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Saône-et-Loire (Department, France)

Flag of Saône-et-Loire, three versions - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 11 June 2021 and (right) 3 July 2022

See also:

Administrative data

Code: 71
Region: Bourgogne-Franche-Comté (Bourgogne until 2014)
Traditional provinces: Bourgogne, Nivernais
Bordering departments: Ain, Allier, Côte-d'Or, Jura, Loire, Nièvre, Rhône

Area: 8,575 km²Population (2016): 555,023 inhabitants

Préfecture: Mâcon
Sous-préfectures: Autun, Chalon-sur-Saône, Charolles, Louhans
Subdivisions: 5 arrondissements, 29 cantons, 567 municipalities.

The department is named after rivers Saône (480 km), a tributary to the Rhône, and Loire (1,020 km).
A proposal to rename the department "Bourgogne-du-Sud", tabled by the General Council in 2003, was rejected.

Ivan Sache, 14 April 2019

Flag of Saône-et-Loire

The flag used by the Departmental Council (photo, photo, photo, photo) is blue with the Council's logo in white. In 2009, the General Council adopted a modernized logo with the wording "saône-et-loire LE DEPARTEMENT".

The white curved elements represent, more or less, the courses of river Loire (left, forming the western border of the department with Allier, and Saône (right, forming the south-eastern border of the department with Ain). The two rivers are connected by the Canal du Centre.
The five horizontal stripes represent the five arrondissements composing the department.

The new logo was designed by Renault Germain, a young designer. He found the original logo "sad, with tacky colors and unaesthetic shapes. There was a disequilibrium between the green stripes and the writing 'Saône-et-Loire'".
In the revamped logo, the blue curves representing the rivers are softer and more dynamic, while the five horizontal stripes were re-designed. The typography was made more modern and more legible. The new signature "Saône-et-Loire - le Département" highlights the territorial administration.
[Logo en Vue, 4 March 2010]

The flag is also in use as white with the logo in full colours (photo).

Olivier Touzeau & Ivan Sache, 11 June 2021

Besides, a version with the logo in full colours in a white cartouche on a blue field has been spotted too (photo).

Olivier Touzeau, 3 July 2022

Flag of the former General Council

Former flag of the former General Council of Saône-et-Loire - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 6 May 2019

Before 2009, the General Council used a white flag with the Council's former logo.

Olivier Touzeau, 6 May 2019