Tour de France
Posted: 09 Jul 2015, 15:02
At the moment I am spending part of each afternoon watching the Tour de France cycle race on the box. The race has just passed through the village of Veules-les-Roses on the Channel coast of Normandy. Its coat of arms has inspired me to start a thread with occasional heraldic highlights from the towns on the route.
Here is the CoA of Veules-les-Roses:
Not the best example of French civic heraldry. The two lions passant guardant are for Normandy. The two bunches of roses and the two single roses are rather too obvious nods to the village's name. The fishing boat reflects the village's traditional source of employment. But roses gules on a field gules? And is that really meant to be a chief gules? If you can read the French of the blazon the answer to both questions is "Oui"!
Here is the CoA of Veules-les-Roses:
Not the best example of French civic heraldry. The two lions passant guardant are for Normandy. The two bunches of roses and the two single roses are rather too obvious nods to the village's name. The fishing boat reflects the village's traditional source of employment. But roses gules on a field gules? And is that really meant to be a chief gules? If you can read the French of the blazon the answer to both questions is "Oui"!
De gueules au voilier contourné d’argent, la coque bordée d’or, flammé du même, voguant sur une mer d’azur agitée aussi d’argent, de laquelle émerge un filet de sable chargé de poissons aussi d’or hissé à bord du bateau par un marin d’argent habillé et couvert aussi de sable, le tout accosté de deux roses naturelles de gueules, les pétales bordés d’argent, tigées et feuillées de sinople, celle de dextre posée en barre et celle de senestre posée en bande, au chef cousu aussi de gueules chargé de deux bouquets de roses naturelles sans nombre d’or, de gueules et d’argent, tigées et feuillées de sinople, adextrés de deux léopards aussi d’or passant l’un sur l’autre.