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Last modified: 2023-09-30 by olivier touzeau
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Flag of Ploërmel - Image by Olivier Touzeau, 28 December 2021
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Ploërmel (10,536 inhabitants, 5,844 ha) is a commune in Morbihan department.
Even if several remarkable megalithic monuments (covered alleys and menhirs) testify to the occupation of the municipal territory at the time of the final Neolithic (3000 to 2300 BC), the toponym Plebs Arthmael, which will give Ploërmel, is attested for the first time in 835 in the cartulary of Redon. At the end of the 12th century, Ploërmel with its modest castellany which spanned ten parishes, was one of the components of the important domain of the Duchy of Brittany, the only one in central Brittany at the time. The city will then be honored until the 16th century by the presence of the Dukes of Brittany for its strategic position.
In the 16th century, it entered the French royal domain. The Guerres de la Ligue (French Wars of Religion) were the reason for the destruction of the Carmelite Convent, which was later rebuilt. After the revolutionary period marked by a series of ambushes, Jean-Marie de La Mennais created in 1824 the Institute of the Brothers of Christian Instruction. In 1904, the Brothers were expelled by the Army.
The arrival of the railway in 1882 had brought the city out of its isolation and contributed to the development of fairs and businesses.
Occupied by the Germans during the Second World War, Ploërmel was bombed on June 12, 1944. The city experienced significant economic and demographic development from the 1970s, since its population increased by 61% between 1968 and 2013, in particular thanks to the development of the Rennes-Lorient expressway (RN 24) and major urbanization. On January 1, 2019, Ploërmel absorbed Monterrein (400 inhabitants).
Olivier Touzeau, 28 December 2021
The arms of Ploërmel are blazonned:
Ermine, a Lion rampant guardant Sable, crowned Azure, holding at senester a flag of the same, charged with 5 ermine spots Argent.
The arms on which these coats of arms are based date back to the 15th century. They can still be seen behind the high altar of the Saint-Armel church whose construction was started between 1415 and 1440, at the time of the Lords of Gaudinaye, Jean Hattes and his brother-in-law Jean Le Bart. The Hattes had arms "Azure a lion Argent crowned gules" while for the Le Bart the arms were "Azure a leopard Argent". In 1442, by his marriage to Jeanne Le Bart, the Coëtlogon family also became Lord of Gaudinaye, with “Gules three escutcheons Ermine” as their arms. It is therefore in memory of the lords of Gaudinaye that the town of Ploërmel took these arms, recalling the coats of arms of Hattes, Le Bart and Coëtlogon families.
The use of the coat of arms was replaced by a logo during the 2009/2014 by the municipality (red shape with a P and ¨). In 2014, the newly elected municipality decided to come back to the coat of arms (source). A new logo was adopted in 2019 after the creation of the new commune.
The flag of Ploërmel is a banner of arms. The banner of arms was in use between 2009 and 2014 too and is still in use (photo, 2006; photo, 2013; photo, 2020).
Olivier Touzeau, 28 December 2021
