The above illustrations, with the exception of Paris, are those which were designed c1950, before the reorganisation of 1982.

The région comprises the départements of: Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Paris, Seine-et-Marne, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Val-d'Oise, Yvelines.

In 1964, Seine and Seine-et-Oise were reorganised into the seven new départements of Essonne, Hauts-de-Seine, Paris, Seine-Saint-Denis, Val-de-Marne, Val-d'Oise and Yvelines. Under this reorganisation, the département of Seine-et-Marne remained in its original state, making a total of eight départements in the région.

The département is divided into 3 arrondissements:

Etampes, Evry and Palaiseau.

There are 35 cantons, all of which are separate towns.

The département is divided into 3 arrondissements:

Antony, Boulogne-Billancourt and Nanterre.

There are 40 cantons, of which 30 are separate towns.

The département, which is the city of Paris, is divided into 20 cantons

The département is divided into 3 arrondissements:

Meaux, Melun and Provins.

There are 37 cantons, of which 35 are separate towns.

The département is divided into 2 arrondissements:

Bobigny and Raincy.

There are 40 cantons, of which 32 are separate towns.

The département is divided into 3 arrondissements:

Créteil, L'Haÿ-les-Roses and Nogent-sur-Marne.

There are 39 cantons, of which 33 are separate towns.

The département is divided into 3 arrondissements:

Argenteuil, Montmorency and Pontoise.

There are 35 cantons, of which 33 are separate towns.

The département is divided into 4 arrondissements:

Mantes-la-Jolie, Rambouillet, Saint-Germain-en-Laye and Versailles.

There are 38 cantons, of which 33 are separate towns.

The modern name for the area dates from some time during the fourteenth century, but Hugues Capet held lands in what is now known as the Ile de France when he was elected king in 987. He was then Comte de Paris, and his lands became the nucleus of French crown territory. Up to the reign of Philippe I, 1060-1108, these were the effective limit of royal authority, with the rest of what is now France under the influence of the great lords.

During the reign of Philippe-Auguste, 1180-1223, Paris became the capital of France, and the Ile de France was given a central importance in the affairs of the country.

From this time onwards, the story is one of gradual and fluctuating expansion, and, by the time of the death of Louis XI in 1483, French crown lands had widened to include almost all of present day France. The Ile de France then lost its importance and became a province in the same way as all the other acquired territory.

Reference to this section in other chapters will give an idea of how the making of France came about.

The arms of the province of Ile de France were:

D'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or,

which are the arms of France modern.

A postage stamp shows them as:

Azure semy de lis or,

which is France ancient, but France modern is now the accepted blazon.

France ancient first appeared on a seal of Louis VIII, although there is some literary evidence for its use on banners in the time of Philippe-Auguste. Traditionally, it is accepted that Charles VI reduced the number of fleurs de lis to three in about 1365, but in fact, it is now recognised that there had been a period of fluctuation between the two coats for some time before that.

Vexin Français: in the Ile-de-France, and largely within the boundaries of Seine and Seine-et-Oise.

D'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or, au lambel d'hermine.

Azure semy de lis or a label ermine.

I do not know the derivation of these arms, but the label ermine is probably a reference to Bretagne, since the Vexin Français once served as a buffer between the Ile de France and the province.

Per bend azure an escarbuncle or and azure semy de lis or overall a bend wavy argent.

The arms were designed by Robert Louis, but I have no further information concerning them. According to the symbolism normally favoured by the designer, a bend wavy represents a river, which in this case would be the Essonne itself.

Per pale azure a fleur de lis or and gules a lymphad argent overall a chief argent a fess wavy azure.

The arms were designed by Robert Louis.

It seems that they combine the elements of the Ile-de-France, with the fleur de lis; Paris, the lymphad; and the River Seine, the fess wavy.

Gules a lymphad argent a chief azure semy de lis or.

The arms are those of the city of Paris, which is itself a département, and description of the arms appears in the entry on the city of Paris.

D'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or à deux fasces ondées d'or brochant sur le tout.

Azure semy de lis or two bars wavy argent.

The arms were designed by Robert Louis.

There was no further information, although it is evident that the two bars wavy represent the two rivers which appear in the name of the département.

Per fess azure semy de lis or and gules the representation of a pair of wings in chevron reversed argent ensigned by an ear of wheat or overall a cogwheel voided also argent,

The arms were designed by Robert Louis, although there was no further information.

They appear to bear symbols of agriculture and industry.

Per pile azure semy de lis or a pile wavy voided argent and or.

The arms were designed by Robert Louis.

The symbolism appears to imply the Ile-de-France, shown by the fleurs de lis, together with the river and the valley of the Marne.

De gueules à la barre ondée d'argent accompagnée à dextre d'un alérion d'or et à senestre d'une croix ancrée du même, à la bordure d'azur chargée de dix fleurs de lis d'or posées en orle.

Gules a bend wavy sinister argent between in chief an alérion and in base a cross moline or a bordure azure ten fleurs de lis in orle or.

The elements gathered together on the shield are symbolic of the département: the alerion is that of Montmorency and the cross moline is from the arms of Neuville de Villeroy, seigneur de Magny. The bend wavy sinister represents the River Oise and the bordure bears the fleurs de lis of the Ile-de-France.

The arms date from after 1964, when the département was formed, and seem to have been designed by Robert Louis.

D'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or à deux bandes ondées d'argent brochant sur le tout.

Azure semy de lis or two bendlets wavy argent.

These arms were adopted by the former departement of Seine-et-Oise in 1943, after the establishment of the Commission Départementale d'Héraldique. Before this time the département had used the arms of Versailles.

When Seine-et-Oise ceased to exist, Robert Louis designed arms for the new département of Yvelines, which included a sun in his slendour as a reference to Louis XIV, the Sun King and founder of Versailles. However, in 1967 the Commission Départementale decided to adopt formally the arms of 1943.

ABLEIGES, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... a porcupine ... a chief ... three mullets ....

ABLON-SUR-SEINE, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. Créteil.

D'azur à la fasce ondée d'argent, chargée de trois ablettes de sable posées en bande, accompagnée en chef d'un rai d'escarboucle fleurdelisé d'or et en pointe d'un pampre du même.

Azure on a fess argent between in chief an escarbuncle and in base a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved or three bleaks or ablets bendwise in fess sable.

The escarbuncle is from the arms of the Abbaye de Saint Victoire de Paris, former seigneurs, and the ablets are the fish from which the town derives its name.

ALFORTVILLE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

De gueules au pairle d'argent, au chef cousu d'azur bastillé de quatre pièces et brochant sur le tout.

Gules a pall argent overall a chief azure embattled of four.

The present arms were adopted in 1946.

The Y shape of the pall is a symbol of the confluence of the Rivers Marne and Seine, on which the town lies. The chief embattled is an allusion to the element fort, stronghold, in the place name, although there is no eveidence that this is the meaning of fort in this case.

The commune first used arms in 1901, when a wholly symbolic, non-heraldic design of "Alfortville dans les bras de la Seine et de la Marne sous le regard bienveillant de la République" was used.

ANDILLY, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

D'azur au chevron accompagné en chef de deux palms adossés et en pointe d'une montagne, le tout d'or.

Azure a chevron between in chief two palm branches addorsed and in base a mount or.

These were the arms of the family of Andilly. The commune of Courdimanche, Val-d'Oise, bears similar arms.

ANDRESY, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

De gueules à la galère antique d'or équipée d'argent voguant sur des ondes du même, au chef d'azur chargé de deux crosses adossées d'argent mouvant de la partition, accostées de deux fleurs de lis d'or.

Gules a galley or a champagne wavy argent a chief azure two croziers in pale addorsed issuant between two fleurs de lis of the second.

The galley is a symbol of the fleet which the Romans are said to have stationed to protect the confluence of the Seine and the Oise. The croziers are a reference to the canons of Notre Dame, who were seigneurs from the ninth century until the Revolution.

ANTONY, Hauts-de-Seine. Arrondissement.

Ecartelé: au 1er et au 4e, d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or, à l'écu en abîme de sable à trois besants d'argent; au 2e et et 3e, de gueules à la colonne d'argent, au chef cousu d'azur chargé d'un lion passant d'or.

Quarterly first and fourth three fleurs de lis or an inescutcheon sable three plates second and third gules a column argent a chief azure a lion passant or.

Information from the town differs. It states that the following arms were adopted in 1919:

Ecartelé au 1er et 4e d'azur à trois fleurs de lys d'or avec un écu en abîme, de sable à trois besants d'argent, qui est de l'Abbaye de Saint-Germain-des-Prés, au 2e et 3e contre-écartelé, au 1er et 4e de gueules à une colonne d'argent au chef cousu d'azur chargé d'un lion passant d'or, au 2e et 3e d'azur à trois bandes d'or, au chef cousu aussi d'azur au lion issant d'or, qui est de Hugues de Lionne, premier marquis de Berny, sur le tout de sinople au pont d'argent maçonné et ajouré de sable sur une rivière d'argent.

The arms then underwent two stages of simplification: first, the inescutcheon was removed; second, the arms were blazoned per pale and not quarterly, but retaining the same arms.

However, the illustration supplied shows the coat per pale, with the arms as in the English blazon above, the quarterly coat in the second and third quarters of the French blazon having been modified. In the absence of a date for the information received, I have accepted the present arms as they appear in the French blazon at the head of this entry. It is likely that both coats were those of different members of the family of de Lionne.

ARCUEIL, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

Ecartelé: au 1er et au 4e, d'azur à l'aqueduc de trois arches d'argent, maçonné de sable, posé sur une terrasse de sinople; au 3e d'or à cinq tourteaux de gueules rangés en orle, surmontés d'un plus grand tourteau d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or.

Quarterly first and fourth azure an aqueduct of three arches argent masoned sable a terrace in base vert second and third or five torteaux in orle in chief a larger hurt three fleurs de lis or.

However, one illustration shows the second quarter bearing:

D'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or.

The aqueduct is a local landmark. The arms of France and Médicis are in remembrance of the laying of the foundation stone of the aqueduct by Louis XIII, and his queen, Catherine de Medicis.

ARGENTEUIL, Val-d'Oise. Arrondissement.

De gueules à la couronne dentée d'or remplie d'une fontaine héraldique et engrenant quatre pignons aussi d'or posés en son chef, à sa pointe, et à ses flancs, ces deux derniers rayonnant chacun de quatre éclairs d'argent et celui du chef accosté de deux demi-vols aussi d'argent; au chef d'azur chargé de la Sainte-Tunique d'argent accostée de deux fleurs de lis d'or.

Gules on a coghweel between four smaller or those in the flanks between four lightning bolts and that in chief between two pairs of wings argent a fountain a chief azure the Holy Tunic argent between two fleurs de lis or.

The arms contain symbols of industry, and especially of the aircraft industry along the banks of the Seine, which is represented by the fountain.

The chief bears the arms of the Abbaye de Argenteuil. Legend has it that Charlemagne received the Holy Tunic from the Empress Irene of Constantinople, and the relic has been in the possession of the Abbey since 800.

The date of the adoption of the arms is not indicated, but in 1952 they were augmented by the award of the Croix de Guerre, 1939-45.

The town comprises two cantons, and these are the arms of Argenteuil-Est. The other canton, Argenteuil-Centre, bears as its arms the chief of the above:

Azure the Holy Tunic argent between three fleurs de lis or.

The correspondence from the commune does not mention Argenteuil-Centre.

ARGENTEUIL-BEZONS, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Argenteuil.

Gules on a cogwheel or held by three hands in pall issuant argent a fountain a chief azure three crowns or.

See the entry on Argenteuil for a note on the fountain on a cogwheel.

No reason was given for the chief, but it is possible that there is a link with the arms of Bezons, Val-d'Oise.

ARNOUVILLE-LES-GONNESSE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

... three crow's heads erased sable.

The crow's heads also appear in the arms of Garges-lès-Gonnesse, Val-d'Oise.

ARPAJON, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Ecartelé, au 1er, de gueules à la croix de Toulouse, vidée, clechée et pommetée d'argent; au 2e, d'argent à quatre pals de gueules; au 3e, de gueules à la harpe d'or; au 4e, d'azur à trois fleurs de lys d'or, au bâton de gueules péri en barre; sur le tout de gueules à la croix de Malte d'argent.

Quarterly first gules a cross clechee voided and pommety argent second argent four pallets gules third gules a harp or fourth azure three fleurs de lis or overall a bendlet sinister couped gules overall an inescutcheon gules a Maltese cross argent.

The first quarter bears the arms of Toulouse-Lautrec, with the cross of Toulouse argent instead of or; the second is Sévérac, the last marquis d'Arpajon; the third has the canting arms of the family of Arpajon, which are identical to those of Ireland; and the fourth is the Comte de Toulouse, a bastard son of Louis XIV and Mme de Montespan. The inescutcheon refers to the privilege granted to Louis, duc d'Arpajon in 1645, by Jean-Paul de Lascaris, Grand Master, which conferred the title of Knight of Malta on the eldest sons of the family.

The arms were created in 1942, for the commune previously known as Châtres-sous-Montlhery.

The bâton péri in the fourth quarter is in bend sinister, and seems to have been reserved for bastards of Louis XIV. Another example of the same arms was borne by Françoise-Marie, who married Philippe II, Duc d'Orléans, and who died in 1749.

Elsewhere, they are depicted simply as:

D'argent, a quatre pals de gueules,

which are the arms of the Comté de Foix.

Although there is no evidence that these arms have any status, their appearance in Le Grand Larousse is interesting, since all the arms in this work are drawn by Robert Louis, who did not normally make errors.

See also the entry on Saint-Beauzély, Aveyron, for the harp of Arpajon. It appears that the family originally came from the area of Toulouse.

ASNIERES-SUR-OISE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

De gueules à un maire d'argent debout et de face, vêtu d'une longue robe à plis, serrant de sa dextre un bâton fleurdelisé d'or qui se repose sur l'épaule accosté en chef de deux fleurs de lis d'or soutenues de deux ânons en pal d'or cabrés et affrontés vers le personnage.

Gules the figure of a maire argent holding in his dexter hand a sceptre flory between in chief two fleurs de lis and in base two asses' foals rampant affronty in pale or.

The asses' foals, unique as far as I know in the civic heraldry of France, are a rebus on the name of the commune, which means a place where asses are reared. A seal of 1260 shows the figure of a maire.

The effect of the blazon is that the foals are not in fact rampant, but appear to be walking up the shield.

ASNIERES-SUR-SEINE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

De gueules à la barque équipée d'argent, voguant et flottant sur des ondes du même. Au chef d'or, chargé de trois fleurs de chardon au naturel tigées et feuillés de sinople. Au franc quartier d'azur, à deux léopards couronnés d'or (qui est de Voyer-d'Argenson).

Gules a lymphad on a champagne wavy argent a chief three thistles proper slipped vert a canton azure two lions passant gardant or.

There is no date for the adoption of the arms, nor any further information.

The barque is a lymphad, similar to that in the arms of Paris. The canton covers one and half of the thistles on the chief. The champagne in French blazon is used for both ground and water, but as far as the representation of water is concerned, the blazon is often more specific, using rivière, ondes or mer.

ATHIS-MONS, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Parti, au 1er, d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or au bâton de gueules péri en bande, au 2e, de sable à trois chevrons rompus d'or, au chef d'azur chargé d'un escarboucle pommeté et fleurdelisé d'or.

Per pale azure three fleurs de lis or a bendlet couped gules and sable three chevrons rompus or overall a chief azure an escarbuncle pommety flory or.

The arms were adopted in 1948.

The dexter part bears the arms of Bourbon-Condé. Mlle de Charolais, Louise-Anne de Bourbon-Condé, granddaughter of both Louis XIV and le Grand Condé, was seigneur of Athis 1743-58. The sinister part bears Viole, who were seigneurs in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The chief is a reference to the Abbaye de Saint Victoire de Paris.

AUBERGENVILLE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

Per bend sinister first per pale per fess sable a greyhound statant argent and azure four ears of wheat in pale argent and gules five bars argent second per pale also gules five bars argent and per fess azure semy de lis argent and sable a cogwheel argent overall on a bend sinister vert a bendlet sinister argent.

The arms were adopted in 1974.

The symbolism of the charges is modern: the greyhound represents hunting, the cogwheel industry and the ears of wheat agriculture. The bend sinister depicts the autoroute, A13.

Allegiance to the Ile-de-France is shown in the semy field, even though the fleurs de lis are unusually tinctured argent, and the bars are from the arms of Besplas, former seigneurs.

The arms are, I believe, intended to be quarterly of six, but the third and fourth quarters are oversized. The information from the commune refers to the "third" and "sixth" quarters as mi-gironné, because they are sliced in half either side of the bend sinister.

The use of the fess, pale or bend to represent a road, and the same ordinaries wavy to represent a river is common in French civic heraldry, as might be expected.

AULNAY-SOUS-BOIS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

D'azur à l'aune arraché de sinople posé sur une terrasse d'argent, au chef tiercé en pal, d'azur, d'argent et de gueules, l'argent chargé des lettres capitales RF, de sable.

Azure an alder tree eradicated vert a terrace in base argent a chief tierced in pale azure argent the capital letters RF and gules.

The original arms, without the Republican chief, date from the fourteenth century.

The aulne or aune, alder tree, is a rebus. The colours of the chief are those of the tricolore; RF are the initials of République Française. The chief is likely to have been added in about 1902, when the name of the commune was changed.

Elsewhere, there is found:

D'azur à l'aulne arraché d'argent.

These simplified arms were proposed by the Commission Héraldique de Seine-et-Oise in 1943, but were ignored by the commune.

AUVERS-SUR-OISE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

D'argent au pont de pierre de deux arches au naturel posé sur une rivière d'azur mouvant de la pointe, surmonté au chef de deux écussons, à dextre d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or, à senestre de gueules au sautoir d'or.

Argent a bridge embowed of two arches also argent (sic) masoned sable a champagne wavy azure in chief two inescutcheons dexter azure semy de lis or sinister gules a saltire or.

The bridge represents the one built in stone which replaced the old one, made of wood. The inescutcheons display the arms of France, because of the commune's position on the boundaries of the Vexin français, and of Guillaume de Vernon, seigneur in 1235.

The bridge is in fact blazoned proper, perhaps to emphasise the stone material, which gives it the appearance of grey on a field argent.

BAGNEUX, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

Quarterly first and fourth azure a bunch of grapes or slipped vert second or three chevrons gules third gules six billets in fess 1,2,3 argent.

There was no further information.

The unusual formation of the billets in the fourth quarter gives the impression of a brick wall.

BAGNOLET, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

D'or à la branche de pêcher de sinople entrelacée en sautoir, garnie de trois fruits de gueules.

Or a branch of a peach tree entwined in saltire fructed of three gules.

The arms were adopted were adopted in 1942, following a decree from the Préfet de la Seine, but there was no further information.

BAILLET-EN-FRANCE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Azure a cross argent cantonned by twelve fleurs de lis or.

BALLANCOURT-SUR-ESSONNE, Essonne. Commune, arr. Evry.

D'azur à deux épis tigés et feuillés d'or, posés en sautoir, accompagnés de quatre poissons d'argent, à l'écusson sur le tout de gueules chargé de la croix l'ordre de Malte.

Azure two ears of wheat slipped and leaved in saltire or cantonned by four fish in fess argent an inescutcheon gules a cross of Malta argent.

The cross of Malta is a reference to the fact that the Templars established an important commanderie in the area in about 1460. The wheat and the fish are symbols of local activity.

BEAUCHAMP, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Ecartelé: au 1er d'or aux quatre alérions d'azur; au 2e et 3e d'argent à la barre de gueules chargée d'une roue d'argent; au 4e de France au bâton péri en bande de gueules; un écusson de sable au faucon d'or grilleté d'argent, brochant sur le tout.

Quarterly first or four alerions azure second and third argent on a bend sinister gules a cogwheel argent fourth azure a bendlet couped gules between three fleurs de lis or overall an inescutcheon sable a falcon belled or jessed argent.

In the first quarter are found the alérions of Montmorency and in the fourth the arms of Bourbon-Condé, former seigneurs. The commune passed from Montmorency to Condé after the Fronde in about 1635.

The modern elements in the second and third quarters represent symbols of industry on the Roman road which runs through the commune. The inescutcheon is a reference to hunting in the neighbouring forests. There is no indication of the date of adoption of the arms, but the commune itself did not come into existence until 1922.

For more information on the arms of the family of Montmorency, see the entry on the commune of Montmorency, Val-d'Oise.

BEAUMONT-SUR-OISE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

De gueules à la tour crénelée de trois pièces d'argent ouverte, ajourée et maçonnée de sable, sommée d'une tourelle aussi d'argent essorée d'or, la tour accostée de deux tourelles d'argent ajourées et maçonnées de sable, girouettées d'or et reliées à la tour par un entremur crénelé d'argent; le tout posé sur une terrasse d'or.

Gules a castle triple towered argent pierced and masoned sable covered or a terrace in base of the second.

The only information stated that the arms were based on an old seal.

The French blazon is complicated, and the full description is hardly necessary in English, since it is sufficient to state that the charge is the castle triple towered which appears in the arms of hundreds of other communes.

BEZONS, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Argenteuil.

D'azur à trois couronnes ducales d'or.

Azure three crowns or.

The seigneur in 1580 was Marie Chanterel. She married Claude Bazin, whose family were cloth merchants, trading in Troyes under the name of «Les Trois Couronnes».

This seems to me to be a far-fetched reason to ascribe such imposing arms; the same arms appear on the chief of those of Argenteuil-Bezons, Val-d'Oise, which is the canton for the commune.

BIEVRES, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Vert on a fess wavy argent between three strawberries ... slipped ... a beaver passant sable.

The arms are based on those of the local family of Mareschal, one of whom was surgeon to Louis XIV, who bore:

Vert a fess wavy argent between three peaks or.

The peaks have been interpreted as cairns or heaps of salt, symbols of wisdom. The salt is also said to refer to the name of the mother of the first Mareschal, which was Desel, "of salt". The field vert is an allusion to the family's Irish ancestors.

The name of the town derives from the Gallic word meaning beaver, and the local agriculture was once based on strawberries. The first example of the arms of the town, with the fess charged with the beaver, and with strawberries instead of the peaks, appeared in 1831. In 1975, a fess took the place of the fess wavy. Later, an understandable error placed six strawberries on the field.

BOIS-COLOMBES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Gules a tree eradicated or a chief azure supported by a fillet three doves volant argent.

There was no further information.

The chief is a rebus on colombe, dove. See also the entry on Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine.

BOISSY-LE-SEC, Essonne. Commune, arr. Etampes.

D'argent à l'aigle de sable onglée becquée et couronnée d'or, l'aile dextre d'azur chargée de six annelets d'or posés 1,2,3.

Argent an eagle displayed sable armed and crowned or on the dexter wing azure six bezants 1,2,3.

The arms were those of Paviot, former seigneurs.

They also appear in the arms of Etrechy, Essonne.

BOISSY-SAINT-LEGER, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

D'azur à la croix d'argent chargée d'une crosse de gueules, cantonné au 1er, d'un semé de fleurs de lis ; au 2e, de trois peupliers arrachés, rangés en fasce; au 3e, d'un arbre; au 4e, d'un semé d'abeilles, le tout d'or.

Azure on a cross argent cantonned first semy de lis second three poplars eradicated third a tree fourth semy of bees or a crozier gules.

The arms were adopted in 1944.

The cross and the crozier symbolise Saint Léger, Bishop of Autun; the poplars, the fief of Piple, peuplier; the tree, the domaine of Grosbois; and the Imperial bees, the residence of Maréchal Berthier, Prince de Wagram, Minister of War in the time of Napoleon.

The bees of Berthier can also be found in the arms of Villecresne, Val-de-Marne.

BOISSY-SANS-AVOIR, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

De gueules à la croix fleuronnée d'argent cantonnée de quatre teircefeuilles d'or.

Gules a cross patonce argent cantonned by four trefoils or.

The arms are based upon those of Jehan de Boissy Sans Avoir, seigneur in the fourteenth century.

The trefoils, which are drawn in the same style as a cinquefoil, and are not slipped in the normal fashion, are symbols of the wood, buis, which gave its name to Boissy.

BONDY, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Argent an oak tree eradicated vert a chief azure three cinquefoils argent.

The oak refers to the forest of Bondy, which was of great importance up until the eighteenth century. The cinquefoil is also a symbol of the forest.

Elsewhere, the arms are:

... à la forêt de sinople terrassée du même....

BONNELLES, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

De gueules au chevron d'argent accompagné en chef de deux étoiles d'or et en pointe d'un croissant d'argent.

Gules a chevron argent between in chief two mullets or and in base a crescent of the second.

The arms were those of Bonnelles, seigneurs in the Middle Ages.

BONNEUIL-SUR MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

De gueules à trois ancres d'or posées deux et un, au chef d'azur chargé d'un soleil d'or.

Gules three anchors or a chief azure a sun in his splendour or.

The arms date from 1968.

They are based on those of Chabenat, below, with the pansies replaced by the anchors, which symbolise the port of Bonneuil.

The commune has rejected the earlier arms:

D'argent à trois fleurs de pensée de pourpre, tigées et feuillées de sinople, au chef d'azur chargé d'un soleil d'or.

Argent three pansies purpure slipped and leaved vert a chief azure a sun in his splendour or.

which were, with slight modifications of the tinctures, those of Chabenat de Bonneuil, seigneurs from 1650 until the Revolution.

Bar-le-Duc, Meuse, also bears three pansies.

BONNIERES-SUR-SEINE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

D'azur à la fasce d'or chargée de trois quintefeuilles de gueules, accompagnée de trois croisettes d'or.

Azure on a fess between three crosslets couped or three cinquefoils gules.

The arms were ascribed by the Commission Départementale d'Héraldique in 1943-44.

They are those of Mesnil-Renard, differenced by the cinquefoils which appear in the arms of Caillot. Both families were former seigneurs.

All that is known of the Mesnil-Renard arms is:

Caillot bore the same, but later adopted a new coat.

BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, Hauts-de-Seine. Arrondissement.

Taillé de gueules et d'azur, à la barque à l'antique d'argent voguant sur des ondes du même brochant sur la partition, acompagnée au chef à dextre d'un poisson posé en pal et à senestre d'une fleur de lis, le tout d'argent.

Per bend sinister gules and azure overall a lymphad on a terrace wavy in base in chief dexter a fish in pale sinister a fleur de lis argent.

The arms were adopted in 1898.

The lymphad is remarkable in that it brings together legend, history, and the reason for the founding of Boulogne-sur-Seine. The legend is that in the seventh century th appearance of a deserted ship in the harbour at Boulogne-sur-Mer, Pas-de-Calais, was followed by the vision of the Virgin in the church. The inhabitants then took the Virgin as their patron, and the town became a place of pilgrimage.

In 1308, Philippe IV of France travelled to Boulogne-sur-Mer for the marriage of his daughter Isabelle to Edward II of England. On his return he founded a church in celebration of the marriage, dedicated to the Virgin, at the village of Saint-Cloud-les-Menus. The village was later renamed Boulogne-sur-Seine, and has now changed its name again.

The fleur de lis is a reference to the arms of the Abbaye de Saint-Cloud-les-Menus. The fish, rather prosaically amid the history, is an allusion to the former importance of fishing to the town.

This is the only communal coat in the région which is party per bend sinister.

BOURG-LA-REINE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

Parti, au 1er d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or, qui est de France moderne; au 2e d'hermine plain, qui est de Bretagne.

Per pale azure three fleurs de lis or and ermine.

The arms were adopted at the end of the nineteenth century, and are based upon an erroneous assumption that Anne de Bretagne gave the town its name.

The arms are identical to those of Brest, Finistère. However, another source gives quite different arms:

Coupé: au 1er d'azur à une couronne ouverte fleurdelisée, accostée de deux lettres M onciales d'argent surmontées chacune d'une fleur de lis d'or; au 2e, de gueules au château d'or ouvert, ajouré et maçonné de sable.

Per fess azure an open crown flory between two uncial letters M argent each ensigned by a fleur de lis or and gules a castle double towered or pierced and masoned sable.

In this instance, it is said that the queen referred to by the crown, which is the crown of the Queens of France, might be Adelaide de Savoie, wife of Louis VI, who stayed in the town in 1134. The letters M and the fleurs de lis are a reference to the Abbaye de Montmartre, former seigneurs.

LE BOURGET, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

De gueules à trois vols d'or chargé chacun d'une étoile d'or, au chef d'azur chargé au milieu d'un huchet d'or, lié et virolé du même.

Gules on three pairs of wings conjoined in pale as many mullets or a chief azure a hunting horn stringed and banded or.

The arms date from before 1948, when the Croix de Guerre was awarded to the commune. The vols are symbolic of aviation, and the hunting horn is a reference to the commune's former importance as a postal relay stage.

BRAY-SUR-SEINE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Provins.

Gules a tower or between two palm trees a terrace in base vert a chief azure three fleurs de lis or.

A seal of the châtellenie dating from the fourteenth century bears:

De gueules à un château entre deux tours crénelées d'argent ayant en chef un écusson d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or.

At the time of the Revolution the inescutcheon of fleurs de lis was replaced by lozenges in chief, no doubt for Republican reasons. During the Restoration the arms were gradually reinstated, but with the introduction on the shield itself of the former supporting olive branches. By 1861, the olive branches had become olive trees, and today the olives have been transformed into palms.

This rather sad deterioration serves as a good example of the way in which the development of coats of arms has always been from early times at the mercy of heralds who had no great knowledge of heraldry.

BRETIGNY-SUR-ORGE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

D'or à deux marteaux en pal accompagnés en pointe d'une rose, le tout de gueules, au chef d'azur chargé d'un vol d'argent enfermant une roue dentée d'or remplie des initiales e et V du même et sommee d'une étoile aussi d'or.

Or in base a rose between two hammers in pale gules a chief azure on a pair of wings conjoined argent a cogwheel and the letters e and V ensigned by a mullet the letters or.

The hammers refer to Martel, seigneurs from 1563-1750; the rose symbolises the market gardening industry; the wings and the cogwheel refer to flying and the aircraft industry, established after the Second World War; the initials are a pun, standing for en vol, flying; and the mullet is a symbol of the star of Bethlehem, a guide for travellers.

The letters are lower and upper case respectively.

BRIE-COMTE-ROBERT, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

Gules a terrace in base ... overall a tower triple turreted argent between two fleurs de lis or.

Elsewhere,

De gueules à la tour d'argent maçonnée de sable, surmontée de trois tourelles girouettées d'argent.

The seal of the châtellenie in the fifteenth century was:

D'une tour accostée de rameaux d'olivier surmontée de trois fleurs de lis entremêlées d'olivier.

The only information sent by the town was a black and white illustration, and I have assumed that the tinctures are those of the second example. The tower is drawn as though it is placed in perspective on the terrace in base.

BRIIS-SOUS-FORGES, Essonne. Commune, arr. Palaiseau.

D'or à la bande d'azur chargée de trois annelets d'argent.

Or on a bend azure three annulets argent.

These were the arms of Trie, a seigneurial family which became extinct in the fifteenth century.

BRUNOY, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

D'or à la croix de gueules cantonnée de quatre lions du même.

Or a cross cantonned by four lioncels rampant gules.

These were the arms of the first family of Brunoy, and were adopted in 1927.

BRY-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

De gueules au pont de bois de trois piles d'or, soutenu d'une rivière d'argent, mouvant de la pointe, au chef cousu d'azur, chargé d'une roue de moulin d'argent, accostée de deux épis d'or.

Gules a wooden bridge of three supports or a champagne argent a chief azure a water millwheel argent between two ears of wheat in pale or.

The arms, which are a simplified version of a former coat, were adopted in 1942.

The bridge and the wheel are references to ancient structures in the town, and the ears of wheat to the agriculture of the area.

It is interesting to note that, in spite of the official arms as blazoned above, the Mairie still uses the following on its notepaper:

BULLION, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

D'azur au lion d'or issant de trois fasces ondées d'argent.

Azure in chief a demi-lion rampant issuant or from in base three bars wavy argent.

The arms were those of Claude de Bullion, seigneur in the seventeenth century.

BUTRY-SUR-OISE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... a sword and a crozier in saltire ... cantonned in the flanks and in base by three fleurs de lis ... overall a bell ... a champagne wavy ... a pike ....

CACHAN, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

Ecartelé: au 1er et au 4e, d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or; au 2e et au 3e, d'argent à l'aigle bicéphale de sable à vol abaissé, becquée et membrée de gueules, au bâton du même brochant sur le tout.

Quarterly first and fourth azure semy de lis or second and third argent a double headed eagle displayed with wings inverted sable beaked and membered overall a bend gules.

These were the arms of Bertrand du Guesclin, Constable of France, to whom the commune was given in about 1375 by Charles V.

I have preferred bend to bendlet in the English blazon.

LA CELLE-SAINT-CLOUD, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

D'azur au cor de chasse d'or enfermant une fleur de lis du même, au chef d'argent chargé de trois têtes d'aigles arrachées de sable.

Azure within a hunting horn a fleur de lis or a chief argent three eagle's heads erased sable.

The hunting horn and the fleur de lis, which appears in the circle formed by the pipe of the horn, is a reference to the fact that the area was a royal hunting preserve. The chief is a reminder of one of the last seigneurs before the Revolution, Panat de Chalendry.

CERNY, Essonne. Canton, arr. La Ferté-Alais.

Coupé: au 1er d'azur à trois merlettes d'argent accompagnées en chef d'une étoile du même; au 2e aussi d'azur à deux fasces ondées d'argent.

Per fess azure three martlets in chief a mullet argent and azure two bars wavy argent.

The arms are composed of the bars wavy of Selves, former seigneurs, and the canes, or ducks, of Carnot, the mother of Sadi Carnot, président de la Republique in 1887, who owned property in the area.

Martlets are often, in many French arms, shown as canettes, or ducklings. The arms of Carnot at various time, used both, but in 1958, the family requested that the heraldic martlet be used in the communal arms.

Since the arms are known to have been derived from two separate coats, it is proper to blazon them as per fess, but without this information, the blazon might have read:

CERGY, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

The only information was in the form of a black and white illustration. In the absence of a French blazon, the arms are almost impossible to describe. However, in English, the blazon might be:

Gules a sickle? azure fimbriated in base a basket? argent a chief azure two fleurs de lis or overall in chief a tower? argent.

The sickle is modernistic in design, and could even be a Phrygian bonnet. The other charges merely look like a basket and a tower.

CHAMPAGNE-SUR-OISE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... on a cogwheel ... ensigned by a fleur de lis ... a roundel ... a thistle ... overall two lightning bolts in bend and in bend sinister a chief azure supported by a fillet argent a passion nail ... between two fleurs de lis or.

The chief contains the arms of the Abbaye de Saint Denis.

CHAMPIGNY-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Ecartelé: au 1er et au 4e, d'azur au croissant d'or surmonté d'une étoile du même; au 2e et au 3e, de gueules à la barque à l'antique d'argent voguant sur une rivière du même mouvant de la pointe.

Quarterly first and fourth azure a crescent ensigned by a mullet or second and third gules a lymphad on a champagne wavy argent.

The first and fourth quarters bear the arms of Bochart, baron de Champigny; the second and third refer to the importance of shipping to the commune.

The examples supplied by the town showed the first quarter only with the crescent ensigned by two mullets.

CHAMPS-SUR-MARNE, Seine-et-Marne. Commune, arr. Meaux.

D'azur au chevron d'argent accompagné en chef de deux étoiles d'or à six rais, et en pointe, d'un léopard du même, armé, lampassé et couronné d'argent.

Azure a chevron argent between in chief two estoiles and in base a lion passant or crowned armed and langued of the second.

The arms were adopted at some time during the 1960s and were those of Paul Poisson de Bourvalais, one of the builders of the château.

LA CHAPELLE-LA-REINE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

Barry of fourteen argent and azure a lion rampant crowned or.

There was no further information.

On a separate illustration the lion is shown as contourned.

CHARENTON-LE-PONT, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

D'azur au pont de quatre arches donjonné et girouetté d'argent, maçonné de sable et posé sur une rivière d'argent.

Azure a bridge of four arches argent masoned sable with in the centre a tower ensigned by a flag on a champagne of the second.

The arms, which were designed by Robert Louis and adopted in 1942, are a rebus.

Previously, dating from 1790, there had been a non-heraldic, fanciful design with a bridge, nymphs, a Phrygian bonnet and an anchor. During the nineteenth century the present elements came into use, but there were no official arms until 1942.

CHARS, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

D'azur au château d'argent à trois tours crénelées, celle du centre plus élevée, ouvert du champ, ajouré et maçonné de sable, accompagné en chef de deux fleurs de lis d'or et en pointe d'une roue de moulin du même.

Azure a castle triple towered argent pierced and masoned sable in chief two fleurs de lis in base a water millwheel or.

The arms bear the symbols of the château and the water mills of the area.

LE CHATELET-EN-BRIE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

De gueules au chevronel d'or soutenu d'un mantel d'azur chargé d'une tour d'argent maçonnée de sable et accompagné en chef, à dextre d'une fleur de lys d'or, à senestre d'un épi du même dressé en pal; le tout a une filière d'argent.

Per chevron gules dexter a fleur de lis sinister an ear of wheat or and azure a tower argent overall a chevron of the second a bordure of the fourth.

The arms were adopted in 1987.

The chevron is from the arms of the comtes d'Erceville, who bore:

D'azur à un chevron d'or.

The tower is a rebus on the name of the commune. The fleur de lis symbolises the Ile-de-France, and the ear of wheat refers to the agriculture of the area.

The French blazon uses the device of mantelé, which treats the base as though it were a charge, in this case a mantel, or cloak, on the shield. In English blazon the arms are a party coat. For more information on similar devices in French blazon, see in particular the Glossary, and also the entry on Vanves, Hauts-de-Seine.

In addition, the chevron and the bordure are diminished in width, and in these arms were used to enable the other charges to be better represented. I have preferred to blazon them as chevron and bordure.

CHATENAY-MALABRY, Hauts-de-Seine. Commune, arr. Antony.

Parti: au 1er, de gueules à la branche de châtaignier d'or garnie de ses fruits d'argent; au 2e, d'or à la coulèvre tortillée d'azur en pal.

Per pale gules the branch of a chestnut tree fructed or and or a viper in pale azure.

The dexter half of the shield is rebus on the name of the town, which is derived from Latin castenaria, French châtaigne, chestnut. The arms in the sinister part of the shield are those of Colbert de Croissy, baron de Sceaux and seigneur of Chatenay.

See also, the entry on Le Plessis-Robinson, Hauts-de-Seine.

CHATILLON, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

D'azur au château donjonné d'argent, maçonné et ajouré de sable sur une terrasse d'argent.

Azure a castle with a dexter echauguette and a sinister tower argent pierced and masoned sable a terrace in base of the second.

The arms are a simple rebus, and are similar to countless other communal arms. For a discussion on the use of the castle and the tower in French civic heraldry, see the chapter on Common Emblems.

The terrace in base is ombrée; see the note on Courbevoie, Hauts-de-Seine, and the Glossary.

CHATOU, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Ecartelé: au 1er, d'azur à une épée d'argent; au 2e et 3e, d'or à un rosier sur une terrasse de sinople fleuri de trois pièces de gueules, au chef d'azur chargé de trois étoiles d'or; au 4e, d'azur au lion d'or.

Quarterly first azure a sword in pale argent second and third or a rose bush issuant vert fructed of three gules a terrace in base of the second a chief azure three mullets or fourth azure a lion rampant or.

The arms are a modified version of those of Bertin, former seigneurs, and were adopted in about 1881.

Arms were first ascribed to the commune by the seigneurie, only a month before the storming of the Bastille in 1789. They were those of Le Pileur, seigneurs 1571-1624, who bore;

D'azur à un lion rampant d'or au chef d'argent chargé de trois pélicans de sable.

CHAUFFOUR-LES-BONNIERS, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

D'azur au four romain de boulanger d'argent, son entrée de gueules, accompagné de trois fleurs de lis d'or, deux en chef accostant la cheminée du four, une en pointe.

Azure a baker's oven argent pierced gules between three fleurs de lis or.

The arms were adoped in 1957, and are a rebus on the name of the commune, from chaud four, meaning hot oven, and were ascribed by the Armorial Général.

CHAVILLE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

D'azur à trois lézards d'argent posés en pal, rangés en fasce, au chef de gueules chargé de trois étoiles d'or.

Azure three lizards palewise in fess argent a chief gules three mullets or.

The arms were adopted towards the end of the nineteenth century, and were those of Le Tellier.

They also appear on the dexter side of the arms of Viroflay, Yvelines.

CHELLES, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

Ecartelé, au 1er et au 4e, d'une fleur de lys sur un fond d'azur, au 2e et au 3e, d'une échelle de sable au fond d'argent.

Quarterly first and fourth azure a fleur de lis or second and third argent a ladder bendwise sable.

The arms were ascribed by the Armorial Général, and are based upon those of the former Abbaye Royale de Notre Dame de Chelles, which bore the same with a crozier of an abbess.

The échelle, ladder, is a rebus on the name of the commune.

CHENNEVIERES-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

De gueules au plant de chanvre d'argent fruité d'or, mouvant de la pointe, au chef d'azur chargé de deux clefs d'argent en sautoir accostées de deux fleurs de lis d'or, le tout soutenu d'une divise ondée d'argent, brochant sur la partition.

Gules a hemp plant argent fructed or issuant from base a chief azure two keys in saltire the wards upwards and outwards argent between two fleurs de lis or a fillet wavy argent.

The arms are a rebus on the name of the town, and were adopted in 1955, although information received from the town states that the arms were in use in 1940, ascribed by the héraldiste départementale. This date is too early for the Vichy decree.

CHERENCE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Quarterly first and fourth azure semy de lis or second and third ... a tower ....

The arms may be a quartering of France and Castilla. See the entry on Saint-Ouen-l'Aumone, Val-d'Oise.

LE CHESNAY, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Versailles.

The only information was from a black and white illustration. I have assumed that the tree is an oak, because of the rebus on the name of the commune, from Old French chesne, French chêne, oak.

CHEVILLY-LARUE, Val de Marne. Commune, arr. Haÿ-les-Roses.

D'azur à la colombe d'argent mouvant du chef, à la bordure de gueules chargée de huit macles d'or.

Azure a dove volant in pale head downwards argent a bordure gules eight mascles or.

The dove is an allusion to the monastery of the Pères du Saint Esprit, the dove being a symbol of the Holy Spirit; the bordure is from the arms of Rohan Guémenée, former seigneurs.

For references to the family of Rohan, see the chapter on Bretagne, passim.

CHEVREUSE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Rambouillet.

D'argent à la croix de sable chargée de cinq molettes d'éperon d'or, cantonnée de quatre lions d'azur.

Argent on a cross sable cantonned by four lioncels rampant azure five estoiles or pierced of the second.

The arms were those of Anseau de Chevreuse, former seigneurs.

CHILLY-MAZARIN, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

De gueules au chevron fascé, ondé d'argent et d'azur, de six pièces accompagné de trois lions d'or, l'un en pointe deux en chef.

Gules a chevron barry wavy of six argent and azure between three lions rampant or.

The arms were designed by Robert Louis, and adopted in 1945.

They were those of Martin Ruze, who bought the lands of Chilly in 1596.

CHOISY-LE-ROI, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

De gueules au pont d'or, soutenu d'une rivière d'argent, accompagné en pointe de cinq annelets entrelacés d'or et surmonté d'un écu posé en abîme d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or, timbré de la couronne royale de France, la pointe de l'écu brochant sur le pont.

Gules in base a two arched bridge or on a fess wavy argent in base five annulets interlaced of the second an inescutcheon azure three fleurs de lis or ensigned by a royal crown also or.

The bridge and the river are above the annulets, which are joined in the style of the Olympic rings. They refer to the commune's importance as a sporting centre within the département. The inescutcheon is a reference to the visits made to the town by Louis XV and La Grande Mademoiselle.

CLAIREFONTAINE-EN-YVELINES, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

D'azur à la fontaine d'argent surmontée de trois étoiles d'or rangées en chef.

Azure a fountain of three tiers issuant in base argent in chief three mullets or.

The arms were those of the Abbaye, which were entered into the Armorial Général. They are a rebus on the name of the commune, claire fontaine, clear fountain. The mullets are said to symbolise clarity.

The communes of Rungis, Val-de-Marne, and Fontenay-aux-Roses, Hauts-de-Seine, also bear fountains in their arms. The heraldic fountain is rare in French heraldry.

CLAMART, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

D'azur au chevron d'or accompagné de trois roses d'argent, deux en chef, une en pointe.

Azure a chevron or between three roses argent.

The arms were those of Jean de Livres, seigneur in the fifteenth century.

CLICHY, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

De gueules à trois pals de vair, au chef d'or chargé d'une couronne à l'antique de gueules accostée de deux huchets du même.

Gules three pallets vair a chief or an antique crown between two hunting horns gules.

The arms are based on those of Gaucher III de Chatillon, the first seigneur in 1193. They are differenced by the crown, which is a reference to the Franks who settled in the area, and the hunting horns, which serve as a reminder that the area was a royal hunting reserve.

The name of the town derives from the word garenne, which is from the medieval Latin warenna, from which comes the English warren. At the end of the twelfth century it had the meaning of a reserved hunting area.

COLOMBES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Azure a covered tower or masoned and pierced sable on a terrace in base embattled argent masoned of the third and between two doves volant affronty of the fourth.

There was no further information.

The colombes, doves, are a rebus on the name of the commune. See also the entry on Bois-Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine.

CONFLANS-SAINTE-HONORINE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

De gueules au pairle d'argent au chef d'azur chargé de trois fleurs de lis d'or.

Gules a pall argent a chief azure three fleurs de lis or.

The pall symbolises the confluence of the Seine and the Oise.

CORBEIL-ESSONNES, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

D'azur au coeur au naturel chargé d'une fleur de lis d'or.

Azure on a heart gules a fleur de lis or.

The French blazon attempts to avoid the difficult combination of tinctures by referring to the heart as proper, whatever colour that might be, although it appears as gules in illustrations. These arms were those of the Prévôté in the Middle Ages, with the addition of the heart by the Compagnie d'Arquebusiers, founded in 1418. With the difference, the arms were adopted by the town of Corbeil after this date.

The present commune results from the amalgamation of two former communes, and according to information received, the above blazon is for Corbeil. It was stated that the arms of Essonnes are:

Azure three ears of wheat or,

which date from the nineteenth century, and are evocative of the many mills in the area. The official policy now is to use both coats.

CORMEILLES-EN-PARISIS, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Argenteuil.

Parti: au 1er d'azur à la gerbe d'or, au 2e d'or au pampre tigé, feuillé et fruité au naturel.

Per pale azure a garb or and or a bunch of grapes gules slipped and leaved vert.

The arms bear symbols of local agriculture and date from at least 1899.

Although the French blazon states that the bunch of grapes is proper, the accompanying illustration conforms to the English version.

COUBRON, Seine-Saint-Denis. Commune, arr. Le Raincy.

D'or à trois huchets (ou anciens cors de chasse) de sable, liés, enguichés et virolés d'azur, posés 2 et 1, au chef de gueules, chargé de trois roses d'argent.

Or three hunting horns sable stringed azure a chief gules three roses argent.

The arms, which were designed in 1958, are a combination of the hunting horns of Nesmond, seigneurs in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and the roses of Houcquart de Curtot, seigneurs after 1725.

COULOMMIERS, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

D'azur au colombier rond d'or, maçonné de cinq assises de sable, surmonté d'une lanterne d'argent, sommé d'une boule et girouetté d'or, la porte fermée et ferrée et celle de la lanterne aussi d'or, le colombier accosté de deux serpents d'or langués de gueules, entrelacés par la queue en pointe; au chef dextre de la lanterne quatre colombes d'argent dont deux sortent et deux rentrent, et à senestre quatre colombes aussi d'argent dont trois rentrent et une sort.

More simply, elsewhere the blazon is given as:

D'azur a une tour de colombier d'or accompagnée de quatre pigeons d'argent, volant, deux en chef, deux aux flancs.

Azure a dovecote or covered argent between two serpents conjoined in base of the second langued gules in chief eight doves of the third.

The colombier may be a rebus on the name of the town. The motto "prudentes ut serpentes simplices ut columbae" is reflected in the charges. There is no date for the adoption of the arms, but they appear to have the stamp of d'Hozier, and are more like a painting than a coat of arms.

I have not defined the complexities of the original French blazon in the English rendering, which, in the absence of further information, is a compromise between the two examples.

The arms of Garennes-Colombes, Hauts-de-Seine, also contain a canting dovecote.

COURBEVOIE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

D'azur au pont courbé à trois arches d'or maçonné de sable sur une rivière d'argent ombrée d'azure; au chef de gueules, à la tente d'argent accompagné de deux ceps grappés d'or.

Azure a bridge embowed of three arches or masoned sable a champagne argent shaded of the field a chief gules a pavillion argent between two bunches of grapes or slipped vert.

The arms appear to have been adopted in 1837, shortly after the commune's elevation to a canton. The bridge is a representation of that in the town.

The French ombrée means that the charge is shaded with azure lines, here to indicate water. The pavillion, or medieval tent, is a reference to the commune as a garrison, and the grapes allude to the former importance of vine growing.

COURCELLES-SUR-VIOSNE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

D'argent à trois clous de sable surmontés d'un sanglier de même.

Argent a boar passant in base three passion nails the dexter bendwise the centre in pale and the sinister bendwise sinister sable.

These were the arms of Damours, seigneurs in the seventeenth century.

COURDIMANCHE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

De gueules au chevron d'argent accompagné d'une montagne du même mouvant de la pointe, au chef d'azur chargé de trois fleurs de lis d'or.

Gules a chevron in base a mount issuant argent a chief azure a fleur de lis or.

The arms were those of Philippe de Courdimanche, a former seigneur.

The commune of Andilly, Val-d'Oise, bears similar arms.

CRECY-LA-CHAPELLE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

D'azur à trois croissants entrelacés d'argent.

Azure three crescents intertwined argent.

The arms date from the end of the sixteenth century.

Their derivation is unknown, but several different explanations have put put forward. It is possible that the croissant is a rebus on the name of the commune. Diane de Poitiers had associations with the town, and the symbol of Diana is the moon; and Catherine de Medicis took crescents into her arms on her marriage to Henri II in 1562, at which time she was given the comté de Crécy.

In view of the fact that the arms were unknown before the time of Catherine, it seems at least likely that hers was the influence on the adoption of the arms of the town.

CRETEIL, Val-de-Marne. Chef-lieu du Département.

D'azur, à la fasce ondée d'argent, accompagnée en chef d'une croix pattée d'or, chargée d'un oeil au naturel rayonnant, et, en pointe d'une grappe de raisin tigée et feuillée d'or.

Azure a fess wavy argent between in chief on a cross paty or a human eye with rays proper and in base a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved of the third.

Elsewhere, there is found:

d'azur à la fasce ondée d'argent accompagnée en chef d'une croix potencée d'or et en pointe d'une grappe de raisin d'or tigée et feuillée du même.

Azure a fess wavy argent between in chief a cross potent and in base a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved or.

The fess wavy alludes to the River Marne; the cross potent is a rebus on the derivation of the name of the town, Créteil supposedly having a linguistic connection with Christ; and the grapes are a reference to former vineyards in the area.

CROISSY-SUR-SEINE, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

D'azur à trois losanges d'or accompagnées en abîme d'un écusson d'argent chargé d'un croissant d'azur.

Azure between three lozenges or an inescutcheon argent a crescent azure.

The crescent was chosen to appear on the communal arms both because it is from the arms of Chanorier, the last seigneur before the Revolution, and because it symbolises the position of the commune on a bend of the Seine.

It was not clear whether the arms of Chanorier have been adopted in full, or whether the lozenges come from another source.

CROSNE, Essonne. Commune, arr. Evry.

D'argent à la fasce d'azur chargé de trois bandes d'or, accompagnée en chef d'une croisette ancrée de gueules et en pointe de trois têtes de lion arrachées du même posées 2 et 1.

Argent on a fess azure between in chief a cross moline and in base three lion's heads erased gules three bendlets or.

There was no information concerning the derivation of the arms.

DAMMARTIN-EN-GOELE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

Fasce d'argent et d'azur; alias, a la bordure de gueules.

Barry argent and gules.

There was no indication of the number of bars, and no information concerning the alternative blazon.

DEUIL-LA-BARRE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr Montmorency.

D'or à la croix de gueules cantonnée de seize alérions d'azur, brisé d'un franc-canton d'hermine.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure a canton ermine.

Aubert claims that these were the arms of Montmorency-Saint-Leu-Barre, although Levron states that they were those of Bouchard IV de Montmorency, seigneur in 1250.

They are identical to those of Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, Val-d'Oise. The effect of the canton is to obliterate the first four alérions. For further information on the arms, see the entry on Montmorency, Val-d'Oise.

Elsewhere, the arms are depicted as:

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen bees volant ... a canton ermine,

which may indicate a Napoleonic influence.

DOMONT, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

D'or au mont de sinople mouvant de la pointe, au chef d'azur chargé d'un dextrochère d'argent paré d'hermine, au fanon du même brochant sur le tout.

Or a mount vert in base a chief azure overall a dextrochere clothed and with a scarf ermine.

The arms were those of Villiers-d'Adam, former seigneurs, differenced by the mount, French mont, which gives the commune its name. Information from the town comments that the arms have no official status, not having been approved by the Commisson d'Héraldique.

The arms, without the mount, are also borne by the communes of Villiers-Adam, and, as an inescutcheon without the mount, L'Isle-Adam, both in Val-d'Oise.

DOURDAN, Essonne. Canton, arr. Etampes.

D'azur à trois pots à deux anses garnis de fleurs, le tout d'argent, au chef cousu de gueules à trois fleurs de lis d'or.

Azure three double handled vases with flowers argent a chief gules three fleurs de lis or.

The arms date from a seal of 1792. The vases are a reference to a Roman pottery on the site of the town.

DRANCY, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

D'azur au chevron d'or chargé en son sommet d'un D de sable, en lettre gothique, et accompagné en chef de deux étoiles d'or et en pointe d'un mouton passant d'argent.

Azure on a chevron between in chief two mullets or and in base a sheep passant argent the gothic letter D sable.

The arms were adopted in 1942, by decree of the Commission Héraldique de la Seine. They were those of Séguier, seigneurs until 1700, differenced by the D, for Drancy.

DRAVEIL, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

D'or, à la champagne ondée de sinople, chargée de deux jumelles aussi ondées d'argent, au chêne arraché de sinople, mouvant de la champagne, chargé de sept glands d'or, au chef de gueules chargé de trois roses d'argent.

Or a terrace in base wavy vert two bars wavy argent overall an oak tree eradicated of the second fructed of seven of the field a chief gules three roses argent.

The arms were adopted in 1970.

The oak is a reference to the forests of the area; the two bars wavy symbolise the Rivers Seine and Oly; the three roses are for the unity of the commune and its two hamlets, Mainville and Champrosay. It is said that the latter takes its name from a field of roses.

The blason is difficult: I have tried to show the oak growing from the terrace in base, as it appears in illustrations, in spite of the fact that it is blazoned as eradicated.

DUGNY, Seine-Saint-Denis. Commune, arr. Bobigny.

Ecartelé: au 1er et au 4e, d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or au clou d'argent en abîme; au 2e et au 3e, de gueules à neuf épis d'or, 3 par 3, ceux des flancs retombants, au fer de moulin d'argent en abîme.

Quarterly first and fourth azure a passion nail argent between three fleurs de lis or second and third gules a millrind argent between nine ears of wheat in the form of three garbs or.

The arms in the first and fourth quarters are those of the former seigneurs, the Abbaye de Saint-Denis. The groups of three ears of wheat, which are shown as though they were garbs, are a reference to the three mills which existed in the seventeenth century.

EAUBONNE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

D'or à la croix de gueules accompagné de seize alérions d'azur au lambel d'argent de trois pièces.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure a label of three points dovetailed argent.

The arms were adopted in 1927. They were the arms of Charles de Montmorency, seigneur d'Eaubonne, who died in 1462.

For more information on the arms, see the entry on Montmorency, Val-d'Oise.

ECOUEN, Val-d'Oise. Canton, Montmorency.

D'or à la croix de gueules cantonnée de de seize alerions d'azur, brisé d'un franc-canton d'azur à l'aigle de l'Empire, empiétant un foudre du même.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure a canton azure an Imperial eagle perched grsaping in his talons a lightning bolt or.

These were the arms of Montmorency, and more information on them can be found under the entry on Montmorency, Val-d'Oise.

The canton is a reminder that one of the schools of the Légion d'Honneur was founded in Ecouen by le Connétable Anne de Montmorency.

In the illustration provided, the bolt of lightning is not shown. The effect of the canton is to obliterate the first quarter, so that only twelve alerions may be seen.

ENGHIEN-LES-BAINS, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

D'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or, au bâton péri en bande de gueules, à un lambel de trois pendants d'argent.

Azure a bendlet couped gules between three fleurs de lis or a label of three points dovetailed argent.

There was no further information, but the arms are those of a cadet of Condé.

ENNERY, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Per pale ... a plant? ... and ... three bees ... a chief azure three fleurs de lis or.

EPINAY-SUR-SEINE, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Coupé, au 1er d'or à la croix de gueules, cantonnée de seize alerions d'azur; au 2e, d'argent au pin arraché de sinople, accosté de deux étoiles à six rais de gueules.

Per fess or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure and argent a pine tree eradicated vert between two estoiles gules.

The arms were adopted following the decree by the Pétain government, which is commented upon in the entry on Gennevilliers, Hauts-de-Seine.

They are comprised of those of two former seigneurs: in chief, the Connétable Mathieu II le grand de Montmorency, who fought at the battle of Bouvines in 1214; and Laline de Bellegarde, who owned the commune in the eighteenth century. Permission was received from the Duc de Montmorency to include his arms in those of the commune in 1942.

ERMONT, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

De gueules au plant de vigne arraché, tigé et feuillé d'argent, fruité d'or de trois pièces, à la bordure d'or chargée de neuf tourteaux de sable, au chef d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or à la mitre d'argent brochant.

Gules a vine eradicated leaved argent fructed of three or a bordure or nine pellets a chief azure semy de lis or a mitre argent.

The arms were designed by Robert Louis, and adopted in 1961.

The vine is a reference to wine production, and the bordure to the Roman road, la chaussée Jules-César, under which Roman coins have been found. The chief is that of the Ile-de-France, with the mitre of Saint Flaive, patron of the commune.

ETAMPES, Essonne. Arrondissement.

De gueules à la tour crénelée d'or flanquée de deux tourelles en forme de guérite du même, la tour ouverte at ajourée de sable et chargée d'un écusson d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or, brisé en coeur d'un bâton péri en bande de gueules, chargé de trois lionceaux d'argent.

Gules a castle triple towered or pierced and masoned sable an inescutcheon azure three fleurs de lis or overall on a bendlet couped gules three lioncels rampant argent.

The arms were ascribed by the Armorial Général and affirmed by Louis XVIII in 1819.

The inescutcheon bears the arms of Bourbon-Vendôme, and are a reference to César, duc de Vendôme et d'Etampes, a natural son of Henri IV and Gabrielle d'Estrées.

In the French blazon, the guérite is a similar structure to an échauguette, which is a small turret projecting from the main wall affording a line of fire to defenders. In the English, it is easier to use the term castle triple towered, without any of the modifications.

See also the entry on Sainte-Geneviève-des-Bois, Essonne.

ETRECHY, Essonne. Canton, arr. Etampes.

Coupé au I, parti au 1er: de gueules à la croix de Malte à huit pointes d'argent, au 2e d'argent à l'aigle de sable, onglée becquée et couronnée d'or à l'aile dextre d'azur chargée de six annelets d'or; au II d'azur à la fasce d'argent.

Per fess in chief per pale gules a maltese cross argent and argent an eagle displayed sable beaked membered and crowned or its dexter wing azure charged with six annulets also or in base azure a fess argent.

The arms were confirmed in 1959.

The cross of Malta is a reference to the Knights of the order, who possessed land in the area. The eagle is from the arms of Paviot, and the fess in the base of the shield is simply symbolic of the straight road on which the commune stands.

Boissy-le-Sec, Essonne, also bears the arms of Paviot.

EVRY, Essonne. Chef-Lieu du Département.

Ecartelé au 1er parti d'azur à trois fleurs de lys d'or au bâton péri de gueules et d'azur à trois fleurs de lys d'or au lambel d'argent; au 2e écartelé aux 1er et 4e d'or à un château de gueules maçonné de sable surmonté de trois têtes de Maure rangées et tortillées d'argent, aux 2e et 3e d'argent à trois fasces ondées d'azur; au 3e enté ondé d'argent et de gueules de six pièces; au 4e d'argent à trois fasces d'azur; et en abîme d'azur au château accompagné, en chef de trois fleurs de lys posées en fasce, en point d'une nef et accosté de deux gerbes de blé l'une à dextre l'autre à senestre le tout d'or; la nef en pointe sur une mer d'argent.

Quarterly first per pale azure three fleurs de lis or a bendlet sinister couped gules and azure three fleurs de lis or a label of three points dovetailed argent second quarterly first and fourth or a castle triple towered gules masoned sable in chief three Moor's heads in fess wreathed argent second and third argent three bars nebuly azure third barry nebuly of six argent and gules fourth argent three bars azure an inescutcheon azure a castle triple towered between in chief three fleurs de lis in fess in base a lymphad or on a champagne argent and in the flanks two garbs also or.

These are the marshalled arms of first, Bourbon-Condé-Orléans, borne by Louis Marie Thérèse Mathilde, Duchesse de Bourbon, and mother of the duc d'Enghien; second, Castillon-Pardaillon, borne by Pardaillon Gondrin, duc d'Antin, son of the the marquise de Montespan, and in which the Moor's heads argent are placed on a field or; third, Rochouart-Mortemart, borne by the marquise de Montespan; and fourth, Kéroualle, borne by Louise René de Penacoët, duchesse de Portsmouth.

The inescutcheon seems to bear arms symbolic of the area; the lymphad may be that of Paris.

LA FERTE-ALAIS, Essonne. Canton, arr. Etampes.

D'azur à la fleur de lys florencé d'or à deux oiseaux d'argent adossés, la tête contournée perchés sur les deux veloutes.

Azure a fleur de lis flory? or on which are perched two birds regardant addorsed argent.

These arms were adopted in 1945, and are based on a seal of the prévôté, dating from 1295.

Previously, the town had borne:

D'or à l'aigle de gueules becquée et membrée d'azur,

which were those on a seal of 1200. There was no explanation for the change.

LA FERTE-GAUCHER, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Provins.

Gules a lion rampant or.

This was found on an illustration sent by the town with no further information.

LA FERTE-SOUS-JOUARRE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

D'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or à un lion passant de même.

Azure semy de lis a lion passant or.

The arms were ascribed by the Armorial Général.

FONTAINEBLEAU, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

Coupé au 1er d'or à l'aigle de sable; au 2e d'argent à la salamandre enflammée de gueules, sur le tout d'azur à la fasce d'azur chargée d'une rivière ondée d'argent; franc quartier à dextre d'azur à la lettre capitale N d'or surmontée d'une étoile rayonnante du même.

Per fess or an Imperial eagle sable and argent a salamander vert with flames or and gules overall on a fess azure a bar wavy of the third a canton azure the capital letter N ensigned by a mullet or.

Elsewhere, the blason is tiercé, and not coupé:

Tiercé en fasce: au 1er d'or a l'aigle d'Empire de sable; au 2e d'azur a la fasce ondée d'argent; au 3e d'argent a la salamandre enflammee de gueules, au franc quartier d'azur a la lettre capitale N d'or surmontée d'une étoile rayonnante du même.

The arms were granted in 1869, and the town has, unusually, retained the Napoleonic symbols. The château was built by François I, whose badge was the salamander. The fess is a symbol of the River Seine.

The Napoleonic canton in these arms indicated a bonne ville, second class. Le Havre, Seine-Maritime, along with a few other communes, also has the salamander in its arms because of a connection with François I.

FONTENAY-AUX-ROSES, Hauts-de-Seine. Commune, arr. Antony.

D'azur à la fontaine d'or jaillisaante d'argent, posée sur une terrasse du même, au chef d'or à trois roses de gueules, boutonnées d'argent.

Azure a fountain or spouting a terrace in base argent a chief or three roses gules seeded argent.

The arms contain two rebuses on the name of the commune.

Here, the terrasse is shown as a very small terrace in base, which just fits into the base of the shield, and which is usually known as a plaine, the diminutive of champagne, in French blazon. They are not distinguished in the English.

FONTENAY-SOUS-BOIS-EST, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

D'or au chêne de sinople englanté d'or, terrassé de sinople, au chef d'azur chargé d'un rai d'escarboucle d'or accosté de deux fleurs de lis aussi d'or.

Or an oak tree vert fructed or a terrace in base of the second a chief azure an escarbuncle between two fleurs de lis or.

The oak is symbolic of the forest of Vincennes; the escarbuncle is from the arms of the Abbaye de Saint-Victor, whose prior was seigneur from 1133 until the Revolution; and the fleurs de lis are a reminder that the Abbey belonged to the crown.

FRANCONVILLE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Tiercé en bande, au 1er d'azur semé de lys d'or, au 2e d'argent à la francisque de sable posée dans le sens de la bande, au 3e de gueules à trois arbres d'or mouvant de la pointe.

Tierced in bend first azure semy de lis or second argent a double headed axe bendwise sable third gules three trees or issuant from dexter base.

The arms were adopted in 1964, the original design having been made by Mme O Mayoux. The illustration is the work of Robert Louis.

The symbolism of the arms takes into account the Ile-de-France, with France ancient; the francisque, or double headed axe, of the Franks who gave the town its name; and the trees of the garenne or game preserve.

Elsewhere, the arms are blazoned:

Per bend azure semy de lis or and gules three trees issuant in pale or overall on a bend argent a double headed battleaxe bendwise sable.

The illustration indicates that the blazon could equally well be:

Per bend azure semy de lis or and gules three trees issuant from dexter base or overall on a bend argent a double headed battle axe bendwise sable.

It all depends on how wide the bend is drawn.

FREPILLON, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Per pale azure semy de lis or and per fess or a cross gules cantonned by four alerions azure and ... a tower ....

Although I have no further information concerning the arms, they seem to be those of France, Montmorency and Castilla combined.

FRESNES, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

D'azur au frêne d'or, terrassé du même, au mouton d'argent passant et brochant sur le fût de l'arbre.

Azure an ash tree a terrace in base or overall a sheep passant argent.

The arms are based on a seal dating from 1791.

The ash tree is a rebus, from frêne, Old French fresne, ash tree.

GAGNY, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

Ecartelé au 1er et au 4e bande d'or et d'azur de six pièces, au 2e et et au 3e d'azur à une fleur de lis d'or, sur le tout de gueules à trois roues d'automobiles d'argent.

Quarterly first and fourth bendy of six or and azure second and third azure a fleur de lis or an inescutcheon gules three motor car wheels argent.

The arms were designed by Robert Louis, and adopted in about 1935.

The main part of the shield bears the arms of the monks of Saint-Faron de Meaux, a branch of which, the Prieuré de Saint-Fiacre de Gagny, founded the commune. The inescutcheon is based on the arms of Hocquart, former seigneurs. The roses in these arms have beem replaced by the motor car wheels, as a reminder that it was at Gagny in 1914 that a thousand Parisian taxis were assembled to take trops to the Battle of the Marne.

The motor car wheel is, I think, unique in the civic heraldry of France, but is used in a pleasing way to link the ancient and recent history of the commune.

GALLUIS, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

D'azur à la herse de labour d'argent surmontée d'un coq de clocher d'or, le tout accosté de deux serpettes de vigneron d'argent emmanchées d'or, celle de senestre contournée.

Azure a harrow argent in chief a cockerel crowing or and in the flanks two pruning knives affronty in pale of the second with handles of the third.

The charges are agricultural.

The harrow is blazoned in the French as "herse de labeur", in order to make the meaning plain, since the other meaning of the word is portcullis. The cockerel is shown with its wings raised; and the serpettes, which are sometimes shown as billhooks, face in different directions.

GAMBAIS, Yvelines. Commune, Mante-la-Jolie.

D'or à la bande de gueules chargé d'un renard courant d'argent.

Or on a bend gules a fox courant in bend argent.

These were the arms of Laverdy, seigneurs in the eighteenth century.

GARCHES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

D'argent, à la croix patée de gueules, cantonnée au 1er d'une feuillé de vigne de sable, au 2e et au 3e maçonné de sable, au 4e d'une feuille de chêne de sable, sur le tout d'azur à une fleur de lis d'or.

Argent a cross paty gules cantonned first a bunch of grapes sable second and third argent masoned sable fourth an oak leaf of the third overall an inescutcheon azure a fleur de lis or.

There is no explanation for the derivation of the arms, other than to say that it is thought that the name of the town comes from Latin quercus, oak.

The unusual field argent masoned sable also appears in the arms of Les Mureaux, Yvelines.

LA GARENNES-COLOMBES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Ecartelé, au 1er et 4e de sinople aux trois chênes d'or arrachés, au 2e d'azur au cor de chasse d'or, au 3e d'argent à l'aigle de sable au vol abaissé.

Quarterly first and fourth vert three oak trees eradicated or second azure a hunting horn or third argent an eagle displayed with wings inverted sable.

The eagle is from the arms of the Marquis de l'Aigle, a former seigneur. The oak trees and the hunting horn are a reference to the hunting reserve which once covered the area.

For a comment on the place name garenne, see the entry on Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine.

However, elsewhere the arms are purely canting:

Ecartelé: au 1er et au 4e d'azur au colombier d'or, accosté de deux colombes essorantes d'argent, celle de dextre contournée, soutenu d'un mur d'argent, crénelé, maçonné de sable; au 2e et au 3e, de gueules à trois chênes arrachés d'or.

For another exampe of the use of a canting dovecote, see the entry on Coulommiers, Seine-et-Marne.

GARGES-LES-GONESSE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

D'azur au lion d'or au chef d'argent chargé de trois têtes de corbeau de sable arrachées de gueules.

Azure a lion rampant or a chief argent three crow's heads sable erased gules.

The arms were those of Machault d'Arnouville, seigneurs in the seventeenth century.

The crow's heads show blood where they have been torn off. They also appear in the arms of Arnouville-lès-Gonesse, Val-d'Oise.

GAZERAN, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

De gueules à six annelets d'or posés 3, 2 et 1, au chef d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or, à deux cotices en bande d'argent brochant sur le tout du chef.

Gules six annulets or a chief azure semy de lis two bendlets wavy argent.

There was no further information.

GENAINVILLE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Quarterly first azure semy de lis or second ... a tower? ... third lozengy ... and ... fourth ... a lion rampant ....

GENICOURT, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... on a fess ... ?.

There was no further information.

The charge on the fess looks like five buttons threaded on a wavy thread, but it is impossible to do more than guess at the blazon. It is also possible that the charges are mushrooms, as in the arms of Houilles, Yvelines.

GENNEVILLIERS, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Per fess gules and argent overall a bar azure overall on a peninsular vert a shepherdess with three sheep proper holding in her right hand a shepherd's crook or a chief per pale vert a Frankish crown or and azure semy de lis or a passion nail argent.

The arms were adopted in 1904, and readopted in 1979 with a more heraldic design.

The dexter part of the chief, of the arms of 1904 refers to the Frankish settlement of the area, and it is thought that the name of the commune comes from Gene, a Frankish leader. The sinister part bears the arms of the Abbaye de Saint Denis which owned the commune up until the Revolution. See also the entry on Mennecy, Essonne.

The shepherdess represents Sainte Geneviève. At the time of the adoption of the arms it was thought that the name of the commune derived from Geneviève, but this is now considered not the case.

The new arms of 1979 were:

De gueules à la Sainte-Geneviève paisant ses moutons sur une terrasse, le tout d'argent, au chef d'azur chargé d'un clou d'argent accosté de deux fleurs de lis or.

Gules between two sheep passant affronty a shepherdess argent holding in her right hand a shepherd's crook or a terrace in base of the second a chief azure a passion nail argent between two fleurs de lis or.

I detect the hand of Robert Louis in the design of these arms, which are certainly more heraldic than the original. The inhabitants, who were rationed at the time, suggested that according to the new design, Geneviève had eaten one of her sheep.

It does not appear, however, that the new design has found favour with the commune.

The information from Gennevillers highlights an important part of the history of civil heraldry in France. In 1943, the Vichy government set up a Commission de Sceaux, "...dont l'existence passa totalement inaperçue des Français qui avaient d'autres soucis". In July, 1943, the arms of 80 communes of the then département of Seine were registered in the name of Pétain. Forty were new creations, imposed upon the communes; eighteen were unchanged; and twenty two were arbitrarily modified, including the arms of Gennevilliers.

The arms also appear on a undated sheet of illustrations of the arms of communes of the former département of Seine. Here, the arms seem to be even more complicated, and I can do no more than describe the differences. The shield is tierced, per pale and with a terrace in base. The chief has been extended down the shield, and remains vert a frankish crown or and azure semy de lis or a passion nail argent. There is a fess overall this part of the shield, but gules and not azure. The tableau, for want of a better word, remains the same on a peninsular vert a shepherdess with three sheep proper holding in her right hand a shepherd's crook or, and the shepherdess is overall on the fess. The design is earlier than that of 1943.

GENTILLY, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. Haÿ-les-Roses.

Ecartelé: au 1er et au 4e, d'hermine à la fasce ondée d'azur; au 2e, d'or au chevron de gueules accompagné de sept merlettes du même, 4 en chef, 2 et 2, et 3 en pointe, 1 et 2; au 3e, d'azur au chevron d'or accompagné de trois croisettes ancrées du même.

Quarterly first and fourth ermine a fess wavy azure second or a chevron between in chief four and in base three martlets gules third azure a chevron between three crosslets moline or.

The use of ermine to represent fur in general in the first and fourth quarters refers to the tanning industry at Bièvres, and has nothing to do with Bretagne. The second quarter bears the arms of Aumon, and the third those of Neufville de Villeroy, both of whom were former seigneurs.

GIF-SUR-YVETTE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

D'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or et une tête de reine d'argent couronnée d'or posée entre les deux fleurs de lis du chef.

Azure a queen's head argent crowned between three fleurs de lis or.

These are the official arms of the commune, adopted in 1959, and are those of the Abbaye de Notre Dame du Val du Gif.

However, the commune sent me a design, by Pierre-Yves Trémois, which is called a blason and which is an interpretation of the original arms, brought into being to reflect the changes in the commune and its modern outlook. This design is in fact a logo, and not a coat of arms, and may serve as a reflection on the fact that many communes are now ignoring their arms and adopting a logo.

GONESSE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

Gules a tower covered argent pierced and masoned sable between two garbs or a chief azure a fleur de lis or.

GOUSSAINVILLE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

D'azur au lévrier courant d'argent, colleté de gueules, bordé, bouclé et clouté d'or.

Azure a greyhound courant argent gorged gules with buckle and studs or.

The arms were adopted at some time during the 1950s. They were the arms of Nicolay, seigneurs from 1506 until the Revolution.

The greyhound of Nicolay is also found in the arms of Osny, Val-d'Oise.

GOUZANGREZ, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

D'azur à trois bandes d'argent, au chef de gueules chargé de trois losanges d'argent, soutenu d'une devise d'or.

Azure three bendlets argent a chief gules three lozenges supported by a fillet argent.

These were the arms of Soulfour, seigneurs from the sixteenth century.

GROSLAY, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

De gueules au pampre mouvant de la pointe, tigé et feuillé d'argent, fruité d'or; au chef aussi d'or chargé d'une hure de sanglier de sable allumée et défendue de gueules.

Gules a branch of vine bearing two bunches of grapes the stems in saltire issuant from base argent slipped leaved and fructed or a chief or a boar's head erased sable armed and the eye gules.

The charges are symbolic of wine production and the forest of Montmorency.

The attractive design of the branch of vine is made clear in the English blazon.

GUIRY-EN-VEXIN, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

D'azur à trois quintefeuilles de sable, au chef d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or au lambel d'hermine.

Azure three cinquefoils sable a chief azure semy de lis or a label of three points dovetailed ermine.

The chief bears the arms of the Vexin français, which were also those of the Comtes de Pontoise.

The same chief is borne by Osny, Val-d'Oise. I have not come across a label ermine before in this work.

HARDRICOURT, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

D'argent au chevron de sable accompagné de trois canettes du même, deux en chef, une en pointe, à la bordure de gueules chargée de huit fleurs de lis d'argent posées en orle.

Argent a chevron between three canettes sable a bordure gules eight fleurs de lis argent.

The arms are those of Esmée de la Chesnaye, seigneur in the seventeenth century, with the bordure bearing the arms of the Abbaye du Bec.

LA HAUTE-ISLE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... a chevron ... between three bees ....

L'HAY-LES-ROSES, Val-de-Marne. Arrondissement.

D'or à l'orle de huit roses de gueules, boutonnées d'argent.

Or an orle of eight roses gules seeded argent.

The arms are a rebus on the name of the town, which was given its name by the rose garden founded by Jules Gravereaux.

HEDOUVILLE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

D'or au chef d'azur chargé d'un lion passant d'argent, lampassé de gueules.

Or a chief azure a lion passant argent langued gules.

These were the arms of Jean de Hédouville, seigneur in the thirteenth century.

A similar chief appears in the arms of Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, but with different tinctures.

HERBLAY, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Argenteuil.

Gules three billhooks in pale or shafted sable.

HOUDAN, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

Parti: a dextre d'azur à une fleur de lys en pointe mouvant de la partition; à senestre d'argent à trois mouchetures d'hermine de sable placées deux et une.

Per pale azure three fleurs de lis dimidiating ermine.

The arms symbolise the original double ownership of the commune by France and Bretagne.

The French blazon omits the visible fleur de lis in dexter chief. Although the French is specific about three ermine spots, I have preferred ermine, since I believe that this is the intention of the design.

HOUILLES, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

De gueules au dextrochère ganté d'argent, mouvant du canton senestre de la pointe, tenant un faucon d'or chaperonné et longé de sable, à la bordure d'or chargée de huit champignons de sable.

Gules a dexter arm gloved issuant from sinister base holding a falcon or hooded and jessed sable a bordure or eight mushrooms sable.

The arms were adopted in 1943, and contain symbols of hunting and the local culture of mushrooms.

IGNY, Essonne. Commune, arr. Palaiseau.

D'argent à l'écusson d'azur chargé d'une fasce d'or accompagnée de deux merlettes d'argent, celle de la pointe accostée de deux coquilles d'or, le dit écusson cantonné de quatre lionceaux de gueules.

Argent between four lioncels rampant gules an inescutcheon azure a fess or between in chief a canette argent and in base a second canette also argent between two escallops or.

These were the arms of Vigny, seigneurs in the sixteenth century.

The confusion in French heraldry between the heraldic martlet, merlette, and the duckling, canette, is commented upon in the entry on Cerny, Essonne, and in the Glossary.

L'ILE-SAINT-DENIS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Commune, arr. Bobigny.

D'azur au pont fortifié et pavillonné d'argent, maçonné de sable, posé sur une rivière du même, mouvant de la pointe, au chef d'or à la croix de gueules cantonnée de quatre alerions d'azur.

Azure a bridge of two arches in the centre a tower argent masoned sable a champagne of the second a chief or a cross gules cantonned by four alerions azure.

The chief bears the arms of Montmorency, former seigneurs. However, most of the arms of Montmorency usually have sixteen alerions, and the above may be from the original branch of the family.

See the entry on the commune of Montmorency, Val-d'Oise.

L'ISLE-ADAM, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Gules a tower triple turreted argent masoned sable pierced of the field on a bridge of four arches a champagne wavy of the second an inescutcheon or a chief azure overall a dexter arm clothed with a scarf ermine.

The inescutcheon bears the arms of Domont, Val-d'Oise, without the mount.

The commune of Villiers-Adam, Val-d'Oise, also bears the arms of the inescutcheon.

ISSY-LES-MOLINEAUX, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

D'azur au filet d'or en sautoir, accompagné en chef d'un aéroplane d'argent, et en pointe et à chaque flanc d'un moulin d'argent, ouvert de sable.

Azure a saltire or cantonned by first an aircraft in plan and by three windmills argent with sails of the second.

The mills are a rebus, and the many mills of the area gave the town its name. As far as the aeroplane is concerned, Issy-les-Moulineaux is considered to be the cradle of aviation.

Several arms of communes in the area have modern symbols of aerodromes or the aircraft industry, as in Bretigny-sur-Orge, Essonne, and Vitry-Chatillon, Essonne.

The French blazon au filet d'or en sautoir is probably drawn in this way in order to make room for the other charges: I have preferred the saltire in the English blazon.

IVRY-SUR-SEINE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

De gueules à la rivière d'argent posée en fasce, accompagnée de trois ancres d'or; au chef d'azur chargé de trois roues d'engrenage d'or.

Gules a fess wavy argent between three anchors or a chief azure three cogwheels or.

The symbols are of industry and shipping.

JOINVILLE-LE-PONT, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Coupé: au 1er, d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or, surmontées d'un lambel d'argent; au 2e, de gueules au pont à trois arches d'argent, maçonné de sable, posé sur des ondes d'argent.

Per fess azure three fleurs de lis or a label of three points dovetailed argent and gules a bridge of three arches argent masoned sable a champagne wavy of the second.

The chief part of the shield contains the arms of Orléans, and the prince of Joinville gave his name to the commune; the base part contains a rebus on the name of the town.

JOUY-EN-JOSAS, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Versailles.

D'azur à la colonne d'argent sommée d'un coq du même, crêté et barbé de gueules, au chef aussi de gueules chargé de trois quintefeuilles d'or.

Azure a cockerel argent crested and bearded gules on a column of the second a chief azure three cinquefoils or.

These were the arms of Christophe-Philippe Oberkampf, who made the commune famous for its printed fabrics in the time of Louis XIV, with a chief of Adolphe Mallet, who owned the château in the nineteenth century. It was stated that the arms of Oberkampf have been slightly modified, without giving the details.

The use of the cockerel, which also appears in the arms of the arrondissement, Versailles, is therefore a coincidence.

JOUY-LE-MOUTIER, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Per pale azure a church issuant from base and flanks or and gules a modern church issuant from base and flanks argent overall a terrace in base tierced per fess vert argent wavy and azure wavy overall a tree or with leaves vert ensigned by a bunch of grapes also or.

This is a most unhappy design, resulting from an attempt to place as many local elements on the shield as possible.

JUZIERS, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

De gueules à deux clefs d'argent, adossées, passées en sautoir, et une épée du même en pal, à l'écusson sur le tout d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or.

Gules two keys in saltire the wards upwards and outwards and a sword in pale argent an inescutcheon azure semy de lis or.

The arms were those of the Abbaye de Saint Pierre, with an inescutcheon which is a reminder that the commune once belonged to the Vexin français.

LE KREMLIN-BICETRE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

Gules a fortress argent a terrace in base vert a chief azure a tower argent between two ducks or.

The name of the town is derived from a café opened outside the commune of Bicêtre after the conquests of the Crimea.

The arms appear on a sheet, undated, of illustrations of the arms of communes of the former département of Seine. The earliest illustration which I possess is from the magazine of the commune for the year 1949.

LAGNY-SUR-MARNE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

D'azur à la lettre gothique L d'or à dextre, au clou du même a senestre, le tout couronné de la couronne royale ouverte, auusi d'or.

Azure dexter the Gothic letter L sinister a passion nail in pale in chief a royal crown or.

It is claimed the the nail from the Passion, donated by Robert le Pieux, was already in the arms of the town in the eleventh century. Although this is not so, it is nevertheless evident that the arms are ancient. The crown was originally that of the comtes de Champagne, then a mural crown during the Hundred Years War, and finally the royal crown in the eighteenth century.

In an example of 1664, both charges are ensigned by a crown.

LEVALLOIS-PERRET, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

De gueules à la bande d'argent, chargé de trois abeilles du champ, accompagné en chef d'un brule-parfum d'or, et en pointe d'une roue d'engrenage du même.

Gules on a bend argent between in chief a censer and in base a cogwheel or three bees bendwise of the field.

The cogwheel is a symbol of industry and the bees of industry in the sense of hard work.

LES LILAS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Or fretty vert semy of quaterfoils purpure.

There was no information from the town, other than a coloured illustration of the arms. The quaterfoils appear to be a rebus on the name of the town, from the French lilas, lilac, especially in view of their colour. The motto, which appears on the illustration, is: j'étais fleur, je suis cité.

LIMAY, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

D'azur au pont de trois arches d'argent, maçonné de sable, les culées posées sur une onde de sinople, mouvant de la pointe surmonté de trois fleurs de lis d'or, posées 2 et 1.

Azure a three arched bridge argent masoned sable a champagne wavy vert in chief three fleurs de lis or.

Until the end of the Second World War, the town had used a version of the above arms, which date from about 1376, when Charles V founded the monastery of Sainte-Trinité des Célestins.

In 1944, following the work of the Commission d'Heraldique, the town was ascribed:

De gueules au chef d'azur, à la croix patée et haussée d'argent mouvant de la pointe et brochant sur la partition, à la lettre S du même enlacant le montant de la croix, accostée en chef de deux fleurs de lis et flanquée en pointe de deux rencontres de loup, le tout d'or.

Gules a chief azure overall a cross paty enhanced enfiling a capital letter S between in chief two fleurs de lis and in base two wolf's heads caboshed or.

In 1966, the commune commissioned Robert Louis to design new arms based upon the original.

LIMOURS, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

D'argent, à la croix d'azur cantonnée de quatres ombres de soleil de gueules.

Argent a cross azure cantonned by four suns in their splendour gules.

These were the arms of former seigneurs, Hurault de Cheverny.

LINAS, Essonne. Commune, arr. Palaiseau.

De gueules à la crosse d'or senestrée d'un pale au naturel, le tout surmonté d'une étoile d'argent.

Gules dexter a crozier in pale or sinister a branch of palm vert and in chief a mullet argent.

Although the information did not give the derivation of the arms, by implication they seem to have been those of the Chapter of the church of Saint-Merry.

I have blazoned the palm vert and not proper, since it appears quite plainly in the illustration of the arms.

LIVRY-GARGAN, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

Parti: au 1er d'or à deux fasces de gueules, au 2e d'azur à la bande d'argent accompagnée en chef de trois glands d'or et en pointe de deux pattes d'aigles du même; au chef de gueules chargé d'une grappe de raisin tigée et feuillée d'or accostée de deux quintefeuilles d'argent; à l'écusson écartelé de sable et d'argent brochant sur le parti et touchant la partition du chef.

Per pale or two bars gules and azure a bend between in chief three acorns and in base two eagle's legs in bend sinister argent overall a chief gules a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved or between two cinquefoils argent overall an inescutcheon quarterly sable and argent.

There was no date for the adoption of the arms.

The dexter half of the shield bears the arms of Guillaume de Garlande, seigneur of Livry in the twelfth century. They were later adopted by the Abbaye de Livry, which he founded. The sinister half has the arms of Sanguin, seigneurs in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, and Marquis in the eighteenth. The inescutcheon bears those of Sévigny, Mme de Sévigny having spent part of her childhood nearby, and the chief is symbolic of vine growing and the forest.

The arms of Sanguin are also borne by Sevran, Seine-Saint-Denis.

LIZY-SUR-OURCQ, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

D'azur, à la fasce ondée d'argent, accompagné en chef d'une fleur de lys d'or à dextre et d'une roue dentée à senestre et en pointe de deux épis de blé en sautoir, le tout d'or.

Azure a fess wavy argent between in chief dexter a fleur de lis sinister a cogwheel and in base two ears of wheat in saltire or.

The arms were adopted in 1985, but there was no other information.

LONGJUMEAU, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

D'argent semé de tresfles de gueules à deux taus de même en chef et en pointe deux perroquets ou papegeais affrontés de sinople.

Argent semy of trefoils in chief two tau crosses gules in base two popinjays affronty vert.

These were the arms of Gaillard de Longjumeau, inscribed on the tomb of Michel, pannetier to Francois I, and seigneur, who died in 1531.

The arms are unusual in several respects, since neither the semy field, the tau crosses nor the popinjays are common. The modern French for popinjay is papegai, which although it has the meaning of parrot in ornithological terms, also means the device which was a representation of a parrot, fixed to a pole and used as a target for archery practice. The word is used for the heraldic charge, and first came into use in the middle of the sixteenth century.

LOUVECIENNES, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

D'azur à deux louves passantes d'argent posées l'une au-dessus de l'autre, au chef aussi d'argent chargé de deux bâtons de maréchaux passés en sautoir, d'azur semés d'étoiles d'or.

Azure two she wolves passant in pale argent a chief argent two marshal's bâtons in saltire azure semy of mullets or.

The she wolves are a rebus on the name of the commune, and the marshal's bâtons are a reference to Joffre, a leader in the First World war, who is buried there. Normally, they would be borne externally, behind the arms of the holder of the office.

LOUVRES, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Sable a lion rampant argent armed and langued gules.

These were the arms of the family of Orville, one of whose members accompanied Godefroy de Bouillon on the first crusade.

LUZARCHES, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

Azure a tower issuant from a terrace embattled in base or masoned sable an inescutcheon argent on a lion rampant gules an escarbuncle or.

The printing of the illustration is not clear. It is possible, but unlikely, that the field is sable.

MAFFLIERS, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

D'azur au chevron d'or accompagné de trois coquilles du même.

Azure a chevron between three escallops or.

These were the arms of Forget, former seigneurs.

Similar, if not identical, arms appear the the first and fourth quarters of Morangis, Essonne.

MAGNY-EN-VEXIN, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Parti: au 1er, d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or; au 2e, d'azur au chevron d'or accompagné de trois croix ancrées du même; sur le tout, d'or à une salamandre enflammée de gueules.

Per pale azure three fleurs de lis or and azure a chevron between three crosses moline or overall an inescutcheon or a salamander enflamed gules.

The arms were ascribed by the Armorial Général, and unite those of France to those of Neufville de Villeroy. The inescutcheon bears the emblem of François I, who is said to have granted permission for the arms.

The arms of Neufville de Villeroy are also borne by Gentilly, Val-de-Marne, and the cross moline from the same arms is also found in the those of the département of Val-d'Oise.

I have seen the following:

Azure on a bend argent three escallops? gules,

although the French blazon which I have accepted as the official arms was sent to me by the commune itself.

MAISONS-ALFORT, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Azure a beehive surrounded by bees volant a terrace in base argent.

In common with several others throughout France, the commune has wished to symbolise its hardworking people by the use of bees.

However, elsewhere, the arms are given as:

D'azur au portique formé de deux colonnes de d'un fronton d'argent, enfermant trois têtes de cheval d'or.

According to this source the arms are canting. The information stated that the portique in the style of the cantons borne by officers of the Royal House symbolises the Maisons element of the place name; and the three horse's heads are a reference to the Veterinary School in the town.

MAISONS-LAFFITTE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

D'azur à trois roses d'argent, au chef d'or à trois roses de gueules.

Azure three roses argent a chief or three roses gules.

The arms were adopted in 1943, and were the arms of Longueil, seigneurs in the seventeenth century.

The arms have the appearance of being originally per fess counterchanged. It is possible that a poor drawing led to the present blazon.

MAISSE, Essonne. Commune, arr. Evry.

D'or au laurier terrassé de sinople.

Or a laurel tree issuant from a terrace in base vert.

These were the arms of the last seigneur in 1779, Jean-Joseph Bataillé de Francis-Daville.

MALAKOFF, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, Antony.

De gueules à la tour d'argent crénelée de cinq pièces, maçonnée de sable, ouverte et ajourée du champ, au chef cousu d'azur chargé de deux baionnettes d'argent, garnies d'or, passees en sautoir.

Gules a tower argent masoned sable pierced of the field a chief azure two bayonets in saltire argent pommelled or.

The bayonets are a reference to the assault on the tower of Malakoff, in the Crimea, in 1855. The tower itself was built in the area of Vanves by a lottery winner, and modelled on the tower in the Crimea.

However, elsewhere the arms are blazoned as:

Per pale azure and argent overall a town issuant from a terrace in base crenellated masoned sable.

Further evidence of the influence of the Crimean War can be seen in the entry on Le Kremlin-Bicêtre, Val-de-Marne.

MANTES-LA-JOLIE, Yvelines. Arrondissement.

Azure a fleur de lis or dimidiating azure a cudgel? with shoots and flowers proper.

There was no information from the commune.

The sinister charge appears to resemble the English ragged staff.

MANTES-LA-VILLE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

D'azur à la couronne dentée d'argent remplie de gueules, accostée et engrenant deux pignons dentés aussi d'argent, surmontés chacun d'une fleur de lis d'or, à la lyre du même, cordée de sable, enfermée dans la couronne dentée et brochant en issant de la partie supérieure de la couronne dentée, à la champagne ondée d'argent chargé d'un brochet d'azur.

Azure on a cogwheel between two smaller in fess argent a torteau overall a lyre between in chief two fleurs de lis or a champagne wavy of the second a pike in fess of the field.

The arms were adopted in 1961.

They contain local symbols: the wheels and fire of heavy industry; the lyre of the musical instrument makers of the town; and the River Seine. The pike is from the arms of Brochant de Villiers, seigneurs in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.

MAREIL-EN-FRANCE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Gules a bend wavy sinister argent between in chief an alerion and in base a cross moline or a bordure azure two bunches of three ears of wheat in bend in pale and in bend sinister between eight fleurs de lis in orle or.

The commune appears to have taken the arms of Val-d'Oise, and substituted in the flanks two bunches of ears of wheat in place of fleurs de lis.

MAREIL-MARLY, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

D'azur à deux épées d'argent posées en sautoir, les pointes en bas accompagnées de quatre fleurs de lis d'or, une en chef, deux aux flancs, une en pointe.

Azure two swords in saltire the points downwards argent cantonned by four fleurs de lis or.

These were the arms of the Collège de Justice de Paris, who held the commune in fief.

MARINES, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Azure a three masted sailing ship a champagne wavy argent.

There was no further information.

MARLY-LE-ROI, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Ecartelé: au 1er et au 4e d'azur, au soleil d'or; au 2e et au 3e d'or à la croix de gueules cantonnée de quatre aiglettes d'azur.

Quarterly first and fourth azure a sun in his splendour or second and third or a cross gules cantonned by four eagles displayed azure.

The arms appear to have been adopted during the 1940s, and are said to be those of Montmorency quartered with the symbol of Louis XIV, le roi soleil.

However, as far as the arms of Montmorency are concerned, the commune has adopted eagles and not alerions. See the entry on Montmorency, Val-d'Oise. This may be an example of an early artistic error, confusing eaglets with alerions. The problem is made more confusing by the fact that it is believed by some authorities that the alerion was originally an eaglet, badly drawn, and the error perpetuated.

MARNES-LA-COQUETTE, Hauts-de-Seine. Commune, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

De gueules à la tête arrachée de chien enragé d'or, langué et allumé d'argent, accompagné de trois prismes de cristallisation d'argent, deux en chef, un en pointe, au chef d'azur chargé d'un aigle impériale (du Second Empire) empiétant ses foudres et éclairs d'or.

Gules a dog's head erased or langued and with the eye argent between three crystal prisms of the last a chief azure an eagle displayed grasping a thunderbolt or.

Louis Pasteur died in Marnes in 1895. There is an annexe to the Pasteur Institute in the commune, and the crystals are a reference to this. They are unique to this work.

The Imperial eagle has its head contourned, and holds in its talons the representation of a thunderbolt, complete with lightning, which is the conventional way of depicting it.

MASSY, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

De sable au lion léopardé d'or armé et lampassé de gueules, au chef d'azur chargé de trois fleurs de lis d'or.

Sable a lion passant or armed and langued gules a chief azure three fleurs de lis or.

The lion passant is found on a seal of Pierre de Paliseau, dating from the thirteenth century. In the eleventh century, Massy belonged to Guérin II de Palaiseau.

Although the implication is fairly obvious, it was not stated whether the ams of the commune were those of Guérin.

MAUREPAS, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Rambouillet.

D'azur semé de quartefeuilles d'or au franc-canton d'hermine.

Azure semy of quatrefoils or a canton ermine.

These were the arms of Louis Phélypeaux, comte de Pontchartrain, seigneur in 1691.

MEAUX, Seine-et-Marne. Arrondissement.

Parti de gueules et de sinople, à la lettre M onciale d'or brochant sur le parti; au chef d'or semé de fleurs de lis d'or.

Per pale gules and vert overall the uncial letter M or a chief azure semy de lis or.

Elswhere, the tinctures are reversed. To make matters worse, the cover of a pamphlet gives the above French blazon, with an illustration:

These arms were ascribed by the Armorial Général, but at that period, it was known that the town had possessed the arms which it uses today "de temps immémorial".

MELUN, Seine-et-Marne. Chef-lieu du Département.

D'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or, au château donjonné de trois tours d'argent, maçonné de sable, brochant sur le tout.

Azure semy de lis or a castle triple towered argent masoned sable.

There was no other information.

The same arms are borne by Niort, Deux-Sèvres.

MENNECY, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

D'azur au chevron d'or, accompagné en chef de deux croisettes ancrées du même or et en pointe d'une vase de porcelaine d'argent, à la devise ondée du même argent, surmonté d'un clou d'argent accosté de deux fleurs de lis d'or.

Azure a chevron between in chief two crosses moline or and in base a porcelain vase argent a chief azure supporting a fillet wavy a passion nail argent between two fleurs de lis or.

The arms are based on those of Neufville de Villeroy, seigneurs of Mennecy, with the third cross moline replaced by the vase, which represents the porcelain of Villeroy. The nail and the fleurs de lis are those of the Abbaye de Saint Denis, which owned the land before Neufville de Villeroy. The devise symbolises the River Essonne.

It was also said, without any explanation, that the crosses are those of Malta, which they are not. The arms appear to have a chef cousu, and I was happier with the English blazon as I have interpreted it. The arms were designed by Robert Louis in 1953.

MEREVILLE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Etampes.

D'azur au chevron d'or, accompagné en chef de deux roses, et en pointe d'une gerbe du même.

Azure a chevron between in chief two roses and in base a garb or.

The arms were adopted in 1972.

They were those of Jean Joseph de Laborde, Marquis de Mereville 1784-94. As early as 1943, the maire asked the family's permission to use the arms, and this was granted.

MEUDON, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

Gironny of twelve or and gules a label of three points dovetailed argent.

The arms were adopted in 1944, and were those of Henry de Meudon, seigneur in 1313.

MEULAN, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

Azure semy de lis or a chief checky sable and or.

There was no explanation of these arms, which were in use before 1969. There is evidence that in 1590, the arms of the town were France ancient alone.

See the entry on Beaumont-le-Roger, Eure, which comments on the arms of the comtes de Meulan.

MILLY-LA-FORET, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

De sable au lion d'argent, au chef du même.

Sable a lion rampant argent a chief also argent.

These were the arms of unnamed seigneurs in the thirteenth century.

MONTCHAUVET, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

De sable à une montagne d'argent accompagné en chef de deux chauve-souris d'or.

Sable a mount argent between in chief two bats volant.

These were the arms of the Prieuré, and were entered into the Armorial Général. They form a rebus on the name of the commune, deriving, it is said, from two French words: mont, mountain, and chauve-souris, bat.

These are the first examples of bats which I have come across in this work.

MONTEREAU-FAUT-YONNE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Provins.

D'azur à trois tours crénelées d'argent, au chef cousu de gueules chargés de trois fleurs de lys d'or.

Azure three towers argent a chief gules three fleurs de lis or.

Elsewhere, the chief is omitted:

D'azur a trois tours crénelées d'argent, 3,2,1.

The first known example of the arms of the town is on a seal of 1348:

Ecu fleur-de-lysé de six fleurs de lis 2,3,1 (sic) au lambel de trois pendants composés, sommé et flanqué de trois petits châteaux.

In 1773 the arms of the town were:

De sable à trois tours ...,

and the present arms were verified in 1869.

It is possible that the sable field in the arms of the eighteenth century was the result of nothing more than a misunderstanding, because of the deterioration of the blue pigment on a painted version of them. I believe that this is a more common phenomenon in French heraldry than is realised.

MONTESSON, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

D'argent à trois quintefeuilles d'azur.

Argent three cinquefoils azure.

These were the arms of Dodieu, seigneurs in the seventeenth century.

MONTFORT-L'AMAURY, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Rambouillet.

De gueules au lion d'argent à queue fourchée avec chef d'hermine.

Gules a lion double queued rampant argent a chief ermine.

The arms are those Simon de Montfort, Earl of Leicester, seigneur in the thirteenth century.

The double queue is said to show double the strength in the lion, the tail being a symbol of virility, although I have never seen that explanation before.

MONTGERON, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

D'argent au chevron de gueules accompagné de trois grappes de raisin du même, au chef d'azur chargé d'un rai d'escarboucle pommeté et fleurdelisé d'or.

Argent a chevron between three bunches of grapes gules a chief azure an escarbuncle or.

The arms are composed of elements of those of the Abbaye de Saint-Victoire and the family of Budé.

The arms of Budé are also borne by Yerres, Essonne.

MONTIGNY-LES-CORMEILLES, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Argenteuil.

D'or à la fasce ondée d'azur mantelé du même, le mantelé surmonté d'un têtu de carrier d'argent, posé en pal, accosté de fleurs de lis d'or.

Per chevron azure a quarryman's hammer in pale agent between two fleurs de lis or and or a fess wavy azure.

The party per chevron is a rebus for mont, the fess wavy symbolises a local spring and the têtu, or hammer, is a reference to the quarries of the area.

For an explanation of the peculiar term mantelé in French blazon, see the Glossary.

MONTLHERY, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

D'or à la croix de gueules cantonnée de quatre aiglettes d'azur.

Or a cross gules cantonned by four alerions azure.

These were the arms of Montmorency. Thibaud, son of Bouchard 1er de Montmorency, was a forebear of Guy de Monthléry.

The French blazon gives the charges as eaglets, but the arms of Montmorency bear alerions. A comment on the use of eaglets can be found in the entry on Marly-le-Roi, Yvelines, which also bears them.

MONTLIGNON, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... a chevron ... between in chief two crescents ... and in base a cross couped ....

MONTMAGNY, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

D'or à la fasce d'azur chargée de trois molettes du champ, accompagnées de trois coquerelles de gueules, à la bordure aussi de gueules chargée du huit pivoines d'argent.

Or on a fess azure between three sets of three hazel nuts conjoined one in pale two in fess addorsed gules three estoiles of the field pierced of the second a bordure gules eight peonies argent.

Although the information is not clear, the arms appear to be those of Huault de Montmagne, seigneurs from the fifteenth to the seventeenth centuries, with a bordure to symbolise the richness of the land.

The English blazon is complicated because it is not easy to translate the meaning of coquerelles. The French itself is not specific about their disposition. Here, they are composed of a group of three hazel nuts forming an upturned T. Had there been four, the charge would have formed a cross avellane. The terms coquerelle and cross avellane are discussed in the Glossary. The use of the peony in these arms is unique to the work.

MONTMORENCY, Val-d'Oise. Arrondissement.

D'or à la croix de gueules, cantonnée de seize alérions d'azur.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure.

The arms of the family of Montmorency originally bore four alerions. The first four are said to have been granted after the victory of Bouchard I de Montmorency, in 987, over the German Emperor Othon II, who was marching on Paris.

At the Battle of Bouvines, in 1214, Mathieu II de Montmorency capured twelve standards of the army of another German Emperor Othon IV. In recognition of this feat, the number of alerions was increased to sixteen. It is said that the cross gules was traced on the shield by Philippe-Auguste in the blood of Mathieu, who had been wounded in the battle.

However, it is known that that the cross appeared on the earlier arms, and this is a good example of heraldic legend overtaking history. Bouchard I would not have borne arms in 987, and the four alerions subsequently taken by his descendants may or may not have been a memory of the battle. It is quite likely that the extra alerions were awarded after Bouvines, but not the cross.

There were in all twenty two different branches of the family, and it is beyond the scope of this book to attempt to distinguish between them.

The arms of Montmorency, as well as appearing on many communal coats in the région, are also borne by Damville, Eure.

MONTREUIL-SOUS-BOIS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

D'azur au chevron d'or somme d'une fleur de lis du même, accompagné de trois pêches d'or, tigées et feuillées d'argent.

Azure a chevron between three peaches or slipped and leaved argent in chief a fleur de lis of the second.

The peaches are a symbol of the main crop of the area. The fleur de lis is a reminder of the baptism of Charles V and his wife Jeanne de Bourbon in the church at Montreuil.

MONTROUGE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

D'azur au soleil d'or ou, plus exactement, à l'étoile à trente-quatre rais d'or.

Azure a sun of thirty four rays or.

The arms were adopted in 1790, but the reasons for the choice are unknown.

The number of the sun's rays is specified exactly.

MONTSOULT, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure a canton ... a mullet ....

The blazon has the effect of obliterating four of the alerions.

MORAINVILLIERS, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

D'argent à neuf merlettes de sable posées 3,3,2,1.

Argent nine martlets 3,3,2,1 sable.

These appear to have been the arms of Morainvilliers, seigneurs in the fifteenth century, although the information did not make it clear.

These are the true heraldic martlets, and not the more common canette, or duckling; see the Glossary for a discussion of these charges.

MORANGIS, Essonne. Commune, arr. Palaiseau.

Ecartelé aux 1er et 4e: d'azur au chevron accompagné deux trois coquille, deux en chef, une en pointe, le tout d'or; aux 2e et 3e d'azur au coq d'or membré, barbé et crêté de gueules, la patte dextre levée.

Quarterly first and fourth azure a chevron between three escallops or second and third azure a cockerel his dexter leg raised or beaked membered and crested gules.

These were the arms of Barillon, seigneurs in the seventeenth century, differenced by the addition of an escallop in base instead of a rose.

MORET-SUR-LOING, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

D'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or, posées 2 et 1 surmontées d'une brisure d'or; au chef cousu d'argent portant tête de Maure.

Azure three fleurs de lis in chief a bendlet sinister couped or a chief argent a moor's head sable.

The arms of the family of Moret were:

D'azur a la tete de maure, au chef d'argent portant deux épées hautes en sautoir.

There is a legend, which was not described, concerning La Négresse de Moret, which is said to explain the Moor's head, but in fact the charge is a rebus, and the story came into being after the arms were adopted, and was not added until the end of the nineteenth century. In any case, its use has always been disputed within the commune.

For the use of the bendlet sinister couped see the entry on Arpajon, Essonne.

MORMANT, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

There was no further information, other than a black and white illustration on which the charges are indistinct.

MORSANG-SUR-ORGE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

D'azur au chevron d'or accompagné en chef de deux roses d'argent et en pointe d'une coquille du même, au comble ondé d'or.

Azure a chevron between in chief two roses and in base an escallop a narrow chief wavy or.

The arms are those of Vassan, who purchased the commune in the eighteenth century, differenced by the comble which is a reference to the River Orge.

The comble is a chief reduced in size, rare in English, but blazoned as a narrow chief. Here, the design is helped by its slightly smaller size.

LES MUREAUX, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

D'azur au mur d'enceinte crénelé d'or, maçonné de sable posé sur une onde d'argent mouvant de la pointe, la porte ouverte du champ chargée d'un vol d'argent soutenant une ancre d'or, la verge chargée d'une étoile d'argent, le mur surmonté de trois fruits de mûrier d'argent tigé et feuillé d'or rangés en chef.

Azure a fortified wall or masoned sable in the open gate on an anchor of the second a pair of wings a champagne wavy in chief three blackberries argent slipped and leaved also of the second.

The arms are a rebus on the name of the commune. The champagne wavy represents the river Seine, and the device in the gateway is the badge of the local aero-naval base.

There is a double rebus in the arms since the French mûre means blackberry and mur is wall.

NANGIS, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Provins.

D'azur à six besants d'argent.

Azure six plates.

These were the arms of Brichanteau, seigneurs from the thirteenth century.

NANTERRE, Hauts-de-Seine. Chef-lieu du Département.

Argent two bars wavy azure.

There was no further information.

NEMOURS, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

D'argent à une forêt de sinople sur un tertre de même au chef d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or, brisé d'un lambel de même.

Argent a forest on a mount vert a chief azure semy de lis or a label of three points dovetailed argent.

The present arms were designed by Robert Louis. The chief bears the arms of the duché d'Orléans, and the forest is that of Nemours.

The arms were originally ascribed by the Armorial Général in 1696. Alternatively, Le Fargeau gave:

De gueules à la croix pleine d'argent a la bordure d'or; alias, à la bordure engrêlée.

NESLES-LA-VALLEE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

D'argent au lion de sable lampassé de gueules, au chef d'azur chargé de trois nigelles (ou quintefeuilles) d'or.

Argent a lion rampant sable langued gules a chief azure three cinquefoils or.

The arms are those of the family of Nesles, seigneurs in the middle ages.

The chief has been added to the arms, and bears the rebus of the nigelles, represented by the cinquefoils, once common in the area, and from which the commune is said to derive its name.

NEUILLY-PLAISANCE, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

D'azur à l'aigle éployée d'argent tenant dans sa serre dextre un rameau de laurier d'or, chargée en coeur d'un écusson d'argent à la fasce ondée d'azur, surmonté au chef d'une croix latine de gueules, accostée à dextre et à senestre de deux croissants versés de sinople.

Azure an eagle displayed argent holding in his dexter talon a laurel branch or an inescutcheon argent a fess wavy azure in chief a latin cross gules between two crescents reversed vert.

The shield bears the arms of Le Ragois de Bretonvilliers, seigneur of Plateau d'Avron in the seventeenth century. The inescutcheon bears those of Foulques de Neuilly, who at the end of the twelfth century preached the Fourth Crusade in the region.

NEUILLY-SUR-MARNE, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

D'argent à la fasce ondée d'azur accompagnée en chef d'une croix de calvaire de gueules accostée de deux croissants versés de sinople, et en pointe d'un rateau en bande et d'une bèche en barre passés en sautoir, le tout de gueules.

Argent a fess wavy azure between in chief a latin cross between two crescents reversed vert and in base a rake and a spade in saltire gules.

The arms were designed by Mireille Louis, and adopted in 1968.

The fess represents the River Marne; the charges in chief are from the arms of Foulques de Neuilly, who at the end of the twelfth century preached the Fourth Crusade in the region; and the agricultural implements are symbolic of the importance of market gardening in the area.

The arms, with the difference of the rake and the spade, are identical to those on the inescutcheon in the arms of Neuilly-Plaiseance, Seine-Saint-Denis. In that entry the whole shield is said to be the arms of Foulques de Neuilly.

In view of the fact that in the correspondence for the present entry, the arms are further described with the cross symbolising the sign of the Crusaders, the crescents reversed indicating the defeat of the Saracens, and the fess wavy the sea across which they travelled, I believe that the above allusion to the Marne is out of place, and that these arms are those of Foulques de Neuilly, differenced.

NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

De gueules, au pont de pierre d'or, accompagné d'un vaisseau d'argent, soutenu d'une rivière du même; au chef d'azur, chargé de trois fleurs parmentières d'or.

Gules a single arched bridge or overall a sailing ship on a champagne argent a chief azure three potato flowers or.

The arms were adopted before 1900, and probably after the inauguration of the Mairie in 1886.

The bridge is the Pont de Neuilly in Paris, designed by Perronet, a native of Neuilly. The fleurs parmentières are those of the potato, so named in honour of Antoine-Augustin Parmentier, 1737-1813, the agronomist who developed the cultivation of the potato in France, in the area around Neuilly.

NOGENT-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Arrondissement.

Coupé: au 1er, d'azur à deux épis de blé en sautoir accompagnés en chef et aux flancs d'une fleur de lis et en pointe d'une grappe de raisin tigée et feuillée, le tout d'or; au 2e, de gueules à deux tours d'argent crénelées de cinq pièces, ajourée, ouvertes et maçonnées de sable, soutenues d'une rivière du même mouvant de la pointe.

Per fess azure two ears of wheat in saltire between three fleurs de lis and in base a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved or and gules two towers in fess argent pierced and masoned sable a champagne wavy of the second.

The chief part of the shield bears the arms of the commune as shown on a seal of 1790. The base part refers to the royal châteaux of Beauté and Plaisance.

NOISY-LE-GRAND, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

D'azur au chevron d'or chargé d'une couronne antique du champ, accompagné de trois noix d'argent, à la rivière ondée du même mouvant de la pointe.

Azure on a chevron or between three walnuts argent a Frankish crown of the field a champagne of the third.

The arms are based on the seal, adopted at some time during the Revolution, which bore three walnuts. The other emblems were added later. The chevron indicates the extent of the town (sic); the Frankish crown is a symbol of Chilpéric, who was assassinated in 585. The walnuts, noix, are a rebus on the name of the town, and also appear in the arms of Noisy-le-Sec, Seine-Saint-Denis.

The information that the arms were adopted during the Revolution is strange, since at this time all bearing of arms was forbidden.

NOISY-LE-SEC, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

D'azur à deux épis en sautoir accompagné de trois noix, l'une en chef, et les deux autres aux flancs, et en pointe d'une grappe de raisin tigée et feuillée, le tout d'argent.

Azure two ears of wheat in saltire cantonned by three walnuts and in base a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved argent.

The arms appear on a sheet, undated, of illustrations of the arms of communes of the former département of Seine. They date from 1790, a fact which is commented upon in the entry on Noisy-le-Grand. It may be that the arms of both communes were adopted at the same time, and for the same reason.

The emblems are all those of agriculture. The walnuts, noix, are a rebus on the name of the town.

NUCOURT, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Quarterly first azure a fess argent between six crosslets or second argent three bars gules third gules an eagle displayed argent fourth or three chevrons gules.

For the arms in the fourth quarter, see the entry on Bagneux, Hauts-de-Seine.

ORLY, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

D'azur au chevron d'argent chargé de cinq avions de sable, le tout enfermé dans un orle d'or.

Azure on a chevron couped argent five aircraft volant in chevron sable an orle or.

The aircraft are a reference to the airport at Orly, and the orle is a rebus. The arms appear on an undated sheet of illustrations of the arms of communes of the former département of Seine.

The chevron is blazoned couped since it stops at the edge of the orle. For a survey of the use of aircraft and related charges on the shield see the section on common emblems at the end of this chapter.

ORMESSON-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

D'azur à trois lis de jardin d'argent, tigés et feuillés de sinople posés deux et un.

Azure three lilies argent slipped and leaved vert.

These were the arms of Levèbvre, comtes d'Ormesson.

The arms of Thiais, Val-de-Marne, are identical. The use of lilies as a charge is rare in French heraldry, and perhaps even more surprising in an area where the use of the fleur de lis is so common.

ORSAY, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

D'azur à une fasce d'argent, accompagnée en chef d'un croissant d'argent, accotté de deux étoiles d'or; et en pointe d'une carpe d'argent, nageant sur une rivière de même.

However, all illustrations of the arms omit the rivière, and I have therefore adopted:

Azure a fess or between in chief a crescent argent between two mullets of the second and in base a carp in fess of the third.

The arms were adopted in 1943, probably in response to the Vichy directive, and were those of Grimod-Dufort, former seigneurs.

Unfortunately, there is further confusion, since the illustrations of the arms show all the mullets argent. In addition, the information received from the commune states that Grimod-Dufort changed the tincture of the fess to or; the illustration supplied gives or, the official blazon states argent.

I think that the above resolution of the problem, although unsatisfactory, is as fair as possible. The word accotté is not normally used in French blazon: flanqué or accosté are the correct terms. Le Vésinet, Yvelines, uses the term accôté in its blazon.

OSNY, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

D'azur à l'aulne fruité d'or issant d'un nid du même posé sur une rivière d'argent, une levrette courant aussi d'argent, colletée de gueules bordé d'or à l'anneau de même, brochant sur le fût de l'aulne; au chef d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or et un lambel à trois pendants d'hermine, le chef soutenu d'un divise d'argent.

Azure an alder tree fructed issuant from a bird's nest or a champagne wavy overall a greyhound argent gorged with a collar and ring of the second a chief azure semy de lis or a label argent of three points dovetailed ermine.

The arms were adopted in 1972.

The alder, aulne or aune, from the Latin alnus, is a rebus on the name of the town, said to derive from the great numbers of alders on the banks of the River Viosne. The nid, nest, completes the rebus on Osny, or aulne-nid. The greyhound courant is from the arms of Nicolai, or Nicolay, seigneurs before the Revolution. The champagne wavy is symbolic of the River Viosne. The chief bears the arms of le Vexin Français, which were also those of the comtes de Pontoise.

The greyhound of Nicolay is also found in the arms of Goussainville, Val-d'Oise. The divise is a device in French blazon to avoid the effect of the chef cousu.

PALAISEAU, Essonne. Arrondissement.

Bandé d'or et de gueules de six pièces, au chef cousu de sable chargé d'un lion passant d'or à dextre.

Bendy of six or and gueules a chief sable dexter a lion passant or.

The arms were created from a seal of Ferry de Palaiseau, dating from the thirteenth century.

The lion passant is placed unusually at the dexter edge of the chief.

PANTIN, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

The only information was from a black and white illustration.

PARIS, Siège de la Région.

De gueules à la nef équipée d'argent voguant sur des ondes du même mouvant de la pointe; au chef d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or.

Gules a lymphad on a champagne argent a chief azure semy de lis or.

Paris became the permanent capital of France in 990, during the reign of Hughes Capet. The lymphad appeared in the seal of the city in the thirteenth century, a representation of which is shown on two postage stamps, with the incription "per duo millia annorum currit historia".

The chief was granted by the Dauphin, later Charles V, in 1358. In the time of Napoleon, the goddess Isis was seated in the galley and the chief bore three bees. The motto of the city is "fluctuat nec murgitur", which means "it rolls, without sinking".

However, according to Cadogan, the history of the arms is somewhat different. On the seal of 1358 there are only two fleurs de lys, one on each side of the sail. In the seal of 1366 these have disappeared, but the ship flies a flag bearing three full fleurs de lys, and part of a fourth. They then appear in the sky at the back of the ship, and the chief azure seme de lys appears only from 1426.

Officially, Paris did not have the right to include the fleurs de lis in its arms until 1699 "...époque où Charles d'Hozier, généalogiste de France, l'autorisa par certificat officiel de coudre ce chef sur son écusson de gueules à un navire équipé d'argent".

PARMAIN, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... three lozenzes between seven crows contourned four fesswise in chief three in base sable overall a barrulet argent.

LES PAVILLONS-SOUS-BOIS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Gules a chief azure overall a cartouche formed by a wreath a tree beside a stream flanked by six smaller between two pavillions issuant from the flanks proper.

The arms were adopted in 1790.

In the illustration provided, they are depicted as a painting and not as an heraldic design. The elements are said to be the forest of Bondy, and the arbre de mai, which was planted in honour of the king, the lodges of the Château de Raincy, and the abundance of water in the area.

The following blazon should be preferred from an heraldic point of view, but is not used by the town:

Gules on a saltire cantonned by first the capital letters MCMV second and fourth two buildings fourth a hunting horn or stringed sable nine trees in saltire vert.

The buildings in this example are pavillons de garde, and they and the hunting horn are said to symbolise the staging posts of the first post route from Paris to Strasbourg. The letters, which may be the date 1905, are unexplained.

LE PECQ, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

A la barque d'or voilée d'argent sur chef d'azur, et d'argent en champagne portant un orme au naturel issant de cinq flammes de gueules.

Argent an elm tree vert in base five piles wavy gules issuant a chief azure a single masted Viking ship? or with sail argent.

The arms were adopted in 1898.

The ship, which is not identified in the French blazon, refers to the fact that the commune was previously called Port Aupec; the elm is a reference to the plantations of elms begun in the early seventeenth century.

The French blazon begins with the chief, and seems to imply that the arms were perhaps per fess azure a ship...

LE PERRAY-EN-YVELINES, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

Tiercé en pairle: en chef, de gueules au rencontre de cerf d'or; à dextre, aussi d'or à l'enclume de sable brochant sur un marteau en pal du même emmanché de gueules; à senestre, d'argent à trois flèches de sable mises en pal, bande et barre chargées d'un arc en fasce de gueules.

Per pall in chief gules a stag's head caboshed or dexter or a hammer in pale sable shafted gules overall an anvil also sable sinister argent a bunch of three arrows in bend in pale and in bend sinister sable overall a bow in fess gules.

The party per pale, which forms the letter Y, represents the initial letter of the forest of Yvelines. The hammer and the arrows are symbols respectively of Saint Eloi and Saint Sébastien, to whom the church of the commune was dedicated.

There was no comment on the remaining charges, although the stag's head may be a further symbol of the forest. The anvil is probably intended to further represent Saint Eloi, or Eligius, who lived in the seventh century and was known as fine metalworker. He is the patron of smiths, farriers, and all kinds of metalworkers.

LE PERREUX-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Ecartelé: au 1er, de gueules, au cor lié d'argent au chef cousu d'azur chargé de deux fleurs de lis d'or; au 2e, de sable à trois étoiles d'or en fasce, surmontées d'une couronne de baron au naturel; au 3e, d'azur, au viaduc à trois arches, le tout d'argent; au 4e, de gueules, avec une chaîne de quatre anneaux, dont deux rompus au milieu.

Quarterly first gules a hunting horn stringed argent a chief azure two fleurs de lis or second sable three mullets in fess ensigned by a crown proper third azure a viaduct of three arches argent fourth gules a chain of four links two in the centre broken in pale or.

These arms were adopted in 1891.

The horn and the fleurs de lis are a reference to Royal hunting reserves in the area from 1370-1461. The crown is that of Baron Georges-Marie-Jerome Millin de Perreux, 1817. The viaduct is that which was constructed in 1852, and the chains symbolise the autonomy, gained in 1887, of the commune.

Elsewhere, quite different, but of a later date, the arms are given as:

Quarterly first azure three fleurs de lis or second gules a chevron between in chief two branches of ... in saltire and in base an ear of wheat in pale or third gules two towers argent masoned sable a champagne of the second fourth azure a hunting horn stringed or.

The only information for this blazon comes from a black and white illustration, but I have guessed at the tinctures from the density of the grey tones. It appears that the commune rejected the earlier arms at some stage, but it is interesting to note that the correspondence from the town gives it as the official coat.

PERSAN, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

D'azur à trois doubles (demoiselles à doubles ailes) d'or volant en bande 2 et 1.

Azure three dragonflies volant in bend or.

These were the arms of Boublet de Persan, seigneurs in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. The word doublet is an old popular name for libellule, dragonfly, probably because of its double wings.

These are the only examples of dragonflies that I have seen in French civic heraldry.

PIERREFITTE-SUR-SEINE, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

De gueules à trois rochers d'argent mouvant de la pointe, celui du centre plus élevé, surmonté d'un pinson d'or, au chef cousu d'azur chargé d'un clou d'argent accosté de deux fleurs de lis d'or.

Gules three rocks issuant in base perched on the centre higher rock a chaffinch or a chief azure a Passion nail argent between two fleurs de lis or.

The arms were designed by Robert Louis, and adopted in 1942, following the Vichy directive.

The three rocks allude to the derivation of the name of the commune, pierre fichée, pointed rock, the pinson to the hamlet of la Butte-Pinson. In chief, there are the elements of the arms of the Abbaye de Saint Denis.

These are the only examples of chaffinches that I have seen in French civic heraldry.

PLAISIR, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Versailles.

D'azur à deux lions affrontés d'argent supportant une fleur de lis d'or posée au point de chef.

Azure two lions rampant affronty argent holding in their paws in chief a fleur de lis or.

During the Revolution, the commune showed its allegiance to the king by using a seal showing his profile with fleurs de lis, but also indicating its sympathy with the new régime by adding the words LA NATION, LA LOI. On the seal these symbols were supported by two lions. It is this seal which has formed the basis for the arms of the commune.

LE PLESSIS-ROBINSON, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

Ecartelé au 1er d'or, a deux tourteaux de gueules posées en pal qui est de Montesquiou d'Artagnan; au 2e, de sable au chêne arraché d'or; au 3e de sable au hibou d'or; au 4e d'or, à la coulèvre tortillée d'azur posée en pal, qui est de Colbert; sur le tout en abîme d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or.

Quarterly first or two torteaux in pale second sable an oak tree eradicated or third sable an owl or fourth or a viper in pale azure overall an inescutcheon azure three fleurs de lis or.

The arms were ascribed by the Vichy government during the Second World War.

Montesquiou and Colbert were former seigneurs. The viper of Colbert is a rebus, from the Latin coluber, serpent; the sinister half of the arms of Chatenay-Malabry bears the same arms. The owl signifies the old Plessis and the oak the new Robinson.

For information on this period of French civil heraldry see the entry on Gennevilliers, Hauts-de-Seine.

POISSY, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

D'azur au poisson d'argent posé en fasce, accompagné d'une fleur de lis d'or en chef, d'une en pointe et d'une demie mouvant du flanc dextre.

Azure a fish in fess argent between three fleurs de lis in chief one in base and one issuant from the dexter flank or.

The first arms of the commune displaying two fish date from a seal 1276. There followed two fleurs de lis, and at the beginning of the fourteenth century a third. The present arms date from at least the sixteenth century, and were confirmed by the Armorial Général.

The fish is a rebus on the name of the commune. There are, unusually, two and a half fleurs de lis displayed on the shield. The effect of the blazon is almost as though the fish is pushing the dexter fleur de lis off the shield.

POMPONNE, Seine-et-Marne. Commue, arr. Meaux.

Parti: à dextre de trois lions passants l'un sur l'autre, à senestre de quatre gerbes mises en croix.

These arms are found on a seal of 1228.

PONTOISE, Val-d'Oise. Chef-lieu du Département.

Azure a castle triple towered on a bridge of five arches argent masoned sable a champagne wavy of the second in chief two fleurs de lis or.

The design of the arms is very similar to that of L'Isle-Adam, Val-d'Oise.

LE PORT-MARLY, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Parti: au 1er d'or à la demi-croix de gueules mouvant de la partition cantonnée de deux alérions d'azur, au 2e d'azur à la nef équipée d'or voguant sur des ondes du même mouvant de la pointe.

Per pale or a demi-cross gules cantonned by two alerions azure and azure a lymphad or a champagne wavy argent.

The dexter side of the shield bears the dimidiated arms of Montmorency, former seigneurs; the lymphad is a symbol of the previous importance of the commune as a commercial centre on the Seine.

It is not possible to blazon the arms as dimidiated, because although the dexter part is so drawn, the sinister side shows the the ship in its entirety. This way of marshalling arms, although unusual in English heraldry, is normal in French.

PRESLES, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

D'argent fretté de sinople.

Argent fretty vert.

The arms were those of Presles, seigneurs in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries.

PROVINS, Seine-et-Marne. Arrondissement.

D'azur au château composé d'une enceinte sommée de trois tourelles jointes par des entremurs renfermant une grosse tour couverte plus élevée, le tout d'argent, maçonné et ajouré de sable, la grosse tour surmontée d'une fleur de lis d'or; le milieu de la première enceinte ouvert d'une porte d'argent chargée d'un lion de sable.

Elsewhere, there is found:

D'azur à la tour crénelée d'argent, sommé de trois tourillons qui soutiennent un donjon couvert en pointe et une fleur de lis d'or en chef.

Azure a castle triple towered argent in chief a fleur de lis or.

In the absence of information from the town, I have simplifed the French blazon, in order to make it intelligible. The first blazon appears to have been designed by Robert Louis.

PUISELET-LE-MARAIS, Essonne. Commune, arr. Etampes.

De gueules à six annelets d'or posés 3,2,1, à la bordure du même.

Gules six annulets a bordure or.

The arms appear to have been those of Monceau, former seigneurs, although the information was not clear.

PUTEAUX, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

D'azur à trois fleurs de lys d'or, deux et une, chargés en coeur d'un écusson cousu de gueules à trois besants d'argent.

Azure three fleurs de lis or an inescutcheon gules three bezants.

The arms were adopted in about 1899, and were those of the Abbaye de Saint Germain les Prés, the former seigneurs.

See also the entry on Antony, Hauts-de-Seine.

RAMBOUILLET, Yvelines. Arrondissement.

Parti: au 1e de sable, au sautoir d'argent; au 2e tiercé en fasce; d'or au cerf contourné au naturel; de gueules au mouton au naturel; et d'argent à l'arbre de sinople; sur le tout d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or brisé en coeur d'un bâton péri en barre de gueules.

Per pale sable a saltire issuant from the sinister flank argent and tierced per fess or a stag contourned proper gules a sheep proper and argent a tree vert overall an inescutcheon azure a bendlet sinister couped gules between three fleurs de lis or.

The sinister part of the shield contains local symbols of forest and agriculture. The arms:

are those of Angennes, former seigneurs.

The inescutcheon bears the arms of the comtes de Toulouse, as does Arpajon, Essonne.

REBAIS, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

De gueules à deux clefs d'or croisées; au chef d'azur, à trois fleurs de lys d'or.

Gules two keys in saltire the wards upwards and outwards or a chief azure three fleurs de lis or.

They were adopted in 1978.

The arms are a reference to a former royal abbey, the Abbaye de Saint Pierre, to which the town owes its foundation.

RENNEMOULIN, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Azure a fess wavy argent between in chief a millwheel issuant and in base a tree frog nageant in fess or.

The arms are based upon a seal found in the archives of the Mairie.

The rainette and the millwheel appear to be a rebus on the name of the commune. The rainette is unique to this work.

RIS-ORANGIS, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

De gueules à une patte de lion, posée en bande, les griffes vers le chef.

Gules a lion's paw erased in bend the claws towards the chief or.

The commune is the result of the amalgamation of two former communes, and the arms of Faucon, marquises of both Ris and Orangis until the end of the seventeenth century, have been adopted as a symbol of this amalgamation.

LA ROCHE-GUYON, Val-d'Oise, Commune, arr. Pontoise.

D'azur au château crénelé sommé de son donjon, le tout d'argent maçonné de sable, ajouré du champ posé sur un tertre d'or soutenu d'une champagne fascée-ondée d'azur et d'argent de quatre pièces; le donjon chargé d'un écusson d'or à cinq cotices d'azur à la bordure de gueules, et accosté de deux fleurs de lis d'or.

Azure a tower argent masoned sable on a rock between two fleurs de lis or a champagne barry wavy of four azure and argent an inescutcheon or five bendlets azure a bordure gules.

The arms of the commune had previously been those of the first seigneur, Hugues de Mantes, which were not described in the information. In 1958, the commune replaced these by the present arms, which symbolise the position of the commune above the Seine, and bear the inescutcheon of the Ducs de Roche-Guyon, between the fleurs de lis of France.

ROCQUENCOURT, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Versailles.

The only information was from a black and white illustration, but I have assumed that the arms are those of France. The chief bears a rebus on the name of the commune, from the French roc.

ROISSY-EN-FRANCE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

... four bars dancetty ... overall a bend azure semy de lis bendwise or.

The bend of France is the only example of its kind that I have seen. The fleurs de lis are placed bendwise so that they may be more easily seen.

ROMAINVILLE, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Coupé au 1er d'azur au château fortifié d'argent ouvert ajouré et maçonné de sable, au 2e d'or à l'arbre arraché de sinople.

Per fess azure a castle double towered argent pierced and masoned sable and or a tree eradicated vert.

The arms were designed by Robert Louis, and adopted in 1942.

The elements of the arms are local in nature.

ROSAY, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

D'or à la fasce d'azur chargée d'un croissant du champ, accompagnée de trois roses de gueules boutonnées d'or, ornées de sinople, deux en chef, une en pointe.

Or on a fess azure between three roses gules seeded a crescent of the field.

The arms are composed of the roses of the last marquis de Rosay, seigneurs until the fourteenth century, and the crescent of Courtin, seigneurs in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. The fess is a symbol of the river Vaucouleurs.

ROSNY-SUR-SEINE, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

D'argent à la fasce de gueules.

Argent a fess gules.

These were the arms of Maximilien de Béthune, duc de Sully, a minister of Henri IV.

They are the same of those of Béthune, Pas-de-Calais.

ROZOY, Seine-et-Marne.

D'azur à trois roses d'argent boutonnées d'or, 2 et 1; alias d'azur a trois roses de gueules (sic).

I cannot identify this commune.

RUEIL-MALMAISON, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

De gueules, au Château de la Malmaison d'or maçonné et ajouré de sable; à la fleur d'Hortensia au naturel posée en pointe; franc quartier des villes de seconde classe (qui est, à dextre, d'azur à l'N d'or surmontée d'une étoile rayonnante du même) réduite au 1/9e de l'écu.

Gules a château in perspective or masoned and pierced sable in base a hortensia bloom proper a canton azure the capital letter N ensigned by an estoile or.

The arms were granted in 1869, by Napoleon III, and the commune is one of the few which have retained the Napoleonic canton. The flower is in memory of Queen Hortense, although her connection with the town is not explained.

RUNGIS, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

D'azur à la fontaine d'argent jaillissante et retombant de deux vasques posées sur une terrasse du même et accompagné en chef d'un arc-en-ciel au naturel.

Azure a fountain a terrace in base argent in chief a rainbow proper.

The fountain signifies the works originally carried out by the Romans to bring water to the commune. The rainbow is from a medal struck in 1613 to commemorate the beginning of work on the fountains of Rungis, in the time of Louis XIII. It seems that the fountain could also derive from this event.

I have not come across another example of a rainbow in the work so far.

SACLAY, Essonne. Commune, arr. Bièvre.

De gueules au symbole atomique, le noyeau d'or, les électrons d'argent, leur orbites de sable; au chef d'azur chargé d'un écusson de sable, surchargé de trois besants d'argent, accosté de deux fleurs de lis d'or, soutenu d'une divise ondée d'argent.

Gules the symbol of an atom the nucleus or the electrons argent in orbits sable a bar wavy enhanced argent a chief azure between two fleurs de lis or an inescutcheon sable three plates.

The atomic symbol symbolises the commune's position as the centre for nuclear research, and is the only example of its kind that I know. The divise is a symbol of the lake built by Louis XIV, which acted as a reservoir for the palace of Versailles.

The divise is depicted in these arms as a bar wavy enhanced, and also serves to separate the field from the chief, and so avoid the effect of a chief cousu.

SAINT-ARNOULT-EN-YVELINES, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Rambouillet.

Gules six bezants.

The arms are sculpted on the outside of the church of the comune. The date, the tinctures and the origin of the sculpture are unknown.

SAINT-BRICE-SOUS-FORET, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure an inescutcheon azure an escarbuncle or.

These are the differenced arms of Montmorency.

For more information on the family, see the entry on the commune of Montmorency, Val-d'Oise.

SAINT-CLAIR-SUR-EPTE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Parti, au 1er: de gueules à deux léopards d'or armés et lampassés d'azur, au 2e: d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or, au filet ondé d'argent brochant sur la partition.

Per pale gules two lions passant gardant or and azure semy de lis or overall a pallet wavy argent.

The commune is situated on the boundary of Normandie and the Ile-de-France, and the arms commemorate the treaty of 911 between Rollon and Charles le Simple, which ceded territory to the Norsemen, and created the boundary between the two provinces along the course of the Epte. The pallet wavy represents the river.

SAINT-CLOUD, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

D'azur à une fleur de lis d'or défaillante à senestre, accostée d'une crosse contournée du même.

Per pale azure a fleur de lis or dimidiating azure a crozier in pale or.

There was no further information.

The coat is dimidiated, although the appearance of the charges gives the impression of the fleur de lis and crozier being combined on a field azure. In the French blazon, défaillante means lacking or not present, but the crozier is also halved or lacking on the sinister.

SAINT-CYR-L'ECOLE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Versailles.

D'argent à la croix haussée d'azur semée de fleurs de lis, fleurdelisée et sommée d'une couronne royale d'or accostée en pointe de deux shakos avec casoar au naturel celui de dextre contourné.

Argent a latin cross flory azure semy de lis ensigned by a crown or between in base two shakos with plumes proper.

The casoar is the traditional red and white plume worn by cadets at the Ecole Militaire at Saint-Cyr, since 1855. The Ecole was founded as a school in 1686, and was given the above arms without the shakos. The military nature of the Ecole dates from 1805, although it was some time after this that the present arms were modified.

I have not previously seen a cross semy de lis.

SAINT-DENIS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

D'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or.

Azure semy de lis or.

These arms are France Ancient, but there was no further information.

SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE, Yvelines. Arrondissement.

Parti: au 1er d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or; au 2e de gueules aux chaînes d'or posées en pal, en fasce, en sautoir, et en orle, chargées en coeur d'une émeraude au naturel; enté en pointe d'argent à la lettre capitale L d'or.

Per pale azure three fleurs de lis or and gules on chains in pale in fess in saltire and in orle or an emerald proper enty in point argent the capital letter L or.

There was no further information.

The sinister part of the shield bears the chains of Navarre. Enty in point is a small reversed v shape at the base of the shield. The use of or on argent in this part of the shield does not conform to normal heraldic practice.

The chains of Navarre are also borne by Yerres, Essonne.

SAINT-GERMAIN-LES-CORBEIL, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

D'azur à une tour d'argent sommée d'un basilique essorant d'or; au chef de gueules à la mitre d'argent accostée des lettres S et G d'or.

Azure a tower argent a basilisk issuant or a chief gules a mitre argent between the capital letters S and G or.

The arms are based on those of Coquatrix, and the basilisk or cockatrice is a rebus on their name. The basilisk is depicted as a dragon with a cock's head.

Although it is not stated, the chief is likely to a reference to Saint Germain.

SAINT-GRATIEN, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

D'argent à la croix de gueules chargée de neuf coquilles d'or.

Argent on a cross gules nine escallops or.

These were the arms of the maréchal de Catinat, seigneur at the beginning of the eighteenth century.

SAINT-LEU-LA-FORET, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure a canton ermine.

The arms are those of Montmorency-Saint-Leu-Barre, and are identical to those of Deuil-la-Barre, Val-d'Oise. In the arms of Saint-Leu, the illustration shows that the first quarter is not entirely obliterated by the canton.

For more information about the family, see the entry on Montmorency, Val-d'Oise.

SAINT-MANDE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Ecartelé: au 1er d'argent à l'écureuil rampant de gueules; au 2e d'azur à la tourelle accompagnée de son avant-mur mis en fasce, le tout d'argent, maçonné et ajouré de sable; au 3e d'azur à trois fasces ondées d'argent, accompagnées en pointe d'un croissant du même; au 4e de gueules au chevron d'or accompagné de trois molettes d'éperon du même.

Quarterly first argent a squirrel rampant gules second azure a fess embattled a tower issuant argent masoned sable third azure three bars wavy in base a crescent argent fourth gules a chevron between three estoiles or pierced of the field.

The arms in the first quarter are those of Fouquet, minister to Louis XIV, who possessed property in the area; the second represents the château of Vincennes; the bars wavy in the third are the three streams in the area, and the croissant is an emblem of the district or the commune known as Demi-Lune. The arms in the fourth quarter were those of Bérulle, who were seigneurs in the eighteenth century.

SAINT-MARTIN-DU-TERTRE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

D'azur au lion d'or mantelé du même, le mantelé sommé d'une silhouette de télégraphe Chappe de sable, accostée de deux quintefeuilles de sinople; au chef d'azur chargé d'un clou d'argent accostée de deux fleurs de lis d'or.

Per chevron or the outline of a telegraph post issuant sable between two cinquefoils vert and azure a lion rampant or chief azure a passion nail argent between two fleurs de lis or.

The arms bear the lion rampant of the comte de Beaumont-sur-Oise, with a chief of the arms of the Abbaye de Saint Denis. The mantelé is a rebus on tertre, hillock, and the telegraph post is a reference to Chappe, the inventor, who used the commune as a centre for his experiments.

The name of the person should not be confused with the term chapé, which along with the difficulty of rendering the French mantelé into English blazon, is discussed in the Glossary.

SAINT-MAUR-DES-FOSSES, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

D'azur a la bande d'or chargée d'une anguille tortillee du champ, accompagnée en chef de trois fleurs de lis d'or au bâton de gueules péri en bande, et en pointe d'une couronne d'épines enfermant le mot PAX, surmonté d'une fleur de lis et soutenu de trois clous, le tout d'argent.

Azure on a bend or between in chief three fleurs de lis or a bendlet couped gules and in base the capital letters PAX within a crown of thorns between a fleur de lis and three passion nails argent an eel of the field.

The arms of Condé, former seigneurs, appear in chief. The eel is from a seal of the commune dating from 1790. In base, there appear the arms of the Benedictine Abbaye de Saint-Maur, which gave the commune its name.

Elsewhere, the blazon is given as:

Azure a bend or between in chief an eel and a sword in bend and in base a château in perspective ensigned by a cockerel argent.

The royal charges have been removed: the cockerel is a Republican symbol. The eel and the sword have been depicted in the form of a buckle, which was made in the town.

Information from the town showed that before the Revolution, the town bore the arms of Condé alone, while after 1790, an eel, representing the River Marne, was placed on a field semy de lys. At what point the present arms were adopted is not clear.

SAINT-MAURICE, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. Créteil.

De gueules au Saint-Maurice monté sur un cheval et tenant une banderole chargée d'une croix, le tout d'argent, et passant sur une terrasse de sinople soutenue d'une rivière aussi d'argent, mouvant de la pointe.

Azure Saint Maurice on horseback argent nimbed or carrying a pennant charged with the cross of Saint George in base a fess vert a terrace in base vert.

Elsewhere, there appears:

Azure Saint Maurice on horseback proper nimbed or carrying a pennant charged with the cross of Saint George a terrace in base vert.

Here, the tinctures are naturalistic, and the fess in base is not shown.

SAINT-MICHEL-SUR-ORGE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

D'azur à la bande d'or chargée de trois colombes au naturel.

Azure on a bend or three doves proper.

There was no further information, and the illustration came from the cover of the Bulletin Municipal, 1978. The arms do not appear in Les Armoiries des Communes de Seine-et-Oise, which was published in 1944, and it can therefore be assumed that they were adopted between these dates.

The placing of the doves, which are white although blazoned proper, on a field or does not conform to the normal heraldic rules.

SAINT-OUEN, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

De gueules semé de grandes étoiles d'argent a huit rais, chargées chacune en coeur d'un tourteau d'azur surchargé d'un soleil rayonnant, vide, d'or.

Gules semy of stars of eight points each charged with a hurt a fleur de lis or.

Elsewhere, the blazon is different:

Azure semy of mullets and suns in their splendour or.

This blazon shows the charges alternating in rows and columns on the shield, but does not represent the official arms of the commune. The arms are an allusion to the fact that Jean le bon founded l'Ordre de l'Etoile in the town in 1351.

Further evidence of the semy field is found in yet another version:

D'azur à douze soleils d'or, posés 2,3,2,3,2 et treize étoiles d'or, posées 3,2,3,2,3.

Here, the blazon is specific concerning the number of charges.

SAINT-OUEN-L'AUMONE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Parti: au 1er de gueules au château donjonné de trois tourelles d'or, au 2e d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or, à la crosse du même brochant sur la partition.

Per pale azure semy de lis or and gules a castle triple towered or overall a crozier in pale or.

The arms are a combination of France and Castilla, of which house Eliénor of Aquitaine was a descendant. She was the founder of the Abbaye de Maubuisson, a former seigneur of the commune which is represented in the arms by the crozier.

In 1904, because of a misreading of the terms dextre and senestre, the arms of the commune were described as:

Chargée d'une crosse d'abbesse d'or aux fleurons à volutes crucifères, hampe à trois cordons fleurdelysés et chardons, à dextre de gueules au château d'or à trois tourelles maçonnées ajourées, à senestre d'azur à fleurs de lys sans nombre.

However, the situation is further complicated by the fact that the arms of the commune as they appear in the council chamber of the département of Val-d'Oise, are:

Per pale gules...and azure....

Heraldic custom dictates that the arms of France take precedence over any others, and should thus be placed on the dexter side of the shield: these arms do no not follow that convention.

SAINT-PRIX, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... a tower covered ... masoned sable.

SAINTE-GENEVIEVE-DES-BOIS, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

D'azur au donjon d'or, couvert somme d'un campanile montant de la pointe flanque de deux tourelles couvertes en forme d'échaguette du même, ajourées de sable. Le tout maçonné aussi de sable, le donjon chargé d'un écusson de gueules au buste de Sainte-Geneviève, d'argent nimbé d'or et accosté en chef de deux fleurs de lys aussi d'or.

Azure a tower with two turrets issuant pierced and masoned sable an inescutcheon gules the bust of Sainte Geneviève nimbed argent between in chief by two fleurs de lis or.

The charges are references to the chapel of Sainte Geneviève built by Hugues Capet at the end of the tenth century, and the castle built at the beginning of the fourteenth by Jean de Belmont.

The English blazon does not reflect the complexity of the French. See the entry on Etampes, Essonne, for another example of the échauguette.

SANNOIS, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Argenteuil.

De gueules au chevron d'or, au chef d'azur; le chevron est sommé d'un moulin à vent d'argent crochant sur le chef et accosté de deux quintefeuilles d'or; en pointe du chevron un noyer d'argent.

Gules a chevron or in base a walnut tree on a terrace in base argent a chief azure two cinquefoils overall on the point of the chevron a windmill argent.

According to the information received from the commune, the chevron ensigned by a mill is an allusion to the hill on which the Moulin de Trouillet stands; the noyer is a rebus on the derivation of the name of the commune Sannois, cent noix, or a hundred walnuts. The arms of Sannois were designed by Robert Louis before his death and completed by Mireille Louis in 1965.

SANTEUIL, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Barry of ten argent and gules a lion rampant ... a canton ... a bend ....

SARCELLES-EST, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

D'azur à trois sarcelles d'argent.

Azure three teal argent.

The arms are canting, from sarcelle, teal, a species of duck.

SARCELLES-SAINT-BRICE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

See the note on Sarcelles-Est.

SARTROUVILLE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

D'azur au sautoir formé d'une crosse d'argent en bande, la volute d'or à dextre et d'une épée d'argent en barre garnie d'or, à la bèche d'argent emmanchée d'or en pal brochant sur le tout.

Azure a crozier argent the head to the dexter or and a sword of the second pommelled of the third in saltire overall a spade of the second with a handle of the third in pale.

The arms probably date from the Revolution.

The crozier is that of the Abbaye de Saint Denis, the sword is a symbol of the military fief of Vaudoire, and the spade signifies agriculture.

SAVIGNY-SUR-ORGE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

D'or au lion léopardé, rampant de gueules tenant de la patte dextre une lance polonaise de sable au chef d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or.

Or a lion rampant gardant gules holding in his dexter paw a Polish lance sable a chief azure semy de lis or.

The arms, which were adopted in this form in 1952, were those of Marechal Davout who was maire of the town, and who became duc d'Auerstaedt in 1808, with a chief of France ancient. Further research has indicated that the arms contain errors, and that the lion should be passant.

Elsewhere, there appears:

D'or au lion de gueules tenant une lance polonaise au naturel; au chef d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or.

The lance polonaise has a long pennant, which itself bears:

Coupé: de gueules et d'argent,

although the tinctures are not indicated because of the size of the illustration. Red and white are the colours of the Polish national flag.

SCEAUX, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

Per pale azure a bendlet sinister couped gules between three fleurs de lis or and a viper in pale azure.

There was no further information.

However, for the use of the bendlet sinister couped, see the entry on Arpajon, Essonne. The sinister half of the shield appears to bear the arms of Colbert. For other examples, see the entries on the communes of Châtenay-Malabry and Le Plessis-Robinson, Hauts-de-Seine.

Elsewhere, there appears:

Ecartelé: au 1er d'or à la couleuvre tortillée d'azur en pal; au 2e et au 3e d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or, au bâton de gueules péri en barre; au 4e contre-écartelé: au 1e et au 4e d'or à la tete et col de cheval de sable, celle du 1e contournée; au 2e d'azur au dextrochère d'or armé de toutes pièces et tenant une épée haute d'argent; au 3e d'azur au senestrochère d'or armé de toutes pièces et tenant une épée haute d'argent; au chef de gueules semé d'étoiles d'argent.

The fourth quarter in these arms is omitted in the present arms of the commune.

SEPTEUIL, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

De gueules au pairle d'hermine, au chef d'azur chargé de trois fleurs de lis d'or.

Gules a pall ermine a chief azure three fleurs de lis or.

The arms in the main part of the shield were those of a Prieuré, established by the Abbaye de Saint Germain des Prés. They were entered into the Armorial Général.

SEVRAN, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

D'azur à la bande d'argent accompagnée en chef de trois glands d'or et en pointe de deux pattes d'aigle du même, au chef d'azur chargé de trois fleurs de lis d'or surmontées d'un lambel d'argent.

Azure a bend argent between in chief three acorns and in base two eagle's legs bendwise sinister or a chief azure three fleurs de lis or a label of three points dovetailed argent.

The arms are those of Sanguin, seigneurs from the fifteenth to seventeenth centuries. The chief bears the arms of Orléans, who succeeded Sanguin as seigneurs.

The arms of Sanguin are also borne by Livry-Gargan, Seine-Saint-Denis.

SEVRES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

Azure a hunting horn or stringed sable in base an iron bridge of five arches of the second a champagne argent a chief or a wreath between two vases azure each charged with a fleur de lis of the field.

There was no further information, although the vases are an obvious allusion to the porcelain of Sèvres. The champagne is ombrée, for which see the note on Courbevoie, Hauts-de-Seine.

SOISY-SOUS-MONTMORENCY, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

D'argent à trois bandes d'azur au chef du même.

Argent three bendlets a chief azure.

Robert Louis wrote that when the commune first adopted arms in 1925, it took those of the family of Soisy; however, in so doing the tinctures were changed, whether by error or not is unknown:

D'or a trois bandes de gueules, au chef du même.

The present arms are correct in their tinctures.

SOISY-SUR-SEINE, Essonne. Commune, arr. Evry.

De sinople à trois chênes d'or, à la champagne d'argent chargée de cinq trangles ondées du champ, surchargées d'un poisson d'or, sur le tout parti d'hermine et de gueules.

Vert three oak trees issuant or on a champagne argent five bars wavy of the field a fish in fess of the second overall an inescutcheon per pale ermine and and gules.

The arms are composed of local symbols with an inescutcheon of the arms of Bailleul.

The arms of the commune of Bailleul, Nord, are:

Gules a cross vair.

STAINS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

D'argent à deux fasces ondées de sinople, au chef de gueules chargé de trois épis d'or.

Argent two bars wavy vert a chief gules three ears of wheat or.

The bars wavy are an allusion to the possible derivation of the name of the commune, from the Latin stagna, submerged places or marshes, indicated by the tincture. The ears of wheat symbolise agriculture.

SUCY-EN-BRIE, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. Créteil.

D'azur au château a deux tours crénelées d'argent, maçonné de sable, ouvert et ajouré du champ, posé sur une champagne ondée aussi d'argent et surmonté d'une fleur de lis or; le tout chapé de gueules au pampre d'argent fruité d'or a dextre, et à trois épis du même, tigés et feuillés d'argent à senestre, posés en bande, pal et barre, leurs tiges assemblées en pointe.

Per chevron enhanced gules dexter a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved sinister three ears of wheat conjoined in base argent and azure a castle double towered argent masoned sable pierced of the field ensigned by a fleur de lis or a terrace wavy in base of the second.

The arms bear local emblems: in particular, the chapé symbolises the plateau on which the commune stands, and the terrace in base wavy symbolises the River Morbras, a tributary of the Marne.

The partition touches the top of the shield, and per chevron enhanced is probably the best approximation for chapé. For more information on this difficult term, see the entry on Vanves, Hauts-de-Seine, and the Glossary.

SURESNES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

D'azur à la croix cousue de gueules chargée en coeur d'un écusson octagonale ... surchargé de lettre entrelacées S et L de sable, et cantonnée de quatre fleurs de lis d'or.

Azure a cross gules cantonned by four fleurs de lis d'or overall an inescutcheon of eight sides ... the entwined capital letters S and L sable.

Before 1789, the arms of the town had been based on those of Saint Germain les Prés, which were:

Azure three fleurs de lis or an inescutcheon gules three bezants.

At the Revolution the cross was introduced into the arms, and the inescutcheon replaced by the initials, which are those of Saint Leuffroy, patron of Suresnes. Final modifications were made in 1962, and the present arms were designed by Robert Louis.

The term cousu, which in French heraldry is reserved for a chief which is tinctured with a colour when it is placed on a shield whose field is also a colour, is here used in croix cousue. I have never come across such a charge before, and it appears to break the rules of heraldry. It would be unusual for Robert Louis to do such a thing without good reason.

TAVERNY, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

D'or à la croix de gueules cantonnée de seize alerions d'azur, brisé d'un franc canton d'azur au sautoir d'argent.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure a canton azure a saltire argent.

These arms are not those of a cadet branch of the family of Montmorency, as in those of, for example, Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, Val-d'Oise.

The canton here has a another significance. The commune adopted, in 1943, the arms of Montmorency, differenced by a canton bearing the arms of Longaulnay, seigneurs in the eighteenth century. The original arms showed the saltire cantonned by four roses, but this was later shown to be incorrect.

THIAIS, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

D'azur à trois lis de jardin d'argent tigés et feuillés de sinople.

Azure three lilies argent slipped and leaved vert.

These were the arms of Lefèbvre, comtes d'Ormesson, with possessions at Thiais.

The arms of Ormesson-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne, are identical.

TORCY, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

D'or à deux fasces de gueules.

Or two bars gules.

The arms were adopted at some time during the 1960s, and are those of Garlande.

The black and white illustration provided, on an envelope, seemed to indicate:

Azure two bars argent,

but this may simply be due to limitations of the printing.

TOURNAN-EN-BRIE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

De gueules à la porte de ville d'argent, flanquée de deux tours du même, au chef d'azur chargé de trois fleurs de lys d'or.

Gules a gateway flanked by two towers argent a chief azure three fleurs de lis or.

The arms were adopted in 1960, and were designed by Robert Louis.

The gateway is a stylised representation of the twelfth century Hôtel de Ville, and the chief a reminder that the town was once a royal fief.

TRAPPES, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Versailles.

D'azur parti à dextre de trois fleurs de lis d'or au clou d'argent en abîme et à senestre d'un semis de fleurs de lis d'or; brochant sur le tout un chef pal, bordé d'or parti de sinople et de gueules, chargé de six annelets d'argent.

Per pale azure a passion nail argent between three fleurs de lis or and azure semy de lis or overall on a pale and chief per pale vert and gules fimbriated or six annulets argent.

The arms were designed by Robert Louis, in 1962.

They are comprised of those of the Abbaye de Saint Denis impaled with France ancient. The pale and chief forms the initial T of Trappes in the colours of the SNCF, and the annulets are the wheels of railway locomotives.

The fimbriation of the pale and chief surrounds it completely, except in base. This type of partition is not common in English heraldry.

TRIEL-SUR-SEINE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

D'azur au chevron d'or, accompagné de trois fleurs de lis d'or, 2 et 1 et d'une rivière ondée d'argent, mouvant de la pointe, au chef de gueules, chargé d'un mitre d'argent, accostée de deux pampres d'or.

Azure a chevron between three fleurs de lis or in base a champagne wavy argent a chief gules a mitre argent between two bunches of grapes slipped and leaved or.

The elements of the arms show the chevron indicating the hill of l'Hautil, the fleurs de lys of France, and the champagne wavy symbolising the River Seine. In chief the mitre is a reference to Saint Martin l'Eveque, and the grapes to the wine growing in the area.

There was no indication as to the date of adoption of the arms.

US, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

D'or à la fasce de sable accompagnée en chef d'un lion passant du même.

Or a fess in chief a lion passant sable.

These were the arms of Dampont, seigneurs after 1532.

VAIRES-SUR-MARNE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

Vairé d'or et de gueules de six tires, chaussé échiqueté d'argent et d'azur.

Per pile reversed checky argent and azure and vairy of six or and gules.

The arms were adopted in 1962, and were designed by Robert Louis.

The vairy field and the shape of the letter V in the design are rebuses on the name of the town. The checky field is from the arms of Lotin de Charny, seigneurs in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries.

In the blazoning of the arms, the French approach is a reversal of the English. For an explanation, see the note on Vanves, Hauts-de-Seine; and the Glossary.

VALENTON, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. Créteil.

De gueules à la tourelle couverte en dôme d'argent, posée sur une champagne de sable chargée d'un pampre tigé et feuillé d'or, et accompagnée en chef de deux groupes de chacun trois épis de ble liés aussi d'or.

Gules a tower domed argent between in chief two groups of three ears of wheat banded or on a terrace in base sable a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved of the third.

The tower is taken from the arms of General Halma de Belmont, and the other emblems are symbolic of life in the commune.

VALMONDOIS, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... a pair of wings conjoined ... a chief ... three gouttes ....

VANVES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

D'azur: chaussé de gueules, l'azur chargé d'un arbre arraché d'argent, le gueules chargé à dextre d'un chabot d'argent posé en bande et à senestre d'un battoir aussi d'argent posé en barre.

Per pile reversed azure a tree eradicated argent trunk sable and gules dexter a chub bendwise sinister a laundress' paddle bendwise sinister argent.

The elements are of former important activities in the town.

Elsewhere, the number of charges is increased:

Per pile reversed azure a tree eradicated argent trunk sable and gules dexter three fish palewise 1,2 head downwards sinister three mallets palewise 1,2 argent.

Another example of chaussé occurs in the arms of Vaires-sur-Marne, Seine-et-Marne, and in each case the design of the arms forms the initial letter of the name of the commune.

VAUCRESSON, Hauts-de-Seine. Commune, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

Fasce d'argent et de sinople de six pièces, les fasces d'argent chargées de six merlettes de gueules, 3, 2 et 1; au chef d'azur chargé de d'un clou d'argent accosté de deux fleurs de lis d'or.

Barry of six argent and vert on the bars argent six martlets 3,2,1 gules a chief azure a passion nail argent between two fleurs de lis or.

The arms are those of Beauvilliers, seigneurs until the eighteenth century, with a chief of the Abbaye de Saint-Denis.

The martlets are unusual in that they are normally blazoned sable, although throughout the région there are several similar examples where the charges are given other tinctures.

VAUREAL, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... a dolmen proper a chief azure three fleurs de lis or.

The only other examples of a dolmen as a heraldic charge that I know of occur in the arms of one or two communes in Bretagne.

VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, Yvelines. Canton, arr.Versailles.

D'azur à deux vols d'argent en forme de V posés l'un au-dessus de l'autre, accompagnés en chef d'une étoile et en pointe de deux quintefeuilles, entre chacun d'eux de deux épis de ble, tigés et feuillés, posés l'un en bande, l'autre en barre, le tout d'or.

Azure two pairs of wings conjoined in pale argent in chief a mullet in base between two cinquefoils as many ears of wheat in saltire or.

The arms have been in use by the commune since before 1952.

The vols have the appearance of stylised birds in flight. They form the initials of the commune, as well as a reference to the military airport at Villacoublay. The mullet is the Pole Star, guide to navigators. Agriculture and the forest are symbolised by the ears of wheat and the cinquefoils.

VEMARS, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Or on a fess azure between in chief two roses gules and in base a moor's head sable a fleur de lis or.

A moor's head also appears in the arms of Moret-le-Loing, Seine-et-Marne.

VERSAILLES, Yvelines. Chef-lieu du Département.

D'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or; au chef d'argent chargé d'un coq bicéphale issant au naturel.

Azure three fleurs de lys or a chief argent a double headed Gallic cock issuant proper.

The cock was adopted in 1789 as a symbol of the newly won liberty of the people.

The arms appear on a cigarette card.

LE VESINET, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

De gueules au cor de chasse d'or, contourné lié et virolé d'argent; au chef cousu d'azur, chargé d'une marguerite d'argent, boutonnée d'or, tigée et feuillée de sinople, accôtée de deux feuilles de chêne d'or celle à dextre posée en bande et celle à senestre posée en barre.

Gules a hunting horn or stringed argent a chief azure a daisy argent seeded or slipped and leaved vert between two oak leaves the dexter in bend the sinister in bend sinister or.

The arms were adopted in 1897.

Before this date they bore a villa between two daisies. The present arms are a reference to the legend that Roland blew his horn in the forest of Le Vésinet before being betrayed by Ganelon.

For the use of the term accôté, see the entry on Orsay, Essonne.

VETHEUIL, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

D'hermine à trois fleurs de lis au pied nourri de gueules posées deux et un.

Ermine three fleurs de lis couped gules.

These were the arms of Quiéret, former seigneurs.

For a note on pied nourri, see the Glossary.

VIARMES, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

D'azur à une étoile d'or accompagné de trois croissants d'argent, 2 et 1.

Azure a mullet or between three crescents argent.

The arms are those of Camus de Pontcarré, seigneurs in the eighteenth century.

Aubert gives all the charges as argent, as does the illustration which accompanies the blazon.

VIEILLE-EGLISE-EN-YVELINES, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

D'azur à la fasce d'argent accompagnée de trois roses d'or, au chef cousu d'azur, chargé d'un clou d'argent accosté de deux fleurs de lis d'or.

Azure a fess argent between three roses or a chief azure a passion nail argent between two fleurs de lis or.

The arms are those of Villiers, seigneurs in the fifteenth century, with a chief of the Abbaye de Saint Denis.

Several other communes in the area have the same chief; see the section of Common Emblems, below.

VIGNEUX-SUR-SEINE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

De sable à la fasce et à la devise ondées d'argent accompagnées en chef d'un rai d'escarboucle fleurdelisé accosté de deux gerbes de blé et en pointe d'une grappe de raisin tigée et feuillée, le tout d'or.

Sable a fess and a bar wavy argent between in chief an escarbuncle between two garbs and in base a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved or.

The escarbuncle is from the arms of the Abbaye de Saint Victor, the garbs and the bunch of grapes are local symbols, and the fess and the bar wavy indicate the different sizes of the Seine and the Ru d'Orly.

VIGNY, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Argent a lion rampant regardant or holding in his dexter paw a branch of vine vert fructed gules a canton gules a sword in pale or.

VILLE-D'AVRAY, Hauts-de-Seine. Commune, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

D'azur au chevron d'or accompagné en chef de deux tours du même et en pointe d'un lion d'or lampassé de gueules.

Azure a chevron argent between in chief two towers or masoned sable and in base a lion rampant of the third langued gules.

These are the arms of the second family of Ville-d'Avray, seigneurs from the forteenth century.

VILLEBON-SUR-YVETTE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

D'argent au chevron de sable accompagné, en chef, de deux taons et en pointe un mortier, le tout du même.

Argent a chevron between in chief two horse flies and in base a pestle and mortar sable.

The arms were adopted in 1975, and bring together several local elements.

The chevron symbolises the River Yvette; the horse flies, taons, in Old French thou, is a rebus on the family of le Thou, seigneurs from 1474; the pestle and mortar are the emblem of the Saints Come and Damien, patrons of the parish.

The idea of the chevron representing the river is overstated, since the original arms of le Thou were:

D'argent à un chevron de sable accompagné de trois taons de même.

The third taon, surely a unique charge, has simply been replaced by the pestle and mortar.

VILLECONIN, Essonne. Commune, arr. Etampes.

D'argent à la croix d'azur cantonnée de quatre aigles au vol abaissé de gueules becquées et membrées d'or.

Argent a cross azure cantonned by four eagles displayed gules beaked and membered or.

The arms were those of Montaigu, former seigneurs.

VILLECRESNES, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Per pale azure semy of bees or and azure semy of roses or overall a pile reversed gules three huts argent.

The arms were adopted in 1972.

The huts represent a Gallic village which has been discovered on the site of the commune. The bees are from the arms of Berthier, the seigneur, in the time of Napoleon, of Grosbois, of which Villecresnes formed part. The roses are a reference to the important industry in the area.

The bees of Berthier can also be found in the arms of Boissy-Saint-Léger, Val-de-Marne. The pile reversed is chaussé in French blazon. For further information on this, see the entry on Vanves, Hauts-de-Seine, and the Glossary.

VILLEJUIF, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

De gueules, au faisceau et à la hache d'armes d'argent posés en pal, accostés de deux tourterelles voletant, celle de dextre contournée, et tenant dans leur bec une banderole d'argent, à la champagne de sable, à deux traits d'argent passés en sautoir liés du même et brochant sur la partition.

Gules an axe and fasces in pale between two doves volant affronty holding in their beak a single banderole argent a terrace in base sable overall in base two spears in saltire tied of the second.

The arms are derived from a seal of the commune, dating from 1790.

The axe and fasces, or lictor's rods were Republican symbols of the time; now, the connection is more usually with Fascism.

VILLENEUVE-LA-GARENNE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

D'azur à la barque a l'antique, d'argent, naviguant sur une rivière du même mouvant de la pointe, au chef de gueules chargé d'une arbalète en pal, accostée de deux dauphins, celui de dextre contourné, le tout d'argent.

Azure a lymphad on a champagne wavy argent a chief gules a crossbow in pale between two dolphins affronty argent.

The lymphad and the dolphins are a reminder of the fishing industry. The crossbow is an allusion to the archers of the region.

The name of the town indicates that at one time it was part of a reserved hunting area. See the entry on Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine.

VILLENEUVE-LE-ROI, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

D'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or au chef cousu de gueules chargé de trois grappes de raisin tigées et feuillées d'or.

Azure semy de lis or a chief gules three bunches of grapes slipped and leaved or.

The field of France Ancient reflects the name of the commune, and the grapes are reminders of former vine growing in the area.

VILLENEUVE-SAINT-GEORGES, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

D'azur à saint George contourné terrassant le dragon, le tout d'argent, à la champagne aussi d'azur (sic) chargée d'un écusson de sable surchargé de trois besants d'argent, accompagné de trois fleurs de lis d'or.

Azure Saint George and the dragon argent a terrace in base azure (sic) an inescutcheon sable three plates between three fleurs de lis or.

The canting arms of Saint Georges are complemented by those of the Abbaye de Saint Germain des Prés, former seigneurs.

The inescutcheon is issuant from the partition. The illustration shows the arms per fess, which is a better design, but complicated by the fact that both fields are azure. Other communes which have the arms of the Abbaye in their own include Antony, Hauts-de-Seine, and Puteaux, Hauts-de-Seine; see the section on Common Emblems, below.

VILLIERS-ADAM, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

D'or au chef d'azur chargé d'un dextrochère d'argent mouvant du flanc, revêtu d'un manipule d'hermine pendant et brochant sur l'or.

Or a chief azure overall a dexter arm vested with a maniple ermine.

These were the arms of the family of Villiers-d'Adam, seigneurs from the twelfth century. See the entry on Domont, Val-d'Oise, which also bears the arms of Ville d'Adam.

A maniple is one of the eucharistic vestments, a strip of cloth which hangs from the left arm, said to derive from a napkin. Here, a dexter arm is shown on the shield.

VILLIERS-LE-BEL, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

D'azur à un château donjonné de trois tourillons crénelés d'argent, accompagné de trois fleurs de lis d'or, deux en chef, une en pointe.

Azure a castle triple towered argent masoned sable between three fleurs de lis or.

The arms are based on a seal which is in the Archives Nationales.

VILLIERS-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

D'argent au chevron de gueules accompagné de trois grappes de raisin d'azur tigées et feuillée de sinople.

Argent a chevron gules between three bunches of grapes azure slipped and leaved vert.

The arms are those of Bude, seigneurs up until 1660, and were adopted by the commune in 1946.

VINCENNES, Val-de Marne, Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

De gueules au château donjonné et crénelé posé sur un chemin de ronde aussi crénelé, bordé à dextre et à senestre d'une échauguette, le tout posé sur une risberme d'argent, maçonné et ajouré de sable, accompagné en pointe de trois boulets également d'argent mal ordonne, au chef d'azur semé de fleurs de lis d'or.

Gules a castle triple towered argent in base three plates 1,2 a chief azure semy de lis or.

The castle was built by Charles V, and finished in 1370; the plates represent cannon balls, an allusion the Ecole d'Artillerie, and also to he defence of the château by Daumesnil in 1814.

I have simplified the French blason of the castle. The term mal ordonnés refers to the fact that the plates are not arranged in the normal 2,1 configuration.

The arms were designed by Robert Louis and were determined by the Commission Héraldique de la Seine in 1942.

VIROFLAY, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Versailles.

Parti: au 1er d'azur à trois lézards d'argent posés en pal rangés en fasce; au chef de gueules chargé de trois étoiles d'or; au 2e de gueules au chêne arraché d'or; au chef d'azur chargé d'une fleur de lis d'or.

Per pale azure three lizards palewise in fess argent a chief gules three mullets or and gules an oak tree eradicated or a chief azure a fleur de lis or.

The dexter side of the shield bears the arms of Le Tellier, Marquis de Louvois, seigneur of the commune in the seventeenth century.

The oak in the sinister refers to the oak of the Virgin and the pilgrimage of Notre Dame du Chêne, but there was no further information.

The arms of Le Tellier also appear in those of Chaville, Hauts-de-Seine.

VIRY-CHATILLON, Essonne. Commune, arr. Palaiseau.

Echiqueté d'or et d'azur, au chef de sinople chargé d'une hélice d'or posée en fasce.

Checky or and azure a chief vert an aircraft propellor in fess or.

The arms were adopted in 1974.

The field bears the arms of Piedefer, seigneurs in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries; the propellor is an allusion the aerodrome, important in the area since the beginning of this century.

Previously, when the town was part of the département of Seine-et-Oise, its arms had been:

De gueules au château à deux tours couvertes d'argent, ouvert du champ accompagné de trois annelets (ou vires) d'or, deux en chef, une en pointe.

These arms bear two rebuses on the name of the town, in the form of the château and the vires, which are usually in the form of three concentric annulets.

VITRY-SUR-SEINE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

D'argent à l'arbre de sinople, le fût chargé d'une navette et d'une canette au naturel en sautoir, et accosté de six peupliers, plus petits, aussi de sinople, posés trois à dextre, trois à senestre, le tout terrasse du même.

Argent on a tree between six smaller poplars on a terrace vert a spool and shuttle in saltire proper.

The arms are based upon a seal of the commune dating from 1791.

The spool and shuttle are references to the textile industry in the town.

YERRES, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

Coupé, au 1er: parti d'azur à trois fleurs de lis d'or et de gueules aux chaînes d'or posées en pal, en fasce, en sautoir et en orle, chargées en coeur d'une émeraude au naturel; au 2e: d'argent au chevron de gueules accompagné de trois grappes de raisin du même, deux en chef, une en pointe.

Per fess per pale azure three fleurs de lis or and gules chains in cross saltire and in orle or overall an emerald vert and argent a chevron gules between three bunches of grapes slipped gules.

The arms are composed of those of the Abbaye d'Yerres impaled with those of Budé, former seigneurs.

The chains are those of Navarre, which appear in the arms of Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines. The arms of Budé are also borne by Montgéron, Essonne.

The most commonly recurring elements in the arms of the region are discussed below, with notes on some of the charges.

As might be expected in the Ile-de-France, there are a very large number of communal arms which bear those of France in one way or another. France modern accounts for a total of forty six; and France ancient reaches twenty nine.

The tinctures of azure and or occur in many others, in the same way that gules and or are common in Normandie.

As far as the arms of former seigneurs are concerned, the arms of the Abbaye de Saint-Denis appear in eight coats, and the various branches of the family of Montmorency account for thirteen.

It is interesting to note that both ancient and modern symbols are used quite happily in the civic heraldry of the région.

For example, symbols of the modern aircraft industry appear in the arms of six communes:

Argenteuil, Val-d'Oise; Brétigny-sur-Orge, Essonne; Issy-les-Molineaux, Hauts-de-Seine; Orly, Val-de-Marne; Viry-Châtillon, Hauts-de-Seine; Vélizy-Villacoublay, Yvelines;

and references to the old hunting preserves, or garennes, of the kings of France, which usually appear on the shield as hunting horns, trees, or greyhounds are depicted in the arms of a further eight:

Aubergenville, Yvelines; Ballancourt-sur-Essonne; Beauchamp, Val-d'Oise; La Celle-Saint-Cloud, Yvelines; Clichy, Hauts-de-Seine; Houilles, Yvelines; Le Perreux-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne; Villeneuve-la-Garenne, Hauts-de-Seine.

The production of wine is reflected by the use of the bunch of grapes as a charge. This occurs in the arms of no fewer than eighteen communes:

Ablon-sur-Seine, Val-de-Marne; Bagneux, Hauts-de-Seine; Cormeille-en-Parisis, Val-d'Oise; Courbevoie, Hauts-de-Seine; Créteil, Val-de-Marne; Garches, Hauts-de-Seine; Groslay, Val-d'Oise; Livry-Gargan, Seine-Saint-Denis; Montgéron, Essonne; Nogent-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne; Noisy-le-Sec, Seine-Saint-Denis; Sucy-en-Brie, Val-de-Marne; Triel-sur-Seine, Yvelines; Valentin, Val-de-Marne; Vigneux-sur-Seine, Essonne; Villeneuve-le-Roi, Val-de-Marne; Villiers-sur-Marne, Val-de-Marne; Yerres, Essonne.

ECCLESIASTIC

Abbaye d'Argenteuil

Abbaye d'Yerres

Abbaye de Clairefontaine

Abbaye de Notre Dame du Val du Gif

Abbaye de Saint Denis

Abbaye de Saint Germain des Prés

Abbaye de Saint-Maur

Abbaye de Saint Pierre

Collège de Justice de Paris

Prévôté de Corbeil

Prieuré de Montchauvet

FEUDAL

Andilly

Angennes

Anseau de Chevreuse

Aumon

Bailleul

Barillon

Bataillé de Francis-Daville

Beauvilliers

Bertin

Bérulle

Bochart

Bonnelles

Boublet de Persan

Bourbon-Condé

Bourbon-Condé-Orléans

Bourbon-Vendôme

Brichanteau

Brunoy

Budé

Bullion, Claude de

Caillot

Camus de Pontcarré

Castillon-Pardaillon

Catinat

Chanorier

Courdimanche

Colbert

Colbert de Croissy

Condé

Damours

Dampont

Dodieu

Faucon

Forget

Fouquet

Garlande

Guesclin, du

Grimod-Dufort

Hédouville

Hurault de Cheverny

Kéroualle

La Chesnay, de

Laborde

Laline de Bellegarde

Laverdy

Le Ragois de Bretonvilliers

Le Tellier

Lefèbvre

Livres, Jean de

Longaulnay

Longueil

Longjumeau

Machault d'Arnouville

Mallet

Mesnil-Renard

Meudon

Monceau

Montaigu

Montesquiou

Montfort

Montmagne

Montmorency

Nesles

Neufville de Villeroy

Neuilly, Foulkes de

Nicolay

Orléans

Orville

Paviot

Phélypeaux

Pontoise

Presles

Quiéret

Roche-Guyon

Rochouart-Mortemart

Ruze

Sanguin

Séguier

Sévérac

Soisy

Toulouse

Toulouse-Lautrec

Trie

Vassan

Villiers

Villiers d'Adam

Vigny

Ville d'Avray

Viole

The purpose of the list to to enable some comparative study to be made, although I have restricted it to contain only the arms of the communes themselves. I have not included seigneurial arms, where they are not those of the communes, nor the arms of départements, pays or provinces. The list is also incorporated into the Chapter: List of Arms, where the picture is as complete as I can make it.

... a chevron ... between in chief two crescents ... and in base a cross couped ... MONTLIGNON, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... a chevron ... between three bees ... LA HAUTE-ISLE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... a cross ... cantonned by four estoiles ... pierced of the field? PANTIN, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

... a dolmen proper a chief azure three fleurs de lis or. VAUREAL, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... a pair of wings conjoined ... a chief ... three gouttes ... VALMONDOIS, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... a porcupine ... a chief ... three mullets .... ABLEIGES, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... a sword and a crozier in saltire ... cantonned in the flanks and in base by three fleurs de lis ... overall a bell ... a champagne wavy ... a pike ... BUTRY-SUR-OISE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... a tower covered ... masoned sable. SAINT-PRIX, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... an oak tree eradicated ... an inescutcheon ... on a bend ... three cinquefoils ... LE CHESNAY, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Versailles.

... four bars dancetty ... overall a bend azure semy de lis bendwise or. ROISSY-EN-FRANCE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

... on a cogwheel ... ensigned by a fleur de lis ... a roundel ... a thistle ... overall two lightning bolts in bend and in bend sinister a chief azure supported by a fillet argent a passion nail ... between two fleurs de lis or. CHAMPAGNE-SUR-OISE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... on a fess ... ? GENICOURT, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

... three crow's heads erased sable. ARNOUVILLE-LES-GONNESSE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

... three lozenzes between seven crows contourned four fesswise in chief three in base sable overall a barrulet argent. PARMAIN, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Argent a boar passant in base three passion nails the dexter bendwise the centre in pale and the sinister bendwise sinister sable. COURCELLES-SUR-VIOSNE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Argent a bridge embowed of two arches also argent (sic) masoned sable a champagne wavy azure in chief two inescutcheons dexter azure semy de lis or sinister gules a saltire or. AUVERS-SUR-OISE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Argent a chevron between in chief two horse flies and in base a pestle and mortar sable. VILLEBON-SUR-YVETTE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Argent a chevron between three bunches of grapes gules a chief azure an escarbuncle or. MONTGERON, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

Argent a chevron gules between three bunches of grapes azure slipped and leaved vert. VILLIERS-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Argent a cross azure cantonned by four eagles displayed gules beaked and membered or. VILLECONIN, Essonne. Commune, arr. Etampes.

Argent a cross azure cantonned by four suns in their splendour gules. LIMOURS, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Argent a cross paty gules cantonned first a bunch of grapes sable second and third argent masoned sable fourth an oak leaf of the third overall an inescutcheon azure a fleur de lis or. GARCHES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Argent a fess wavy azure between in chief a latin cross between two crescents reversed vert and in base a rake and a spade in saltire gules. NEUILLY-SUR-MARNE, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

Argent a forest on a mount vert a chief azure semy de lis or a label of three points dovetailed argent. NEMOURS, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

Argent a latin cross flory azure semy de lis ensigned by a crown or between in base two shakos with plumes proper. SAINT-CYR-L'ECOLE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Versailles.

Argent a lion rampant regardant or holding in his dexter paw a branch of vine vert fructed gules a canton gules a sword in pale or. VIGNY, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Argent a lion rampant sable langued gules a chief azure three cinquefoils or. NESLES-LA-VALLEE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Argent an eagle displayed sable armed and crowned or on the dexter wing azure six bezants 1,2,3. BOISSY-LE-SEC, Essonne. Commune, arr. Etampes.

Argent an elm tree vert in base five piles wavy gules issuant a chief azure a single masted Viking ship? or with sail argent. LE PECQ, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Argent an oak tree eradicated vert a chief azure three cinquefoils argent. BONDY, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Argent fretty vert. PRESLES, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Argent on a cross gules nine escallops or. SAINT-GRATIEN, Val'd'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Argent on a cross sable cantonned by four lioncels rampant azure five estoiles or pierced of the second. CHEVREUSE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Rambouillet.

Argent on a tree between six smaller poplars on a terrace vert a spool and shuttle in saltire proper. VITRY-SUR-SEINE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Argent semy of trefoils in chief two tau crosses gules in base two poninjays affronty vert. LONGJUMEAU, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Argent three bendlets a chief azure. SOISY-SOUS-MONTMORENCY, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

Argent two bars wavy azure. NANTERRE, Hauts-de-Seine. Chef-lieu du Département.

Argent two bars wavy vert a chief gules three ears of wheat or. STAINS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Azure a baker's oven argent pierced gules between three fleurs de lis or. CHAUFFOUR-LES-BONNIERS, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

Azure a beehive surrounded by bees volant a terrace in base argent. MAISONS-ALFORT, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Azure three roses argent a chief or three roses gules. MAISONS-LAFFITTE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Azure a bend argent between in chief three acorns and in base two eagle's legs bendwise sinister or a chief azure three fleurs de lis or a label of three points dovetailed argent. SEVRAN, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

Azure a bendlet couped gules between three fleurs de lis or a label of three points dovetailed argent. ENGHIEN-LES-BAINS, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

Azure a bridge embowed of three arches or masoned sable a champagne argent shaded of the field a chief gules a pavillion argent between two bunches of grapes or slipped vert. COURBEVOIE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Azure a bridge of four arches argent masoned sable with in the centre a tower ensigned by a flag on a champagne of the second. CHARENTON-LE-PONT, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Azure a bridge of two arches in the centre a tower argent masoned sable a champagne of the second a chief or a cross gules cantonned by four alerions azure. L'ILE-SAINT-DENIS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Commune, arr. Bobigny.

Azure a castle triple towered argent in chief a fleur de lis or. PROVINS, Seine-et-Marne. Arrondissement.

Azure a castle triple towered argent masoned sable between three fleurs de lis or. VILLIERS-LE-BEL, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

Azure a castle triple towered argent pierced and masoned sable in chief two fleurs de lis in base a water millwheel or. CHARS, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Azure a castle triple towered on a bridge of five arches argent masoned sable a champagne wavy of the second in chief two fleurs de lis or. PONTOISE, Val-d'Oise. Chef-lieu du Département.

Azure a castle with a dexter echauguette and a sinister tower argent pierced and masoned sable a terrace in base of the second. CHATILLON, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

Azure a chevron argent between in chief two estoiles and in base a lion passant or crowned armed and langued of the second. CHAMPS-SUR-MARNE, Seine-et-Marne. Commune, arr. Meaux.

Azure a chevron argent between in chief two towers or masoned sable and in base a lion rampant of the third langued gules. VILLE-D'AVRAY, Hauts-de-Seine. Commune, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

Azure a chevron between in chief two crosses moline or and in base a porcelain vase argent a chief azure supporting a fillet wavy a passion nail argent between two fleurs de lis or. MENNECY, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

Azure a chevron between in chief two palm branches addorsed and in base a mount or. ANDILLY, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Azure a chevron between in chief two roses and in base an escallop a narrow chief wavy or. MORSANG-SUR-ORGE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

Azure a chevron between in chief two roses and in base a garb or. MEREVILLE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Etampes.

Azure a chevron between three escallops or. MAFFLIERS, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Azure a chevron between three fleurs de lis or in base a champagne wavy argent a chief gules a mitre argent between two bunches of grapes slipped and leaved or. TRIEL-SUR-SEINE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Azure a chevron between three peaches or slipped and leaved argent in chief a fleur de lis of the second. MONTREUIL-SOUS-BOIS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Azure a chevron or between three roses argent. CLAMART, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

Azure a covered tower or masoned and pierced sable on a terrace in base embattled argent masoned of the third and between two doves volant affronty of the fourth. COLOMBES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Azure a cross argent cantonned by twelve fleurs de lis or. BAILLET-EN-FRANCE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Azure a cross gules cantonned by four fleurs de lis d'or overall an inescutcheon of eight sides ... the entwined capital letters S and L sable. SURESNES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Azure a crozier argent the head to the dexter or and a sword of the second pommelled of the third in saltire overall a spade of the second with a handle of the third in pale. SARTROUVILLE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Azure a dove volant in pale head downwards argent a bordure gules eight mascles or. CHEVILLY-LARUE, Val de Marne. Commune, arr. Haÿ-les-Roses.

Azure a dovecote or covered argent between two serpents conjoined in base of the second langued gules in chief eight doves of the third. COULOMMIERS, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

Azure a fess argent between three roses or a chief azure a passion nail argent between two fleurs de lis or. VIEILLE-EGLISE-EN-YVELINES, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

Azure a fess or between in chief a crescent argent between two mullets of the second and in base a carp in fess of the third. ORSAY, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Azure a fess wavy argent between in chief a millwheel issuant and in base a tree frog nageant in fess or. RENNEMOULIN, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Azure a fess wavy argent between in chief dexter a fleur de lis sinister a cogwheel and in base two ears of wheat in saltire or. LIZY-SUR-OURCQ, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

Azure a fess wavy argent between in chief on a cross paty or a human eye with rays proper and in base a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved of the third. CRETEIL, Val-de-Marne. Chef-lieu du Département.

Azure a fish in fess argent between three fleurs de lis in chief one in base and one issuant from the dexter flank or. POISSY, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Azure a fleur de lis flory? or on which are perched two birds regardant addorsed argent. LA FERTE-ALAIS, Essonne. Canton, arr. Etampes.

Azure a fleur de lis or dimidiating azure a cudgel? with shoots and flowers proper. MANTES-LA-JOLIE, Yvelines. Arrondissement.

Azure a fortified wall or masoned sable in the open gate on an anchor of the second a pair of wings a champagne wavy in chief three blackberries argent slipped and leaved also of the second. LES MUREAUX, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

Azure a fountain a terrace in base argent in chief a rainbow proper. RUNGIS, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

Azure a fountain of three tiers issuant in base argent in chief three mullets or. CLAIREFONTAINE-EN-YVELINES, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

Azure a fountain or spouting a terrace in base argent a chief or three roses gules seeded argent. FONTENAY-AUX-ROSES, Hauts-de-Seine. Commune, arr. Antony.

Azure a greyhound courant argent gorged gules with buckle and studs or. GOUSSAINVILLE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

Azure a hunting horn or stringed sable in base an iron bridge of five arches of the second a champagne argent a chief or a wreath between two vases azure each charged with a fleur de lis of the field. SEVRES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

Azure a lion rampant or a chief argent three crow's heads sable erased gules. GARGES-LES-GONESSE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

Azure a lymphad on a champagne wavy argent a chief gules a crossbow in pale between two dolphins affronty argent. VILLENEUVE-LA-GARENNE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Azure a mullet or between three crescents argent. VIARMES, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

Azure a queen's head argent crowned between three fleurs de lis or. GIF-SUR-YVETTE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Azure a saltire or cantonned by first an aircraft in plan and by three mills argent with sails of the second. ISSY-LES-MOLINEAUX, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

Azure a sun of thirty four rays or. MONTROUGE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

Azure a three arched bridge argent masoned sable a champagne wavy vert in chief three fleurs de lis or. LIMAY, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

Azure a three masted sailing ship a champagne wavy argent. MARINES, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Azure a tower argent a basilisk issuant or a chief gules a mitre argent between the capital letters S and G or. SAINT-GERMAIN-LES-CORBEIL, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

Azure a tower argent masoned sable on a rock between two fleurs de lis or a champagne barry wavy of four azure and argent an inescutcheon or five bendlets azure a bordure gules. LA ROCHE-GUYON, Val-d'Oise, Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Azure a tower issuant from a terrace embattled in base or masoned sable an inescutcheon argent on a lion rampant gules an escarbuncle or. LUZARCHES, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

Azure a tower with two turrets issuant pierced and masoned sable an inescutcheon gules the bust of Sainte Geneviève nimbed argent between in chief by two fleurs de lis or. SAINTE-GENEVIEVE-DES-BOIS, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Azure an alder tree eradicated vert a terrace in base argent a chief tierced in pale azure argent the capital letters RF and gules. AULNAY-SOUS-BOIS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

Azure an alder tree fructed issuant from a bird's nest or a champagne wavy overall a greyhound argent gorged with a collar and ring of the second a chief azure semy de lis or a label argent of three points dovetailed ermine. OSNY, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Azure an ash tree a terrace in base or overall a sheep passant argent. FRESNES, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

Azure an eagle displayed argent holding in his dexter talon a laurel branch or an inescutcheon argent a fess wavy azure in chief a latin cross gules between two crescents reversed vert. NEUILLY-PLAISANCE, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

Azure dexter the Gothic letter L sinister a passion nail in pale in chief a royal crown or. LAGNY-SUR-MARNE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

Azure in chief a demi-lion rampant issuant or from in base three bars wavy argent. BULLION, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

Azure on a bend or between in chief three fleurs de lis or a bendlet couped gules and in base the capital letters PAX within a crown of thorns between a fleur de lis and three passion nails argent an eel of the field. SAINT-MAUR-DES-FOSSES, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Azure on a bend or three doves proper. SAINT-MICHEL-SUR-ORGE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Azure on a chevron between in chief two mullets or and in base a sheep passant argent the gothic letter D sable. DRANCY, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Azure on a chevron couped argent five aircraft volant in chevron sable an orle or. ORLY, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Azure on a chevron or between three walnuts argent a Frankish crown of the field a champagne of the third. NOISY-LE-GRAND, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

Azure on a cogwheel between two smaller in fess argent a torteau overall a lyre between in chief two fleurs de lis or a champagne wavy of the second a pike in fess of the field. MANTES-LA-VILLE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

Azure on a cross argent cantonned first semy de lis second three poplars eradicated third a tree fourth semy of bees or a crozier gules. BOISSY-SAINT-LEGER, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Azure on a fess argent between in chief an escarbuncle and in base a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved or three bleaks or ablets bendwise in fess sable. ABLON-SUR-SEINE, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. Créteil.

Azure on a fess between three crosslets couped or three cinquefoils gules. BONNIERES-SUR-SEINE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

Azure on a heart gules a fleur de lis or. CORBEIL-ESSONNES, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

Azure Saint George and the dragon argent a terrace in base azure (sic) an inescutchon sable three plates between three fleurs de lis or. VILLENEUVE-SAINT-GEORGES, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Azure Saint Maurice on horseback argent nimbed or carrying a pennant charged with the cross of Saint George in base a fess vert a terrace in base vert. SAINT-MAURICE, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. Créteil.

Azure seme de lis or a chief checky sable and or. MEULAN, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

Azure semy de lis a lion passant or. LA FERTE-SOUS-JOUARRE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

Azure semy de lis or a castle triple towered argent masoned sable. MELUN, Seine-et-Marne. Chef-lieu du Département.

Azure semy de lis or a chief gules three bunches of grapes slipped and leaved or. VILLENEUVE-LE-ROI, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Azure semy de lis or. SAINT-DENIS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Azure semy of quatrefoils or a canton ermine. MAUREPAS, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Rambouillet.

Azure six plates. NANGIS, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Provins.

Azure three bendlets argent a chief gules three lozenges supported by a fillet argent. GOUZANGREZ, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Azure three cinquefoils sable a chief azure semy de lis or a label of three points dovetailed ermine. GUIRY-EN-VEXIN, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Azure three crescents intertwined argent. CRECY-LA-CHAPELLE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

Azure three crowns or. BEZONS, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Argenteuil.

Azure three double handled vases with flowers argent a chief gules three fleurs de lis or. DOURDAN, Essonne. Canton, arr. Etampes.

Azure three dragonflies volant in bend OR. PERSAN, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Azure three ducks argent. SARCELLES-EST, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

Azure three fleurs de lis in chief a bendlet sinister couped or a chief argent a moor's head sable. MORET-SUR-LOING, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

Azure three fleurs de lis or a chief ... a mount ... ROCQUENCOURT, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Versailles.

Azure three fleurs de lis or an inescutcheon gules three bezants. PUTEAUX, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Azure three fleurs de lys or a chief argent a double headed Gallic cock issuant proper. VERSAILLES, Yvelines. Chef-lieu du Département.

Azure three lilies argent slipped and leaved vert. ORMESSON-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Azure three lilies argent slipped and leaved vert. THIAIS, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

Azure three lizards palewise in fess argent a chief gules three mullets or. CHAVILLE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

Azure three roses argent seeded or. ROZOY, Seine-et-Marne.

Azure three towers argent a chief gules three fleurs de lis or. MONTEREAU-FAUT-YONNE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Provins.

Azure two ears of wheat in saltire cantonned by three walnuts and in base a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved argent. NOISY-LE-SEC, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Azure two ears of wheat slipped and leaved in saltire or cantonned by four fish in fess argent ann inescutcheon gules a cross of Malta argent. BALLANCOURT-SUR-ESSONNE, Essonne. Commune, arr. Evry.

Azure two lions rampant affronty argent holding in their paws in chief a fleur de lis or. PLAISIR, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Versailles.

Azure two pairs of wings conjoined in pale argent in chief a mullet in base between two cinquefoils as many ears of wheat in saltire or. VELIZY-VILLACOUBLAY, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Versailles.

Azure within a hunting horn a fleur de lis or a chief argent three eagle's heads erased sable. LA CELLE-SAINT-CLOUD, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Barry argent and gules. DAMMARTIN-EN-GOELE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

Barry of fourteen argent and azure a lion rampant crowned or. LA CHAPELLE-LA-REINE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

Barry of six argent and vert on the bars argent six martlets 3,2,1 gules a chief azure a passion nail argent between two fleurs de lis or. VAUCRESSON, Hauts-de-Seine. Commune, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

Barry of ten argent and gules a lion rampant ... a canton ... a bend ... SANTEUIL, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Bendy of six or and gueules a chief sable dexter a lion passant or. PALAISEAU, Essonne. Arrondissement.

Checky or and azure a chief vert an aircraft propellor in fess or. VIRY-CHATILLON, Essonne. Commune, arr. Palaiseau.

Ermine three fleurs de lis evanoui gules. VETHEUIL, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Gironny of twelve or and gules a label f three points dovetailed argent. MEUDON, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

Gules a bend wavy sinister argent between in chief an alerion and in base a cross moline or a bordure azure two bunches of three ears of wheat in bend in pale and in bend sinister between eight fleurs de lis in orle or. MAREIL-EN-FRANCE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Gules a castle triple towered argent in base three plates 1,2 a chief azure semy de lis or. VINCENNES, Val-de Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Gules a castle triple towered argent pierced and masoned sable covered or a terrace in base of the second. BEAUMONT-SUR-OISE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Gules a castle triple towered or pierced and masoned sable an inescutcheon azure three fleurs de lis or overall on a bendlet couped gules three lioncels rampant argent. ETAMPES, Essonne. Arrondissement.

Gules a château in perspective or masoned and pierced sable in base a hortensia bloom proper a canton azure the capital letter N ensigned by an estoile or. RUEIL-MALMAISON, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Gules a chevron argent between in chief two mullets or and in base a crescent of the second. BONNELLES, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

Gules a chevron barry wavy of six argent and azure between three lions rampant or. CHILLY-MAZARIN, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Gules a chevron in base a mount issuant argent a chief azure a fleur de lis or. COURDIMANCHE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Gules a chevron or in base a walnut tree on a terrace in base argent a chief azure two cinquefoils overall on the point of the chevron a windmill argent. SANNOIS, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Argenteuil.

Gules a chief azure overall a cartouche formed by a wreath a tree beside a stream flanked by six smaller between two pavillons issuant from the flanks proper. LES PAVILLONS-SOUS-BOIS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Gules a cross patonce argent cantonned by four trefoils or. BOISSY-SANS-AVOIR, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

Gules a dextrochere gloved issuant from sinister base holding a falcon or hooded and jessed sable a bordure or eight mushrooms sable. HOUILLES, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Gules a dog's head erased or langued and with the eye argent between three crystal prisms of the last a chief azure an eagle displayed grasping a thunderbolt or. MARNES-LA-COQUETTE, Hauts-de-Seine. Commune, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

Gules a fess wavy argent between three anchors or a chief azure three cogwheels or. IVRY-SUR-SEINE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Gules a fortress argent a terrace in base vert a chief azure a tower argent between two ducks or. LE KREMLIN-BICETRE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

Gules a galley or a champagne wavy argent a chief azure two croziers in pale addorsed issuant between two fleurs de lis of the second. ANDRESY, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Gules a garb or? between three ... MORMANT, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

Gules a gateway flanked by two towers argent a chief azure three fleurs de lis or. TOURNAN-EN-BRIE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

Gules a hemp plant argent fructed or issuant from base a chief azure two keys in saltire the wards upwards and outwards argent between two fleurs de lis or a fillet wavy argent. CHENNEVIERES-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Gules a hunting horn or stringed argent a chief azure a daisy argent seeded or slipped and leaved vert between two oak leaves the dexter in bend the sinister in bend sinister or. LE VESINET, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Gules a lion double queued rampant argent a chief ermine. MONTFORT-L'AMAURY, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Rambouillet.

Gules a lion rampant or. LA FERTE-GAUCHER, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Provins.

Gules a lion's paw erased in bend the claws towards the chief or. RIS-ORANGIS, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

Gules a lymphad on a champagne argent a chief azure semy de lis or. PARIS, Siège de la Région.

Gules a lymphad on a champagne wavy argent a chief three thistles proper slipped vert a canton azure two lions passant gardant or. ASNIERES-SUR-SEINE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Gules a pall argent a chief azure three fleurs de lis or. CONFLANS-SAINTE-HONORINE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Gules a pall argent overall a chief azure embattled of four. ALFORTVILLE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Gules a pall ermine a chief azure three fleurs de lis or. SEPTEUIL, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

Gules a sickle? azure fimbriated in base a basket? argent a chief azure two fleurs de lis or overall in chief a tower? argent. CERGY, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Gules a single arched bridge or overall a ship on a champagne argent a chief azure three potato flowers or. NEUILLY-SUR-SEINE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Gules a terrace in base ... overall a tower triple turreted argent between two fleurs de lis or. BRIE-COMTE-ROBERT, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

Gules a tower argent masoned sable pierced of the field a chief azure two bayonets in saltire argent pommelled or. MALAKOFF, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

Gules a tower covered argent pierced and masoned sable between two garbs or a chief azure a fleur de lis or. GONESSE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

Gules a tower domed argent between in chief two groups of three ears of wheat banded or on a terrace in base sable a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved of the third. VALENTON, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. Créteil.

Gules a tower or between two palm trees a terrace in base vert a chief azure three fleurs de lis or. BRAY-SUR-SEINE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Provins.

Gules a tower triple turreted argent masoned sable pierced of the field on a bridge of four arches a champagne wavy of the second an inescutcheon or a chief azure overall a dexter arm clothed with a scarf ermine. L'ISLE-ADAM, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Gules a tree eradicated or a chief azure supported by a fillet three doves volant argent. BOIS-COLOMBES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Gules a vine eradicated leaved argent fructed of three or a bordure or nine pellets a chief azure semy de lis or a mitre argent. ERMONT, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Gules a wooden bridge of three supports or a champagne argent a chief azure a water millwheel argent between two ears of wheat in pale or. BRY-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Gules an axe and fasces in pale between two doves volant affronty holding in their beak a single banderole argent a terrace in base sable overall in base two spears in saltire tied of the second. VILLEJUIF, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

Gules in base a two arched bridge or on a fess wavy argent in base five annulets interlaced of the second an inescutcheon azure three fleurs de lis or ensigned by a royal crown also or. CHOISY-LE-ROI, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Gules on a bend argent between in chief a censer and in base a cogwheel or three bees bendwise of the field. LEVALLOIS-PERRET, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Gules on a coghweel between four smaller or those in the flanks between four lightning bolts and that in chief between two pairs of wings argent a fountain a chief azure the Holy Tunic argent between two fleurs de lis or. ARGENTEUIL, Val-d'Oise. Arrondissement.

Gules on a cogwheel or held by three hands in pall issuant argent a fountain a chief azure three crowns or. ARGENTEUIL-BEZONS, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Argenteuil.

Gules on three pairs of wings conjoined in pale as many mullets or a chief azure a hunting horn stringed and banded or. LE BOURGET, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Gules semy of stars of eight points each charged with a hurt a fleur de lis or. SAINT-OUEN, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Gules six annulets a bordure or. PUISELET-LE-MARAIS, Essonne. Commune, arr. Etampes.

Gules six bezants. SAINT-ARNOULT-EN-YVELINES, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Rambouillet.

Gules the figure of a maire argent holding in his dexter hand a sceptre flory between in chief two fleurs de lis and in base two asses' foals rampant affronty in pale or. ASNIERES-SUR-OISE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Gules the symbol of an atom the nucleus or the electrons argent in orbits sable a bar wavy enhanced argent a chief azure between two fleurs de lis or an inescutcheon sable three plates. SACLAY, Essonne. Commune, arr. Bièvre.

Gules three anchors or a chief azure a sun in his splendour or. BONNEUIL-SUR MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Gules three billhooks in pale or shafted sable. HERBLAY, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Argenteuil.

Gules three pallets vair a chief or an antique crown between two hunting horns gules. CLICHY, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Gules three rocks issuant in base perched on the centre higher rock a chaffinch or a chief azure a Passion nail argent between two fleurs de lis or. PIERREFITTE-SUR-SEINE, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Gules two keys in saltire the wards upwards and outwards or a chief azure three fleurs de lis or. REBAIS, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

Or a branch of a peach tree entwined in saltire fructed of three gules. BAGNOLET, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Or a chief azure a lion passant argent langued gules. HEDOUVILLE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Or a chief azure overall a dexter hand clothed with a maniple ermine. VILLIERS-ADAM, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Or a cross cantonned by four lioncels rampant gules. BRUNOY, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

Or a cross gules cantonned by four alerions azure. MONTLHERY, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure a canton ermine. DEUIL-LA-BARRE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure a canton ermine. SAINT-LEU-LA-FORET, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure a canton azure an Imperial eagle perched graping in his talons a bolt of lightning or. ECOUEN, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure an inescutcheon azure an escarbuncle or. SAINT-BRICE-SOUS-FORET, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure a canton ... a mullet ... MONTSOULT, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure a label of three points dovetailed argent. EAUBONNE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure a canton azure a saltire argent. TAVERNY, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure. MONTMORENCY, Val-d'Oise. Arrondissement.

Or a fess in chief a lion passant sable. US, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Or a lion rampant gardant gules holding in his dexter paw a Polish lance sable a chief azure semy de lis or. SAVIGNY-SUR-ORGE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Or a mount vert in base a chief azure overall a dextrochere clothed and with a scarf ermine. DOMONT, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Montmorency.

Or a terrace in base wavy vert two bars wavy argent overall an oak tree eradicated of the second fructed of seven of the field a chief gules three roses argent. DRAVEIL, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

Or an oak tree vert fructed or a terrace in base of the second a chief azure an escarbuncle between two fleurs de lis or. FONTENAY-SOUS-BOIS-EST, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Or an orle of eight roses gules seeded argent. L'HAY-LES-ROSES, Val-de-Marne. Arrondissement.

Or fretty vert semy of quatrefoils purpure. LES LILAS, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Or in base a rose between two hammers in pale gules a chief azure on a pair of wings conjoined argent a cogwheel and the letters e and V ensigned by a mullet the letters or. BRETIGNY-SUR-ORGE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Or on a bend azure three annulets argent. BRIIS-SOUS-FORGES, Essonne. Commune, arr. Palaiseau.

Or on a fess azure between in chief two roses gules and in base a moor's head sable a fleur de lis or. VEMARS, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Or on a fess azure between three roses gules seeded a crescent of the field. ROSAY, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

Or on a fess azure between three sets of three hazel nuts conjoined one in pale two in fess addorsed gules three estoiles of the field pierced of the second a bordure gules eight peonies argent. MONTMAGNY, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Or three hunting horns sable stringed azure a chief gules three roses argent. COUBRON, Seine-Saint-Denis. Commune, arr. Le Raincy.

Or two bars gules. TORCY, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

Per bend sinister first per pale per fess sable a greyhound statant argent and azure four ears of wheat in pale argent and gules five bars argent second per pale also gules five bars argent and per fess azure semy de lis argent and sable a cogwheel argent overall on a bend sinister vert a bendlet sinister argent. AUBERGENVILLE, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

Per bend sinister gules and azure overall a lymphad on a terrace wavy in base in chief dexter a fish in pale sinister a fleur de lis argent. BOULOGNE-BILLANCOURT, Hauts-de-Seine. Arrondissement.

Per chevron or the outline of a telegraph post issuant sable between two cinquefoils vert and azure a lion rampant or chief azure a passion nail argent between two fleurs de lis or. SAINT-MARTIN-DU-TERTRE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Per chevron azure a quarryman's hammer in pale agent between two fleurs de lis or and or a fess wavy azure. MONTIGNY-LES-CORMEILLES, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Argenteuil.

Per chevron enhanced gules dexter a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved sinister three ears of wheat conjoined in base argent and azure a castle double towered argent masoned sable pierced of the field ensigned by a fleur de lis or a terrace wavy in base of the second. SUCY-EN-BRIE, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. Créteil.

Per chevron gules dexter a fleur de lis sinister an ear of wheat or and azure a tower argent overall a chevron of the second a bordure of the fourth. LE CHATELET-EN-BRIE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

Per fess azure a castle double towered argent pierced and masoned sable and or a tree eradicated vert. ROMAINVILLE, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Per fess azure three fleurs de lis or a label of three points dovetailed argent and gules a bridge of three arches argent masoned sable a champagne wavy of the second. JOINVILLE-LE-PONT, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Per fess azure three martlets in chief a mullet argent and azure two bars wavy argent. CERNY, Essonne. Canton, arr. La Ferté-Alais.

Per fess azure two ears of wheat in saltire between three fleurs de lis and in base a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved or and gules two towers in fess argent pierced and masoned sable a champagne wavy of the second. NOGENT-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Arrondissement.

Per fess gules and argent overall a bar azure overall on a peninsular vert a shepherdess with three sheep proper holding in her right hand a houlette or a chief per pale vert a Frankish crown or and azure semy de lis or a passion nail argent. GENNEVILLIERS, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Per fess in chief per pale gules a maltese cross argent and argent an eagle displayed sable beaked membered and crowned or its dexter wing azure charged with six annulets also or in base azure a fess argent. ETRECHY, Essonne. Canton, arr. Etampes.

Per fess or a cross gules cantonned by sixteen alerions azure and argent a pine tree eradicated vert between two estoiles gules. EPINAY-SUR-SEINE, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Bobigny.

Per fess or an Imperial eagle sable and argent a salamander vert with flames or and gules overall on a fess azure a bar wavy of the third a canton azure the capital letter N ensigned by a mullet or. FONTAINEBLEAU, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Melun.

Per fess per pale azure three fleurs de lis or and gules chains in cross saltire and in orle or overall an emerald vert and argent a chevron gules between three bunches of grapes slipped gules. YERRES, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

Per pale or a demi-cross gules cantonned by two alerions azure and azure a lymphad or a champagne wavy argent. LE PORT-MARLY, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Per pale ... a plant? ... and ... three bees ... a chief azure three fleurs de lis or. ENNERY, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Per pale ... three lions passant in pale ... and ... four garbs in cross ... POMPONNE, Seine-et-Marne. Commue, arr. Meaux.

Per pale azure a bendlet sinister couped gules between three fleurs de lis or and a viper in pale azure. SCEAUX, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

Per pale azure a church issuant from base and flanks or and gules a modern church issuant from base and flanks argent overall a terrace in base tierced per fess vert argent wavy and azure wavy overall a tree or with leaves vert ensigned by a bunch of grapes also or. JOUY-LE-MOUTIER, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Per pale azure a fleur de lis or dimidiating azure a crozier in pale or. SAINT-CLOUD, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Boulogne-Billancourt.

Per pale azure a garb or and or a bunch of grapes gules slipped and leaved vert. CORMEILLES-EN-PARISIS, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Argenteuil.

Per pale azure a passion nail argent between three fleurs de lis or and azure semy de lis or overall on a pale and chief per pale vert and gules fimbriated or six annulets argent. TRAPPES, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Versailles.

Per pale azure semy de lis or and gules a castle triple towered or overall a crozier in pale or. SAINT-OUEN-L'AUMONE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Per pale azure semy de lis or and per fess or a cross gules cantonned by four alerions azure and ... a tower ... FREPILLON, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Per pale azure semy of bees or and azure semy of roses or overall a pile reversed gules three huts argent. VILLECRESNES, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Créteil.

Per pale azure three fleurs de lis dimidiating ermine. HOUDAN, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Mantes-la-Jolie.

Per pale azure three fleurs de lis or a bendlet couped gules and sable three chevrons rompus or overall a chief azure an escarbuncle pommety flory or. ATHIS-MONS, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Per pale azure three fleurs de lis or and gules on chains in pale in fess in saltire and in orle or an emerald proper enty in point argent the capital letter L or. SAINT-GERMAIN-EN-LAYE, Yvelines. Arrondissement.

Per pale azure three fleurs de lis or and azure a chevron between three crosses moline or overall an inescutcheon or a salamander enflamed gules. MAGNY-EN-VEXIN, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Per pale azure three fleurs de lis or and ermine. BOURG-LA-REINE, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

Per pale azure three lizards palewise in fess argent a chief gules three mullets or and gules an oak tree eradicated or a chief azure a fleur de lis or. VIROFLAY, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Versailles.

Per pale gules and vert overall the uncial letter M or a chief azure semy de lis or. MEAUX, Seine-et-Marne. Arrondissement.

Per pale gules the branch of a chestnut tree fructed or and or a viper in pale azure. CHATENAY-MALABRY, Hauts-de-Seine. Commune, arr. Antony.

Per pale gules two lions passant gardant or and azure semy de lis or overall a pallet wavy argent. SAINT-CLAIR-SUR-EPTE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Per pale or two bars gules and azure a bend between in chief three acorns and in base two eagle's legs in bend sinister argent overall a chief gules a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved or between two ciquefoils argent overall an inescutcheon quarterly sable and argent. LIVRY-GARGAN, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

Per pale sable a saltire issuant from the sinister flank argent and tierced per fess or a stag contourned proper gules a sheep proper and argent a tree vert overall an inescutcheon azure a bendlet sinister couped gules between three fleurs de lis or. RAMBOUILLET, Yvelines. Arrondissement.

Per pall in chief gules a stag's head caboshed or dexter or a hammer in pale sable shafted gules overall an anvil also sable sinister argent a bunch of three arrows in bend in pale and in bend sinister sable overall a bow in fess gules. LE PERRAY-EN-YVELINES, Yvelines. Commune, arr. Rambouillet.

Per pile reversed azure a tree eradicated argent trunk sable and gules dexter a chub bendwise sinister a laundress' paddle bendwise sinister argent. VANVES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

Per pile reversed checky argent and azure and vairy of six or and gules. VAIRES-SUR-MARNE, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

Quarterly first and fourth azure a bunch of grapes or slipped vert second or three chevrons gules third gules six billets in fess 1,2,3 argent. BAGNEUX, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

Quarterly first and fourth azure a chevron between three escallops or second and third azure a cock his dexter leg raised or beaked membered and crested gules. MORANGIS, Essonne. Commune, arr. Palaiseau.

Quarterly first and fourth azure a crescent ensigned by a mullet or second and third gules a lymphad on a champagne wavy argent. CHAMPIGNY-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Quarterly first and fourth azure a fleur de lis or second and third argent a ladder bendwise sable. CHELLES, Seine-et-Marne. Canton, arr. Meaux.

Quarterly first and fourth azure a passion nail argent between three fleurs de lis or second and third gules a millrind argent between nine ears of wheat in the form of three garbs or. DUGNY, Seine-Saint-Denis. Commune, arr. Bobigny.

Quarterly first and fourth azure a sun in his splendour or second and third or a cross gules cantonned by four eagles displayed azure. MARLY-LE-ROI, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Quarterly first and fourth azure an aqueduct of three arches argent masoned sable a terrace in base vert second and third or five tourteaux in orle in chief a larger hurt three fleurs de lis or. ARCUEIL, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

Quarterly first and fourth azure semy de lis or second and third ... a tower ... CHERENCE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Quarterly first and fourth azure semy de lis or second and third argent a double headed eagle displayed with wings inverted sable beaked and membered overall a bend gules. CACHAN, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. L'Haÿ-les-Roses.

Quarterly first and fourth bendy of six or and azure second and third azure a fleur de lis or an inescutcheon gules three motor car wheels argent. GAGNY, Seine-Saint-Denis. Canton, arr. Le Raincy.

Quarterly first and fourth ermine a fess wavy azure second or a chevron between in chief four and in base three martlets gules third azure a chevron between three crosslets moline or. GENTILLY, Val-de-Marne. Commune, arr. Haÿ-les-Roses.

Quarterly first and fourth three fleurs de lis or an inescutcheon sable three plates second and third gules a column argent a chief azure a lion passant or. ANTONY, Hauts-de-Seine. Arrondissement.

Quarterly first and fourth vert three oak trees eradicated or second azure a hunting horn or third argent an eagle displayed with wings inverted sable. LA GARENNES-COLOMBES, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Nanterre.

Quarterly first argent a squirrel rampant gules second azure a fess embattled a tower issuant argent masoned sable third azure three bars wavy in base a crescent argent fourth gules a chevron between three estoiles or pierced of the field. SAINT-MANDE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Quarterly first azure a fess argent between six crosslets or second argent three bars gules third gules an eagle displayed argent fourth or three chevrons gules. NUCOURT, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Quarterly first azure a sword in pale argent second and third or a rose bush issuant vert fructed of three gules a terrace in base of the second a chief azure three mullets or fourth azure a lion rampant or. CHATOU, Yvelines. Canton, arr. Saint-Germain-en-Laye.

Quarterly first azure semy de lis or second ... a tower? ... third lozengy ... and ... fourth ... a lion rampant ... GENAINVILLE, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Pontoise.

Quarterly first gules a cross clechee voided and pommety argent second argent four pallets gules third gules a harp or fourth azure three fleurs de lis or overall a bendlet sinister couped gules overall an inescutcheon gules a Maltese cross argent. ARPAJON, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Quarterly first gules a hunting horn stringed argent a chief azure two fleurs de lis or second sable three mullets in fess ensigned by a crown proper third azure a viaduct of three arches argent fourth gules a chain of four links two in the centre broken in pale or. LE PERREUX-SUR-MARNE, Val-de-Marne. Canton, arr. Nogent-sur-Marne.

Quarterly first or four alerions azure second and third argent on a bend sinister gules a cogwheel argent fourth azure a bendlet couped gules between three fleurs de lis or overall an inescutcheon sable a falcon belled or jessed argent. BEAUCHAMP, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Quarterly first or two torteaux in pale second sable an oak tree eradicated or third sable an owl or fourth or a viper in pale azure overall an inescutcheon azure three fleurs de lis or. LE PLESSIS-ROBINSON, Hauts-de-Seine. Canton, arr. Antony.

Quarterly first per pale azure three fleurs de lis or a bendlet sinister couped gules and azure three fleurs de lis or a label of three points dovetailed argent second quarterly first and fourth or a castle triple towered gules masoned sable in chief three Moor's heads in fess wreathed argent second and third argent three bars nebuly azure third barry nebuly of six argent and gules fourth argent three bars azure an inescutcheon azure a castle triple towered between in chief three fleurs de lis in fess in base a lymphad or on a champagne argent and in the flanks two garbs also or. EVRY, Essonne. Chef-Lieu du Département.

Sable a fess and a bar wavy argent between in chief an escarbuncle between two garbs and in base a bunch of grapes slipped and leaved or. VIGNEUX-SUR-SEINE, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

Sable a lion passant or armed and langued gules a chief azure three fleurs de lis or. MASSY, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Sable a lion rampant argent a chief also argent. MILLY-LA-FORET, Essonne. Canton, arr. Evry.

Sable a lion rampant argent armed and langued gules. LOUVRES, Val-d'Oise. Commune, arr. Montmorency.

Tierced in bend first azure semy de lis or second argent a double headed axe bendwise sable third gules three trees or issuant from dexter base. FRANCONVILLE, Val-d'Oise. Canton, arr. Pontoise.

Vert on a fess wavy argent between three strawberries ... slipped ... a beaver passant sable. BIEVRES, Essonne. Canton, arr. Palaiseau.

Vert three oak trees issuant or on a champagne argent five bars wavy of the field a fish in fess of the second overall an inescutcheon per pale ermine and and gules. SOISY-SUR-SEINE, Essonne. Commune, arr. Evry.

All works are cited in the main bibliography, but those of special importance to the study of the région are listed below:

Almanach Historique, Topographique et Statistique du Département de Seine-et-Marne, 1900, Le Blondel, Meaux.

Aubert, Jean: La Grande Histoire du Val d'Oise, Edijac, Pontoise, 1987. This a work of local history, but at the end all the coats of arms of the département are included, in colour in black and white. Blazons are not given.

Blanchard, Edmond: Armorial des Communes du Département de la Seine, l'Ecole d'Alembert à Montevrain, Paris, 1900.

Les Armoiries des Communes de Seine-et-Oise, Tome I, Chefs-lieux des Cantons, 1944.

Levron, Jacques & Louis, Robert: Les armoiries des communes de Seine-et-Oise, vol 3, La Renaissance, Troyes, 1959.

The following cantons do not possess a coat of arms:

Perthes

Roissy

Of the 35 cantons which are towns in Essonne I could discover no information about the following:

Saint-Chéron

Of the 32 cantons which are towns in Seine-Saint-Denis I could discover no information about the following:

Aubervilliers

Bobigny

Le Courneuve

Le Blanc-Mesnil

Le Raincy

Montfermeil

Rosny-sous-Bois

Tremblay-lès-Gonesse

Villemomble

Villepinte

Of the 35 cantons which are towns in Seine-et-Marne I could discover no information about the following:

Château-Landon

Claye-Souilly

Donnemarie-Dontilly

Lorrez-le-Bocage-Préaux

Mitry-Mory

Rozay-en-Brie

Savigny-le-Temple

Of the 33 cantons which are towns in Val-d'Oise I could discover no information about the following:

La Vallée-du-Sausseron

Of the 33 cantons which are towns in Yvelines I could discover no information about the following:

Guerville

Saint-Nom-la-Bretèche

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