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![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-31-tm.gif)
Flag of Toulouse Métropole - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 15 January 2019
Toulouse Métropole (755,882 inhabitants in 2015; 45,820 ha) was
created in January 2015, replacing the previous Communauté urbaine de
Toulouse Métropole. Toulouse Métropole is composed of 37 municipalities: Aigrefeuille, Aucamville, Aussonne, Balma, Beaupuy, Beauzelle, Blagnac,
Brax, Bruguières, Castelginest, Colomiers, Cornebarrieu, Cugnaux,
Drémil-Lafage, Fenouillet, Flourens, Fonbeauzard, Gagnac-sur-Garonne,
Gratentour, Launaguet, Lespinasse, Mondonville, Mondouzil, Mons, Montrabé,
Pibrac, Pin-Balma, Quint-Fonsegrives, Saint-Alban, Saint-Jean, Saint-Jory,
Saint-Orens-de-Gameville, Seilh, Toulouse, Tournefeuille, L'Union, and
Villeneuve-Tolosane.
In 1992, Toulouse and 14 neighbouring municipalities formed the district du
Grand Toulouse. Another six municipalities joined the district in 2000, which became
a Communauté d'agglomération. Five more municipalities joined in 2003.
In 2008, the Communauté d'agglomération became a Communauté urbaine, which was joined in 2011 by another 12 municipalities. In 2012, the Communauté urbaine du Grand Toulouse took the name of Toulouse Métropole.
The flag of Toulouse Métropole (photo, photo, photo) is white with the authority's logo.
The original logo was presented during the Community Council held on 31
May 2012 in Toulouse.
The logo is based on the Möbius ring, a surface with only one side
discovered by the German mathematician August Ferdinand Möbius (1790-1868).
The Möbius ring, a well-known figure shared by the whole international
scientific community, represents the "Knowledge Metropolis", a main
component of the identity of the Toulouse region. Moreover, the Möbius
ring is the origin of the mathematical symbol representing the concept
of infinity*. The infinite loop property characterizing the "ring"
conveys here the idea of traffic, movement, dynamism and exchange among
men and ideas all over the territory.
Uniting the two "o" of "Toulouse" and "Métropole", the Möbius ring
first emphasizes the union and solidarity between the towns forming the
metropolis. Its one-sided surface forming an infinite loop also
expresses the interdependence of Toulouse and the other towns: no
metropolis without Toulouse; Toulouse cannot exist alone without the
metropolis.
Interdependence is also highlighted in the colors of the "ring":
Toulouse's pink** fades very progressively and harmoniously in the
historical color of the Communauté urbaine, orange, but the meeting
point of the two colors cannot be clearly established. The fading of the
two colors symbolizes here union and perfect convergence.
[Le Blog des Institutionnels, 1 June 2012]
* Pitifully, this erudite description is flawed, which is quite ironic
for a "Knowledge Metropolis". First, the Möbius ring is indeed known
as the Möbius strip or band; second, more important, the first use of
the infinity symbol (lemniscate) is credited to the English
mathematician John Wallis (De sectionibus conicis, 1655), more than
one century before Möbius' birth.
** Toulouse is nicknamed The Pink Town after the color of the buildings of
the historical downtown. Hardly involved in the industrial revolution in
the 19th century, Toulouse kept a very homogeneous downtown,
characterized by its traditional buildings erected with bricks and
roofed with tiles.
Olivier Touzeau & Ivan Sache, 20 January 2019
