The Occitan cross ( ), also called cross of Occitania (), cross of Languedoc () or cross of Toulouse (), heraldically "cross cleché, pommettée and voided", is a

heraldic cross A number of cross symbols were developed for the purpose of the emerging system of heraldry, which appeared in Western Europe in about 1200. This tradition is partly in the use of the Christian cross an emblem from the 11th century, and increasin ...

, today chiefly used as a symbol of

Occitania Occitania is the historical region in Southern Europe where the Occitan language was historically spoken and where it is sometimes used as a second language. This cultural area roughly encompasses much of the southern third of France (except ...

. In the '' Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise'', it goes by the name of "Raymondine cross" ( or ). The design was probably first used in the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

of the counts of Forcalquier (in modern

Provence Provence is a geographical region and historical province of southeastern France, which stretches from the left bank of the lower Rhône to the west to the France–Italy border, Italian border to the east; it is bordered by the Mediterrane ...

), in the 12th century, and by the

counts of Toulouse The count of Toulouse (, ) was the ruler of county of Toulouse, Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the kingdom of the Franks, Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surrounding ...

in their capacity as Marquises of Provence, on 13th century coins and seals. It later spread to the other provinces of Occitania, namely

Guyenne Guyenne or Guienne ( , ; ) was an old French province which corresponded roughly to the Roman province of '' Aquitania Secunda'' and the Catholic archdiocese of Bordeaux. Name The name "Guyenne" comes from ''Aguyenne'', a popular transform ...

Gascony Gascony (; ) was a province of the southwestern Kingdom of France that succeeded the Duchy of Gascony (602–1453). From the 17th century until the French Revolution (1789–1799), it was part of the combined Province of Guyenne and Gascon ...

Dauphiné The Dauphiné ( , , ; or ; or ), formerly known in English as Dauphiny, is a former province in southeastern France, whose area roughly corresponded to that of the present departments of Isère, Drôme and Hautes-Alpes. The Dauphiné was ...

, Auvergne and

Limousin Limousin (; ) is a former administrative region of southwest-central France. Named after the old province of Limousin, the administrative region was founded in 1960. It comprised three departments: Corrèze, Creuse, and Haute-Vienne. On 1 Jan ...

. A yellow Occitan cross on a blood-red background with the seven-armed golden star of the Felibritge makes up the flag of modern-day Occitania. It can also be found in the emblems of Midi-Pyrénées,

Languedoc-Roussillon Languedoc-Roussillon (; ; ) is a former regions of France, administrative region of France. On 1 January 2016, it joined with the region of Midi-Pyrénées to become Occitania (administrative region), Occitania. It comprised five departments o ...

(now both part of the administrative region of

, which also features the cross in its symbols) and

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population ...

, among many others, as well as in cemeteries and at country crossroads. The

blazon In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct an accurate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The visual d ...

of the modern emblem is "gules, a cross cleché/ pattée pommettée voided" or "in a red field, a gold cross with keys/paws/spheres/apples, in outline" (), also described as "

cross pattée A cross pattée or cross patty (, ), also known as a cross formée or cross formy, or even a Templar cross, is a type of Christian cross with arms that are narrow at the centre and often flared in a curve or straight line shape to be broader at th ...

botonnée", "cross pommettée", "cross toulouse", or " cross fleury voided/in skeleton".

History

The

Occitan Occitan may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania territory in parts of France, Italy, Monaco and Spain. * Something of, from, or related to the Occitania administrative region of France. * Occitan language, spoken in parts o ...

cross probably first appears in the coat of arms of the counts of Forcalquier and then during the reign of Raymond V, count of Toulouse, as a particular description of his official seal dated from 1165 corroborates. It soon spreads across the whole south-western part of today's

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

and is even spotted in various towns up north throughout the 12th century. Several interpretations have been proposed for the cross, often stressing the symbolic side of it and leaving aside the fact that "

heraldry Heraldry is a discipline relating to the design, display and study of armorial bearings (known as armory), as well as related disciplines, such as vexillology, together with the study of ceremony, Imperial, royal and noble ranks, rank and genealo ...

is not a science of symbols, but one of emblems" (M. Pastoureau). In 1950, Henri Rolland suggested that the origin of the Occitan cross be traced back to the marquisate of Provence, north of the Durance, more precisely the town of Venasque. In 1966, in the ''L'Auta'' review, Roger Camboulives voices his idea that the Occitan cross derives from a sun cross and perhaps the Nestorian cross found in China's

Turkestan Turkestan,; ; ; ; also spelled Turkistan, is a historical region in Central Asia corresponding to the regions of Transoxiana and East Turkestan (Xinjiang). The region is located in the northwest of modern day China and to the northwest of its ...

. It would have arrived in Toulouse via northern Italy and

, probably sometime in the 10th century. Camboulives in 1980 again emphasizes the role played by the

Visigoth The Visigoths (; ) were a Germanic people united under the rule of a king and living within the Roman Empire during late antiquity. The Visigoths first appeared in the Balkans, as a Roman-allied barbarian military group united under the comman ...

s in the presence of small spheres at the end of the arms of the cross: they could represent the twelve houses of the

zodiac The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north and south celestial latitude of the ecliptic – the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. Within this zodiac ...

. In 1986, Jean-Yves Royer (in ''Le Pays de Forcalquier'') claims that the cross was originally from Provence but admits that Henri Rolland's theory was flawed and built around wrong dates. Royer concludes that Rolland possibly mistook the Occitan cross with that of Forcalquier. He draws evidence most notably from two crosses carved in the lid of a

sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...

found in the small

Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Alpes-de-Haute-Provence (sometimes abbreviated as AHP; ; ; ), formerly until 1970 known as Basses-Alpes (, ), is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of France, bordering Alpes-Maritimes and Italy to the east, Var to the sou ...

'' commune'' of Ganagobie. Air Toulouse adopted the Occitan cross as trademark until the mid-1990s. Pierre Saliès in 1994 once again maintains that the cross is from Toulouse and is the fruit of successive local evolutions, possibly from the

Jerusalem cross The Jerusalem cross (also known as "five-fold cross", or "cross-and-crosslets" and the "Crusader's cross") is a heraldic cross and Christian cross variant consisting of a large cross potent surrounded by four smaller Greek crosses, one in each ...

. Two years after, in ''L'Auta'' (#612), Jean Rocacher confirms that the Occitan cross "is first the own emblem of the old county of Venasque, later torn between the houses of Toulouse and Forcalquier." In 2000, Laurent Macé (in ''Les Comtes de Toulouse et leur entourage'') claims that the Occitan cross became the counts' emblem after Raymond IV took part in the

First Crusade The First Crusade (1096–1099) was the first of a series of religious wars, or Crusades, initiated, supported and at times directed by the Latin Church in the Middle Ages. The objective was the recovery of the Holy Land from Muslim conquest ...

. It would originate from

Constantinople Constantinople (#Names of Constantinople, see other names) was a historical city located on the Bosporus that served as the capital of the Roman Empire, Roman, Byzantine Empire, Byzantine, Latin Empire, Latin, and Ottoman Empire, Ottoman empire ...

. Macé indicates that its pattern was first found in the

Byzantine The Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was the continuation of the Roman Empire centred on Constantinople during late antiquity and the Middle Ages. Having survived the events that caused the fall of the Western Roman E ...

area and spread across

Western Europe Western Europe is the western region of Europe. The region's extent varies depending on context. The concept of "the West" appeared in Europe in juxtaposition to "the East" and originally applied to the Western half of the ancient Mediterranean ...

through Italy and Provence. The crosses of Venasque and Forcalquier would thus share the same origin, though one was not inspired by the other. Later in the same year, Bertran de la Farge (in ''La Croix occitane'') locates the original Occitan cross somewhere in the marquisate of Provence, probably Venasque. He argues it could be a mixture of the Constantinople cross and the

Coptic cross The Coptic cross is any of a number of Christian cross variants associated in some way with Coptic Christians. Typical form The typical form of the "Coptic cross" used in the Coptic Church is made up of two bold lines of equal length that in ...

, which was brought to Provence by monks and maybe also through

Saint Maurice Maurice (also Moritz, Morris, Maurits, or Mauritius; ) was an Egyptians, Egyptian military leader who headed the legendary Theban Legion of Roman Empire, Rome in the 3rd century, and is one of the favourite and most widely venerated saints of tha ...

. File:Armorial de Gilles Le Bouvier - BNF Fr4985 f21r.jpg, 15th-century depiction of the arms of Toulouse as a voided cross potent. File:Palazzo mozzi, stemma mozzi.JPG, Late medieval depiction as the coat of arms of the Mozzi family of Florence, in Palazzo Mozzi. File:LDAM (f. 041) Conde de Tolouse.jpg, Arms of the

count of Toulouse The count of Toulouse (, ) was the ruler of Toulouse during the 8th to 13th centuries. Originating as vassals of the Frankish kings, the hereditary counts ruled the city of Toulouse and its surrounding county from the late 9th century until 12 ...

(1509) File:Armoiries de toulouse.jpg, In the Toulouse city arms (1515) File:Blason de Toulouse - Porte Bachelier - Cour Henri IV.jpg, Toulouse arms from the time of

Henry IV of France Henry IV (; 13 December 1553 – 14 May 1610), also known by the epithets Good King Henry (''le Bon Roi Henri'') or Henry the Great (''Henri le Grand''), was King of Navarre (as Henry III) from 1572 and King of France from 1589 to 16 ...

(r. 1572–1610) File:Marguerite Delphine de Valbelle.JPG, 18th-century depiction in the coat of arms of Marguerite-Delphine de Valbelle, lady of Tourves (d.- 1784), as part of the Valbelle family coat of arms.

Modern uses

The Occitan cross can be found on a number of flags, coats of arms, emblems and logos. Here follows a non-exhaustive list of occurrences:

Regions and provinces

* Flag and emblem of

** Flag of the former

** Flag and emblem of the former Midi-Pyrénées * Flag of the Aran Valley

Départements

* Coat of arms of

Aude Aude ( ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Southern France, located in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region and named after the river Aude (river), Aude. The departmental council also calls it " ...

and the General Council of Aude * Coat of arms of

Gard Gard () is a department in Southern France, located in the region of Occitanie. It had a population of 748,437 as of 2019;Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population ...

* Coat of arms of

Haute-Garonne Haute-Garonne (; , ; ''Upper Garonne'') is a department in the southwestern French region of Occitanie. Named after the river Garonne, which flows through the department. Its prefecture and main city is Toulouse, the country's fourth-largest. ...

* Coat of arms of

Hérault Hérault (; , ) is a departments of France, department of the Regions of France, region of Occitania (administrative region), Occitania, Southern France. Named after the Hérault (river), Hérault River, its Prefectures in France, prefecture is M ...

* Coat of arms of Tarn * Coat of arms of

Tarn-et-Garonne Tarn-et-Garonne (; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania Regions of France, region in Southern France. It is traversed by the rivers Tarn (river), Tarn and Garonne, from which it takes its n ...

Cities and towns

* Coat of arms of Ansignan * Coat of arms of Buoux * Coat of arms of Céreste * Coat of arms of Colomiers * Coat of arms of Fanjeaux * Coat of arms of Gigondas * Coat of arms of Laissac * Coat of arms of Llupia * Coat of arms of Méthamis * Coat of arms of

Moissac Moissac () is a Commune of France, commune in the Tarn-et-Garonne Departments of France, department in the Occitania (administrative region), Occitanie Regions of France, region in southern France. The town is situated at the confluence of the riv ...

* Coat of arms of Monclar ( impaled) * Coat of arms of

Port-la-Nouvelle Port-la-Nouvelle (; ) is a commune in the Aude department in southern France. Population See also * Communes of the Aude department * Corbières AOC Corbières () is an Appellation d'origine contrôlée (AOC) for wine in the Languedo ...

* Coat of arms of Saint-Didier * Coat of arms of Sévérac-le-Château * Coat of arms of the City of

Toulouse Toulouse (, ; ; ) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Haute-Garonne department and of the Occitania (administrative region), Occitania region. The city is on the banks of the Garonne, River Garonne, from ...

* Coat of arms of Travaillan * Coat of arms of Venasque * Flag of Vianne * Coat of arms of Villeneuve-d'Aveyron * Coat of arms of Villefranche-de-Lauragais * Coat of arms of Villefranche-de-Rouergue

Miscellaneous

* A prominent symbol on Lâg Guitars, particularly in their Tramontane series of acoustic guitars
Lag Guitars
* Logo of

Toulouse FC Toulouse Football Club () is a French professional association football, football club based in Toulouse. The club was founded in 1970 and currently plays in Ligue 1, the first division of Football in France, French football. Toulouse plays it ...

* Place du Capitole, Toulouse ) * Coat of arms of

La Tour d'Auvergne The House of La Tour d'Auvergne () was an important French nobility, French noble dynasty. Its senior branch, extinct in 1501, held two of the last large fiefs acquired by the French crown, the counties of count of Auvergne, Auvergne and count of ...

* Street signs in Toulouse * Roadsigns in Limousin * Sign of the Conseil Interprofessionnel des Vins du Languedoc

Notes

References

Sources

* ''Les Comtes de Toulouse et leur entourage: Rivalités, alliances et jeux de pouvoir XIIe-XIIIe siècles'' by Laurent Macé (éd. Privat) * ''La Croix occitane'' by Bertran de la Farge (éd. Loubatières) * ''Le Pays de Forcalquier'' by Jean-Yves Royer (éd. Équinoxe)

External links

{{Christian crosses Cross symbols Crosses in heraldry Occitania