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Farciennes (Municipality, Province of Hainaut, Belgium)

Municipal flag of Farciennes - Image by Arnaud Leroy, 11 November 2005

Presentation of Farciennes
Municipal flag of Farciennes

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Presentation of Farciennes

The municipality of Farciennes (11,071 inhabitants on 1 January 2007; 1,038 ha) is located a few kilometers east of Charleroi, on the border with the Province of Namur. The municipality of Farciennes is made since 1976 of the former municipalities of Farciennes and Pironchamps.

Farciennes was in the past a main city in the Pays Noir (Black Country), the Belgian coal mining basin.
In the XVIIIth century, the neighbouring collieries of Roton and Sainte-Catherine were exploited separately. In 1853, the two concessions were merged as Roton-Sainte-Catherine; they were merged again in 1859 with the concessions of Baulet and Oignies and three shafts in Roton-Sainte-Catherine, Baulet and Roignies-Aiseau. On 26 June 1890, the S.A. des Charbonnages Réunis de Roton-Farciennes, Baulet et Oignies-Aiseau was formed. The company employed 2,200 workers and extracted 230,000-400,000 tons of coal per year. After a dispute with the company of Petit-Try in Lambusart, the concession of Baulet was sold in 1906 and the company was renamed S.A. des Charbonnages Réunis de Roton-Farciennes et Oignies-Aiseau. It progressively incorporated the smaller collieries of Falisole, Auvelais-Saint-Roch, Ham-sur-Sambre and Moustier. After the Second World War, all the sites were closed but two, Aulniats and Sainte-Catherine. Aulniats was closed in 1969, whereas Sainte-Catherine maintained a daily production of 2,500 tons. The production then decreased to 400 tons per day and the Roton was closed in 1984. This was the last active colliery in Wallonia.
The S.A. des Charbonnages d'Aiseau-Presles also exploited shafts on the territory of Farciennes.

Sources:

Ivan Sache, 11 November 2005

Municipal flag of Farciennes

The municipal flag of Farciennes is diagonally divided (per bend) red-blue.
Armoiries communales en Belgique. Communes wallonnes, bruxelloises et germanophones describes the flag as Tranché rouge clair sur bleu marine, and says that the origin of the flag se perd dans la nuit des temps (is lost in the mists of time).

The flag is indeed based on the municipal arms, granted by Royal Decree on 26 October 1955 as Bandé de vair et de gueules de six pièces. (Bendy vair and gules six pieces).
These arms are shown on the municipal website, which explains that the collar shown around the arms refers to Count de Bucquoi, lord of Longueval, who lived in the XVIIth century in the Old Castle of Farciennes and was member of the Order of the Golden Fleece.

Arnaud Leroy, Pascal Vagnat & Ivan Sache, 2 July 2007