France’s regional and overseas flags

Metropolitan regions that mostly never had flags, a few old provinces that very much do, and overseas territories from the Caribbean to the Pacific.

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France is a centralised country, and its regions have no official flags in law. Most of the thirteen metropolitan regions, several of them merged in 2016, use logos instead, so the flags here are the ones flown in practice, often built from the arms of the old provinces.

Overseas it’s the same rule with more exceptions: the overseas departments officially fly the tricolour, while the Pacific collectivities have flags of their own.

Test yourself: French Territory & Regional Flags →

Old provinces

Brittany
The Gwenn-ha-du (1923): nine stripes for Brittany’s old dioceses, under a canton of ermine.
Corsica
A Moor’s head with its bandana pushed up, adopted by Pasquale Paoli’s independent Corsica in the 1760s.
Normandy
Two gold leopards on red, the arms of the medieval dukes of Normandy.
Occitania
Joins the gold cross of the counts of Toulouse with the red and gold stripes of Roussillon.

Modern regions

Mostly made up of historic arms put side by side after the regions were drawn.

Île-de-France
Hauts-de-France
One of several proposed designs; the region itself uses a logo.
Grand Est
One of several proposed designs, joining Alsace, Lorraine and Champagne.
Bourgogne-Franche-Comté
Centre-Val de Loire
Pays de la Loire
A cultural flag; the region’s official one is a logo spelling out its name.
Nouvelle-Aquitaine
Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes
Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur

The Americas

Martinique
Red, green and black, a flag the territorial assembly adopted in 2023.
On the globe →
Guadeloupe
Officially the tricolour; several local flags are flown.
On the globe →
French Guiana
Officially the tricolour; a green and yellow flag with a red star is widely flown.
On the globe →
Saint Barthélemy
Its arms mix French fleurs-de-lis, a Maltese cross and three Swedish crowns: all three countries once owned it.
On the globe →
Saint Martin
On the globe →
Saint Pierre and Miquelon
Jacques Cartier’s ship, with Basque, Breton and Norman flags for the settlers’ homelands.
On the globe →

The Indian Ocean

Réunion
Officially the tricolour; the unofficial Lo Mahavéli shows a volcano sending out rays.
On the globe →
Mayotte
White, with the department’s arms held up by two seahorses.
On the globe →

The Pacific

French Polynesia
Red, white and red, with a Polynesian canoe on a sun.
On the globe →
New Caledonia
The Kanak flag has flown beside the tricolour as an official flag since 2010.
On the globe →
Wallis and Futuna
A white cross of triangles on red, with the tricolour in the canton.
On the globe →

On the globe

France