, the PDS logo is shown in blue (image).
But the current  flag in in fact red with simply the text "Plaine Départementale des Sports" in white: photo (oct. 2025).

Olivier Touzeau, 8 September 2026