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Catalan culture possesses a multitude of symbols common to the
entire Catalan region they feed the imaginary exoticism that
exists in the minds of the tourist. Some of these symbols –
ordinary in other Catalan regions – are unique in the French
context: sun, all i oli (aioli), cargolade (escargots) and religious
processions figure in the catalogue of regular clichés.
The reality is nevertheless nuanced, like the demonstration
on ancestral symbols which have remained through time, testimony
on the part of the Catalans – of a need to be collectively represented.
The Catalan flag, hugely historic, is the major symbol of the
land.
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This
Catalan banner, flag of the Counts of Barcelona, has been documented
since the year 1082 AD. However, its origin is attributed to
the Count Guifré from Ria in modern-day North Catalonia
in the 10th Century AD. Guifré, injured after the war
against the Normans where he fought in support of the Carolingien
Charles Le Chauve, received a visit from Charles himself. Charles
Le Chauve dipped his hand in Guifré’s wounds and drew
four red bars with his bloodied fingers across Guifré’s
gold shield. This legend gave birth to the ‘sang et or’ (blood
and gold) alliance of colours which now represents Catalans.
In Catalonia north and south, in Majorca as in Valencia, politics
and populations have conserved the Catalan flag to this day.
Today the region of Provence possesses a similar emblem, the
vestige of a union between Count Ramon Berenguer II of Barcelona
and the Duke of Provence in 1112 AD. Throughout its stable history
the Catalan flag, one of the oldest in Europe and the world,
has been adopted by a people mistreated by repeated repressive
laws and intimidations. It is a visible sign of trans-frontier
identity, appreciated in Perpignan, Figueres and Barcelona.
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