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Lens (Municipality, Pas-de-Calais, France)

Presentation of Lens
Flag of Lens
Racing Club de Lens

See also:

Presentation of Lens

Lens (32,697 inhabitants, 117 ha) is a city and subprefecture in the Pas-de-Calais department.

Lens was initially a fortification from the Norman invasions. In 1180, it was owned by the Count of Flanders, and sovereignty was exercised by the Crown of France. In the 13th century, Lens received a charter from Louis VIII of France, allowing it to become a city. The Flemish razed the city in 1303. Prior to this, the city's population relied on its markets. In 1526, Lens was made part of the Spanish Netherlands, and only passed back to France on 7 November 1659 with the Treaty of the Pyrenees.

In 1849, coal was discovered in Lens after surveys were carried out at Annay, Courrières and Loos-en-Gohelle. This led to the expansion of the city into an important industrial center as part of the Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin. The city, occupied from 1914 to 1918, was largely destroyed in the First World War and its population of 18,000 fell by half. In World War II, the Allies bombarded the city from the air, leaving 500 dead
and 1,000 buildings destroyed. A new Hôtel de Ville was erected in 1965. The last coal mine in Lens closed in 1986. The Nord-Pas de Calais Mining Basin was made a UNESCO Heritage site in 2012, and the Louvre-Lens art museum was opened the same year.

The arms are blazoned: Azure a castle triple towered port and windows or, flanked by two fleur-de-lis, in the gateway an orb or.

The city adopted a logo in 2011, showing a stylized redshield (source):
"The city was considering its communication strategy. It consulted the residents of Lens about what was important to them. The coat of arms was to remain a symbol of the city but had to be modernized. With the arrival of the Louvre museum, the entire city wa changing and evolving. The coat of arms was therefore revised. Out went the symbols of royalty and the somewhat medieval representation of the fortress, replaced by a more streamlined design. The color blue, historically associated with the right wing, was abandoned by the socialist mayor in favor of a red, more in line with the city's political leanings."
The red has probably been chosen too because of its importance in Lens through the local football Club, RC Lens.

Olivier Touzeau, 16 December 2025

Traditional flag of Lens

Traditional flag of Lens - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 16 December 2025

A bicolore vertically divided Y/B flag, from the colours of the coat of arms, has been reported in the past by French Vexillologist Pascal Vaganat (source, 2010).
No photographic evidence found recently, and no flag currently observed.

Olivier Touzeau, 16 December 2025