The flag of

Aosta Valley , Valdostan or Valdotainian it, Valdostano (man) it, Valdostana (woman)french: Valdôtain (man)french: Valdôtaine (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title = Official languages , population_blank1 = Italian French ...

is one of the official symbols of the

region In geography, regions, otherwise referred to as zones, lands or territories, are areas that are broadly divided by physical characteristics ( physical geography), human impact characteristics ( human geography), and the interaction of humanity an ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

. The current flag was adopted on 16 March 2006.

History

The flag was created in 1942 from an idea by

canon Canon or Canons may refer to: Arts and entertainment * Canon (fiction), the conceptual material accepted as official in a fictional universe by its fan base * Literary canon, an accepted body of works considered as high culture ** Western ca ...

Joseph Bréan, who proposed its use in an anti-fascist brochure from 1942 entitled "The Great Aosta Valley". Father Bréan drew the colours of the 16th-century coat of arms of the

Duchy of Aosta __NOTOC__ The Duchy of Aosta, originally the County of Aosta, was a realm ruled by the House of Savoy from the early 11th century until the late 18th, when its independent institutions were aligned with those of the Principality of Piedmont. The ti ...

, a silver lion on a black shield with a red tongue, and a two-colour flag. Shortly afterwards, the

resistance movements A resistance movement is an organized effort by some portion of the civil population of a country to withstand the legally established government or an occupying power and to disrupt civil order and stability. It may seek to achieve its objectives ...

in the Valle d'Aosta adopted these colours for themselves, creating a flag halved vertically (" per pale"). However after the liberation, this flag was never formally ratified, both because of widespread fear that it might fuel desires for

independence Independence is a condition of a person, nation, country, or state in which residents and population, or some portion thereof, exercise self-government, and usually sovereignty, over its territory. The opposite of independence is the statu ...

and because of its similarity to some

banners A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Also ...

of the

anarchist movement The history of anarchism is as ambiguous as anarchism itself. Scholars find it hard to define or agree on what anarchism means, which makes outlining its history difficult. There is a range of views on anarchism and its history. Some feel anar ...

. The flag was in unofficial use from 1947 until it was officially adopted under the Regional Law of 2006. File:Coat of arms of the Duchy of Aosta.svg, alt=, Coat of arms of the Duchy of Aosta File:Blason fr maison de Challant.svg, alt=, Coat of arms of Challant family File:Flag of Aosta Vallley (Lega Nord).svg, alt=, Proposed flag of Aosta Valley by Lega Nord

References

Flags introduced in 2006 {{DEFAULTSORT:Aosta Valley, Flag of