Historical flags of Vaud canton (Switzerland)

Last modified: 2002-09-21 by pascal gross
Keywords: switzerland | vaud | liberté et patrie | republique helvetique | napoleon |
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• 13th century flag
• 14th century flag
• 1530 flag
• 1790 insurrection flag
• Canton Léman / Republique Lémanique
• 1803-1819 letter color variations

• Switzerland
• Vaud canton

The 13th cent. flag is gold with a black eagle charged with a red 5-pointed lambel.
António Martins, 4 January 1998

The 14th cent. Vaud flag. The narrow bend is barred or and azur (in French: de gules a la croix blanche, brise d'une cotice barree d'or et d'azur).
Mario Fabretto, 6 January 1998

1530 flag

Flag of 1530.
António Martins, 4 January 1998

A Vaudois insurrection against Bern in the 1790s, inspired by the French revolution, was largely responsible for inviting the French invasion in 1798 which destroyed the old Swiss Confederation and replaced it with the unitary Helvetic Republic. The flag of the Vaudois revolution was green inscribed in white with the motto "Liberté, Egalité" (freedom, equality).
Todd Mills, 3 November 1997

Within the Helvetic Republic, the Vaudois territory became independent of Bern as the new canton of Léman.
Todd Mills, 3 November 1997

This image was rendered from a photograph of a surviving example. (Note the font, the accents, etc.) There may have been variations in proportions and fonts for the lettering. In this example, the pike sleeve is across the top of the image. I believe the intent was for the pike to be carried almost horizontally over the shoulder, so this positioning would make the text the most readily legible.
Todd Mills, 5 November 1997