The flag of Vendée is a scutcheon-flag, it shows the image of the coat of arms the Département of Vendée. The designer Michel Disle has designed a flag for the Vendée, which is widely used. It shows two vertical stripes in red and white, and in the middle of the flag the "Sacré Coeur", a symbol what combines heart and cross, supplemented by a crown. The "Sacré-Coeur" was the symbol of the rebels, which arised from 1793 to 1800 against the French Revolution. The suppression of this uprising and the subsequent mass executions costed the life of approximately 200.000 residents of the Vendée. The in 1960 created Region of "Pays-de-la-Loire" uses officially an unhistorical flag, and this flag should not be a subject of any lexical considerations here. However, some sources in the internet show an historical flag for this region: In "Pays-de-la-Loire" is – probably and unofficially without doubt – a flag in use, modeled after historical coats of arms. It shows the heraldry of Maine, Anjou, Vendée and Bretagne.
The coat of arms of Vendée shows a silvery shield, in it a red "Sacré-Coeur", surrounded by a 12 times between blue and red fragmented board, in it, alternating, a golden lily (on blue) and a golden castle (on red). The "Sacré-Coeur" was the symbol of the rebels, which arised from 1793 to 1800 against the French Revolution. The suppression of this uprising and the subsequent mass executions costed the life of approximately 200.000 residents of the Vendée.
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.
The area was (as a part of the province of Poitou) originally called Lower Poitou. After the French Revolution, the governorates (provinces) become abolished and divided into départements. The départements were named after rivers or mountains, to use never and in no circumstances the name of an old province. The today's Département of Vendée was named after a small river in the area.
