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Lausanne commune (Vaud canton, Switzerland)

Lausanne
"Free City" of Ouchy

See also:

Lausanne

by António Martins

Gules, chief argent
António Martins, 11 January 1998

"Free City" of Ouchy

image located by ND, 4 October 2005

Source: www.planete-drapeaux.net (no longer available)

The coat of arms of "Commune Libre d'Ouchy" (free city of Ouchy). The flag is the same pattern.

Ouchy is a part of Lausanne at the edge of Lake of Geneva. This "free city" is not officially recognized and has a symbolic value. Ouchy was during the Middle Ages for the secondary residence of the Bishop of Lausanne. The inhabitants immortalize the tradition and their specificities since these times.
ND, 4 October 2005

When I was in Lausanne, I saw these arms in several places, and wondered what the status was, so thanks for informing me. I didn't see the flag flying anywhere - do you know of any examples of its use?
Jonathan Dixon, 5 October 2005

The status of the coat of arms of Ouchy is purely informal. There is no official status and it is used by the "Pirates d'Ouchy". This corporation works like an brotherhood. They want an independent city of Ouchy. Of course, this is not a serious request. This is only for the fun and everybody, Lausanne-People and Ouchy-People, finish to drink too lot of white wine.

More seriously, the inhabitants of Lausanne has a lot of difficulties to recognize their own flag because it is not flying often. We might believe that the authorities don't like their flag or are not proud of it! If the Lausanne-People are not able to recognise their own flag, you can imagine they are not likely to know much about the flag of "Ville Libre d'Ouchy".
ND, 5 October 2005