Marseilles (Municipality, Bouches-du-Rhône, France)

Marseille

Last modified: 2005-02-19 by ivan sache
Keywords: bouches-du-rhone | marseilles | marseille | cross (blue) |
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by Ivan Sache

• Description and use of the flag of Marseilles
• Flag of Marseilles
  • A mythical Greek origin
  • Early records of the flag
• Coat of arms of Marseilles

See also:

• France
• Bouches-du-Rhône (Department, France)
• Marseilles: Index of all related pages

Flag of Marseilles

The flag of Marseilles is white with a light blue cross.

This flag is for civil usage only: the city hall and its dependencies usually fly only the French tricolore.
It can often be seen on boats, at the place of a courtesy flag. It can be seen over private buildings strongly related to Marseilles population or wanting to appeal to their local patriotism, the most famous of them is the Stade-Vélodrome, home of the Olympique de Marseille. It has been very occasionnaly displayed on the city hall on very special occasions such as when Marseilles won the Champions' League in 1991.

There are as many as possible variations in thickness and shade of the cross on the flags used on boats, balconies etc. It does not matter, since everybody in Marseilles is able to identify a blue cross centered on a white field as the flag of Marseilles.

Philippe Bondurand & Ivan Sache, 6 November 2000

Origin of the flag of Marseilles

A mythical Greek origin

According to the mythical history of Marseilles, the city was founded in the VIth century B.C., as Massalia, by Greek colons coming from Phocea, Asia Minor (Marseilles is still nicknamed la cité phocéenne and its inhabitants Phocéens). The Greeks, led by Protis, moored in the Lacydon inlet (now the Vieux-Port) and joined the festival given by the local Ligurian ruler for the marriage of his daughter Gyptis. According to the Ligurian law, the girl to be married had to select herself her future husband by offering him a ritual bowl. Gyptis was fascinated by the beauty of the Greek sailor and chose him.
Archaelogical evidence of the Greek colonization has been found near the Vieux-Port, so the relation with Greece is historical, even if a nice legend was later added to history.

However, the cross and the blue and white colours are not related to the flag of Greece, which was designed in the XIXth century.
The cross reminds that Marseilles was a port from which the Crusaders (les Croisés, who used the cross as their symbol) sailed for Palestine. Another example is given by Toulon which has a yellow cross on a blue field. Many other towns on the coasts of the Mediterranean Sea also use cross on their arms, like Genoa for instanc