Orléanais

historical region in today's France
former duchy and province

• Flag

• Meaning/Origin of the Flag

• Coat of Arms

• Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

• Map of the historical Regions in France

• Explanations about the Regions

• History

• Origin of the Country's Name

Flag

Flag of Orléanais
– Drapeau de Orléanais,
Source, by: Wikipedia (D)

1960–2016,
Unofficial flag of the Centre Region
– drapeau officieux de la région Centre,
Source, by: Wikipedia (D)

The flag of Orléanais is a scutcheon flag: Its design displays the image of the coat of arms of the Dukes out of the house of Valois-Orléans. The since 1960 existing Region of "Centre-Val-de-Loire" – to which the Orléanais belongs – uses an unofficial flag, which combines features of the historical flags of Orléanais, Berry and of the Touraine.

Source: Volker Preuß, Wikipedia (D)

Coat of Arms

Coat of arms of Orléanais
– blason de Orléanais,
Source, by: Wikipedia (D)

Meaning/Origin of the Coat of Arms

When King Philipp VI. of France (from the house of the Capetians) created the Duchy of Orléans and handed it over to his younger son Philipp of Valois, became the lily-scutcheon of the Capetians supplemented with a white tournament collar, which featured Philipp – following the rules of the French heraldry – as a younger son. The coat of arms of the Capetians showed three golden lilies on blue, but originally was the coat of arms sprinkled with lilies. From 1365 (by others sources 1376), the number of lilies was reduced to three. The lily-symbol is very old, already the Germanic tribe of the Franks has used it. The House of the Capetians has provided the kings of France between 987 and 1328. It goes back to Hugo Capet, son of Hugo the Great, who was electet to the King of France, in 987, after the death of King Ludwig V. from the House of the Carolingians. The Capetians brought out three branch lines which became the Kings of France: Valois 1328–1589, Bourbon 1589–1792 and 1814–1830, and Orléans 1830–1848.

Source: Volker Preuß, Wikipedia (D)

Map of the historical Regions in France

The historical, French Regions:

in black: governorate and province in 1776,
in red: former county, province oder governorate

Map: Volker Preuß

Explanations about the Regions

The provinces (or governorates) that existed until the French Revolution were historically grown entities that had often developed from former fiefdoms of the French crown, historical counties and duchies, often existed for hundreds of years and had preserved regional characteristics (cultural peculiarities and regional languages). Such phenomena were naturally undesirable to the French Revolution, and in the context of its bloody and violent egalitarianism, all regional references were eradicated. Shortly after the Revolution, the provinces were dissolved and France was divided into many small départements, which were to be approximately the same size and have the same status, controlled by prefects of the central administration in Paris. The departments were named after rivers or mountains so as not to use the names of any of the old provinces. However, it was not possible to sever the ties between the inhabitants of France and their respective historically grown regions, so that in 1960 regions were created again. There can hardly be said to be any real autonomy. The regions are only supposed to promote the economic, social, health, cultural and scientific development of the region, keep an eye on housing and living conditions, and provide support in some areas, e.g. urban development policy, urban regeneration, regional planning, preservation of regional identity and promotion of regional languages. When the regions were formed, departments located in a particular historical province were administratively grouped together into a region that often had the same historical name. The resulting entities only roughly corresponded to the boundaries of historical provinces. In strictly centralised France, however, any form of responsible regionalism is avoided. The regions do not even have their own seals with which to mark their own legally binding decisions, because there are no plans to introduce such a thing. Therefore, anything to do with coats of arms or flags is completely irrelevant. The logos of the regions are used generally, sometimes with the colours reversed and placed arbitrarily on flags or banners. There are no rules, as they are not official symbols. The logos and flags of the regions therefore often look like company logos: Unloving, unhistorical, technocratic and modernistic. That is why most of these regions have a kind of unofficial heraldic flag, which is intended to recall historical heraldic models. However, these are merely decorative in nature and are not a symbol of sovereign functions. The regions created in 1960 were even called into question in 2014, and a territorial reform was decided – centrally from Paris – which reduced the number of regions by almost half through mergers. The regions and their institutions were not even consulted on this matter.

Wikipedia Link to the regions of France: click or tap here
FOTW Link to the regions of France: click or tap here

Source: Flags of the World, Wikipedia (D), Volker Preuß

History

1152 · creation of the Duchy of Orléans by King Philip VI. of France by separating of the Orléanais from the royal domain and handing over to his younger son Philip of Valois

1375 · Philip dies without male descendants

1392 · re-creation of the Duchy of Orléans by King Charles VI. of France by separating of the Orléanais from the royal domain and handing over to his younger brother Louis of Valois, founder of the House of Valois-Orléans, Louis legitime son John founds the line of the Counts of Angoulême (with Francis I. as King of France), Louis illegitimate son John founds the line of the Dukes of Longueville (Orléans-Longueville)

1394 · Louis of Orléans inherits duchy and title to his son Charles

1462 · Charles of Orléans inherits duchy and title to his son Ludwig

1498 · Louis of Orléans becomes as Louis XII. King of France, the duchy comes back to the crown, the title expires

1626 · re-creation of the Duchy of Orléans by King Louis XIII. of France, by separating of the Orléanais from the royal domain and handing over to his younger brother, Jean-Baptiste Gaston

1660 · Jean -Baptiste Gaston dies without male descendants

1661 · re-creation of the Duchy of Orléans by King Louis XIV. of France, by separating of the Orléanais from the royal domain and handing over to his younger brother Philip, founder of the House of Bourbon-Orléans

1701 · Charles of Orléans inherits duchy and title to his son Philip II. of Orléans (1715-1723 Regent of France), from this line follow the Dukes Ludwig (1723-1725), Louis- Philippe (1725-1787), Louis-Philippe-Joseph (1787-1773), Louis-Philippe (1773-1850, King of France 1830-1848)

1776 · the already in the 14th century created governorates of the civil administration of the kingdom of France become committed to a number of 39, and correspond in this way to the number of provinces, in previous years could any provinces be summarized in one governorate

1789 · French Revolution, the governorates (provinces) become abolished, the Orléanais is divided into departments (Loiret, Loir-et-Cher, and partly also Eure-et-Loir and Yonne)

1960 · reintroduction of regions in France, the Orléanais doesn't play a role, affiliation with the newly created Centre-Val-de-Loire region (capital: Orléans), even not within the historic boundaries, just by integrating of the departments of Cher, Eure-et-Loir, Indre, Indre-et-Loire, Loir-et-Cher und Loiret

Source: 1.) Wikipedia (D), 2.) Wikipedia (D), Meyers Konversationslexikon

Origin of the Country's Name

The name "Orléanais" has its roots in Orléans, the capital of the duchy.

Source: Volker Preuß