![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-33-sg.gif)
Last modified: 2024-04-20 by olivier touzeau
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Flag of Sauveterre-de-Guyenne - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 8 May 2022
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Sauveterre-de-Guyenne (1,868 inhabitants in 2021; 3,175 ha) is a commune in the Gironde department.
This bastide of English origin was founded in 1281 by Edward I. From the 9th century, there was a village of a few houses around a priory. In the 13th century, a small wooden castle inhabited by Dame Athalésie was built on a height and the city then took the name of Athala. To put an end to seigniorial rivalries, King Edward I of England, also Duke of Aquitaine, accepted the creation of a bastide in 1281 with privileges granted in 1283. The bastide changed sides 10 times, French, English, and became French definitively in 1451, two years before the end of the Hundred Years War.
During the Revolution, the parish of Notre-Dame de Sauveterre formed the commune of Sauveterre, the parish of Saint-Léger de Vignague, annexed to Notre-Dame de Sauveterre, formed the commune of Saint-Léger-de-Vignague, the parish of Saint-Romain de Vignague, annexed to Notre-Dame de Sauveterre, formed the commune of Saint-Romain-de-Vignague and the parish of Saint-Christophe de Puch, annexed to Saint-Jean de Sallebruneau, formed the commune of Puch. The walls of the bastide were dismantled in 1838 but the doors could be preserved. In 1896, the commune of Sauveterre became Sauveterre-de-Guyenne.
From June 25 to 28, 1940, Sauveterre-de-Guyenne hosted the Belgian government of Hubert Pierlot in exile. After the armistice signed in 1940, the line of demarcation between occupied France and the Free Zone was established. It passed in front of the Saint-Léger and Saint Romain gates. The bastide of Sauveterre was in the occupied zone.
On May 1, 1965, the municipalities of Puch, Saint-Léger-de-Vignague and Saint-Romain-de-Vignague were attached to the municipality of Sauveterre-de-Guyenne and increased from 26 hectares to more than 3,000 to become the prosperous center of Sauveterrois, wine and tourist region.
To date, Sauveterre is the only one of the eight Gironde bastides to have kept the four city entrance gates. One of them, the Saubotte gate (17 meters high - 2 guard rooms) has been completely restored and can be visited. The Notre Dame church was rebuilt in the 13th century on the site of the original priory church. At the beginning of the 19th century, its state of disrepair was such that it was largely rebuilt in the neo-Gothic style. Its slate bell tower was destroyed in 1837 by a fire; rebuilt in stone, it was struck down in 1887, then removed. A new concrete bell tower was put in place in 1933 and demolished for safety reasons in 1981. In 2013, the municipality decided to restore this bell tower and put a new roof on it, the 4th in its history. The restoration work, carried out with the chief architect of historical monuments Goutal, was completed in July 2014.
Olivier Touzeau, 8 May 2022
The flag is a banner of arms and can be observed on the bastide’s gates: photo (2013), photo (2016), photo (2018), photo (2018), photo (2021), photo (undated)
The arms of Sauveterre-de-Guyenne are blazoned:
Party per pale: 1. Azure, five fleur-de-lis Or 2, 2 and 1, 2. Argent, three
fesses Sable.
The coat of arms during the English domination was that of Jordan de Puch "Argent three fesses Sable". When Sauveterre was attached to the crown of
France, the coat of arms was divided into two parts. For the crown of
France, the fleur-de-lis, and for the Puch family, the three fesses.
Olivier Touzeau, 8 May 2022
![[Flag]](../images/f/fr-33-sg0.gif)
Former version of the flag of Sauveterre-de-Guyenne - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 8 May 2022
A former version seen in 2010 had 6 white fleurs-de-lis on the blue field, and inversed stripes in lighter color (gray field, three white stripe) in the fly: photo (2010), photo (2010), photo (2010).
French vexillologist Pascal Vagnat reported that this version with 6 white fleurs-de-lis was flown since august 2009 [website].
Quoted source with good visibility of the flag: photo (2009).
Olivier Touzeau, 8 May 2022
