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Moselle (Department, France)

Flag of Moselle - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 27 April 2019

Municipalities

See also:

Administrative data

Code: 57
Region: Grand Est (Lorraine until 2014)
Traditional province: Lorraine
Bordering departments: Meurthe-et-Moselle, Bas-Rhin, Vosges
Bordering countries: Germany (Federal States of Saar and Rhineland-Palatinate), Luxembourg

Area: 6,216 km²
Population (2016): 1,045,271 inhabitants

Préfecture: Metz
Sous-préfectures: Forbach, Sarrebourg, Sarreguemines, Thionville
Subdivisions: 5 arrondissements, 27 cantons, 727 municipalities.

The department is named after river Moselle (550 km), a tributary to the Rhine.
The original department of Moselle was suppressed by the Treaty of Francfort (18 May 1871), being incorporated into Germany except the arrondissement of Briey. In 1919, the department of Moselle was reinstated, with the addition of the arrondissements of Châterau-Salins and Sarrebourg, originally parts of the defunct department of Meurthe.

Ivan Sache, 13 November 2009

Current flags of Moselle

Banner of arms with text

Flags of Moselle: banner of arms with text - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 27 April 2019 and 21 December 2024

The flag of Moselle in continuous use, since at least 2011, in front of the buildings of the General, the Departmental Council, by the Departmental Assembly, and in several occasions, is a banner of the Department's arms with the words "DEPARTEMENT" and "MOSELLE" in sans serif font.
The arms are a bit adapted, with alerions stacked in the right part of the gules bend, a dexter hand floating near the hoist in the gules field without its silver cloud, unequal upper and lower silver bars, the lion shifted to the fly, and the barbels shifted to the hoist and not centered on the field. The azure color is represented very light blue:
photo (april 2011), photo (august 2014), photo (february 2015), photo (april 2015), photo (april 2015), photo (june 2018), photo (october 2019)

Olivier Touzeau, 26 April 2019

Besides this design (still in use, example in june 2024), some variants can sometimes be observed, with the words "DEPARTEMENT DE LA MOSELLE" in serif font above the central shield: photo (may 2019), photo (december 2023), photo (april 2024), photo (june 2024).

Olivier Touzeau, 21 December 2024

Plain banner of arms

Flags of Moselle - plain banners of arms - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 21 December 2024

Banners of arms without text are also observed: photo (april 2024), photo (december 2024) , photo (undated).
Some details differ between the versions of the banne of arms: colour of the lower quarter at the hoist, colour of the hand in the first quarter, shape of the shield...

Olivier Touzeau, 21 December 2024

White flag with logo

Flags of Moselle with logo - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 21 December 2024

A white flag with logo could be observed during the Executive Summit of Greater Region in Mainz - December 13, 2024: photo.

Olivier Touzeau, 21 December 2024

Territorial brand flag

Flags of Moselle territorial brand - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 21 December 2024

MOSL* (Moselle Sans Limite) – is a brand that unites all the vital forces serving the department. It is also a modern means of expression to promote the multiple riches of an ever more attractive Moselle.
Moselle Attractivité, the agency in charge of this brand, was created on November 4, 2016. Its creation results from the split-merger between Moselle Tourisme and Moselle Développement, then the merger of the new ADE (Agence de Développement économique de la Moselle) with AGEME (Agence pour l'Expansion de la Moselle-Est). Its founding statutes were revised during the Extraordinary General Meeting of July 3, 2018, thus establishing a sustainable governance taking into account the participation of the Grand Est Region.
The agency has nearly 500 members divided into four colleges:

College 1: representatives of local authorities (Department of Moselle, Grand Est Region, intercommunal structures of Moselle)
College 2: partners in tourism development and attractiveness
College 3: partners in economic development and attractiveness
College 4: other partners in development and attractiveness

The mission of the MOSL agency is to develop the attractiveness of Moselle by offering solid and diversified expertise and a range of adapted tools. The strategy is focused on five major objectives: promote Moselle, succeed without limits in Moselle, create the MOSL experience, promote know-how, reveal the "borderless" spirit.

Flags with a coloured plain field and the logo "MOSL*" can be observed in events dedidacted to the promotion of the attractiveness of Moselle: photo (2018), photo (noember 2023 - blue version, not exactly a flag, with its eyelets in the fly), photo (february 2024).

Olivier Touzeau, 21 December 2024

Former flag of Moselle

Former flag of Moselle, 1999 - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 26 April 2019

An older flag of the department (video, September 2009), probably designed in 1999, is white with the department's coat of arms and the words "DEPARTEMENT" above the coat of arms and, below the coat of arms, "DE LA" in small letter above "MOSELLE".

The arms of Moselle, are "Quarterly, 1. Gules a dexter hand proper clad azure issuant from a cloud in sinister base holding a sword in pale argent pommelled or, 2. Or on a bend gules three alerions argent, 3. Azure crusilly fitchy two barbels addorsed or, 4. Barry of ten argent and azure a lion rampant gules armed langued and crowned or. Inescutcheon per pale argent and sable".
These arms, adopted in 1948, highlight the complex history of the department:
- 1. The arms of the Chapter of the Cathedral of Metz recall the Province of the Three Bishoprics (Metz, Verdun and Toul);
- 2. The arms of Lorraine recall that the Bailiwick of Sarreguemines, once part of the Duchy of Lorraine, bore such arms in the 19th century;
- 3. The arms of Bar stand for the region of Moyeuvre-Grande, once part of the Duchy of Bar;
- 4. The arms of Luxembourg stand for the region of Thionville, once part of the Duchy of Luxembourg;
- The escutcheon bears the arms of the medieval Republic of Metz, used today by the town of Metz, capital of the department.

The coat of arms of Moselle is presented by Jacques Meurgey de Tupigny & Robert Louis in Marques symboliques des départements français, with the following comment:
"This slightly complicated composition is not in harmony with the other department's symbolic emblems, for which very simple and easy to memorize designs were searched. Produced independently of this work and approved by the General Council, the composition could not have been modified."
These are, indeed the only arms of a French department that were not assigned by Meurgey de Tupigny.

Pascal Vagnat, Olivier Touzeau & Ivan Sache, 27 April 2019

Here is another example of the white flag with arms: photo (2019).

Olivier Touzeau, 21 December 2024

Flags of the former General Council

Flag of the former General Council of Moselle - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 26 April 2019

The flag of the General Council of Moselle (photo, photo), adopted in 2006, is white with the small-sized logo of the General Council in the lower left part of the flag, blue and green elements scattered over the upper right quarter of the flag and the writing "Moselle / cg57.fr" in black letters in the lower right part of the flag.

Former flag of Moselle, 2000-2006 - Image by Pascal Vagnat, 28 November 2000

The former flag of the department, officially adopted by the General Council in 2000, features the logo of the General Council.
Blue represents the rivers of the department, including Moselle, while green represents the natural environment of the departement.
The flag was offered to all the municipalities, districts and associations of the departement. It was used in the inner courtyard of the General Council, along with the former flag!.

Older flags of the General Council of Moselle - Images by Olivier Touzeau, 26 April 2019

In October 2012, a white flag with the Council's logo adopted in 2009 (photo) was reported.
A white flag with a simpler logo was observed in 2000 in the inner court of the General Council.

The symbolic system used for the logo is based on the tree and water. The department is rich in forests, lakes, and ponds. The style of drawing and the green and blue colors of the logo are inspired by this scenery. The tree grows on a base alternating land and water. The tree, as in the Germanic symbolic system, represents our ancestors, stability, and longevity. For Moselle, the tree can be either an oak or a beech. The lands are hilly, the curves recalling the cuesta landscape are characteristic of the Plateau lorrain. The cuestas have shaped the local landscape and identity by influencing the buildings, the settlements, and the arable lands and vineyards [the Moselle DOP - 70 ha in 2005 - includes the vineyards of Pays Messin, Sierck-les-Bains, and Pays Messin).
Moselle has been for long identified with iron and steel industry and mining. It is however, among the French departments counting several protected biofopes and specific natural environments requiring preservation. In spite of being the most populated department in Lorraine, Moselle has a global green image. Water is present with rivers, lakes, and ponds, but also with canals equipped for river tourism. The water Maginot line [eastern part of the Saar Fortified Sector, c. 20 km] and the first attempts of fish rearing were located in Moselle.
Moselle has been thriving for long thanks to rivers Moselle and Saar. Trade and exchanges between the Low Countries and Moselle were intense in the past centuries. The port of Metz is Europe's first river port for grain trade.
The green color is represented by the Vosges mountains: the Dabo country in the south and the Bitche country in the north. Here are found endemic species of firs and pines.
The lettering placed beneath the logo represents the old cultural base on which stands the identity of Moselle.
[ Projet Babel]

Pascal Vagnat, Ivan Sache & Olivier Touzeau, 26 April 2019

"Moselle déracinée" project

Flags of "Moselle déracinée" project - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 21 December 2024

The "Moselle Déracinée" project is an event wanted by the Departmental Council in 2019/2020 (and extended until 2021 due to the Covid19 health crisis) aimed at honoring the memory of the Mosellans who were
evacuated from September 1939 to May 1940 to 48 other French departments.

"From October 28 to 31, 2021, the people of Moselle were able to rediscover the troubled period from September 1939 to the summer of 1940 when 400,000 people were forcibly evacuated. Rarely taught in history books and rarely passed down in families, the first months of the Second World War nevertheless left a lasting mark on Moselle and its inhabitants. Despite the 300,000 people forcibly evacuated in 1939 and the additional 100,000 expelled in 1940, this part of history is gradually disappearing from memories with its last witnesses. This is why the Department has decided to organize Moselle Déracinée, a major series of events that aims to highlight the fate of these men and women. The aim is also to thank the 48 host departments which welcomed the Moselle refugees. From October 28 to 31, 2021, delegations from these departments were present for four intense days of commemoration."

The flag created for tthis project bears the coats of arms presented in "Marques symboliques des départements français", by Jacques Meurgey de Turpigny and Robert Louis for these departments. The 48 departments are
Ain, Allier, Alpes maritimes, Alpes-de-Haute-Provence, Ardèche, Ariège, Aude, Aveyron, Bouches-du-Rhône, Cantal, Charente maritime, Charente, Cher, Corrèze, Côte-d'Or, Creuse, Dordogne, Drôme, Gard, Gers, Haute-Garonne, Haute-Loire, Haute-Savoie, Haute-Vienne, Hautes-Alpes, Hautes-Pyrénées, Hérault, Indre-et-Loire, Indre, Isère, Landes, Loir-et-Cher, Loire, Lot-et-Garonne, Lot, Nord, Pas-de-Calais, Puy-de-Dôme, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Pyrénées-Orientales, Rhône, Saône-et-Loire, Savoie, Tarn-et-Garonne, Tarn, Var, Vaucluse, Vienne.

The text reads: Thanks to the host departments of the evacuees and deportees 1939-1945.
See: photo (september 2020), photo (october 2021), photo (october 2021), photo (october 2021), photo (october 2021), photo (october 2021), photo (december 2021)

Olivier Touzeau, 21 December 2024