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Brittany (France): Political movements

Part 1: 1900-1945

Union Régionaliste Bretonne (Breton Regionalist Union)
Fédération Régionaliste de Bretagne (Regionalist Federation of Brittany)
Bleuñ-Brug (Flower of Heather)
Urz Goanag Breiz (Order of the Breton Hope)
Parti National Breton/ Strollad Broadel Breiz (Breton National Party)
Bagadoù Stourm (Battle Groups)
Bezen Perrot (Perrot Unit)
Mouvement Ouvrier Social-National Breton ( Breton Social-National Workers' Movement)

See also:

Union Régionaliste Bretonne (Breton Regionalist Union)

Flag of URB - Image by Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

URB was founded in 1898 in Morlaix by a group of intellectuals to promote the Breton language, administrative decentralization and constitution of a Breton region.
The first flag of URB was the plain ermine; in 1907 a green saltire of unknown origin and meaning was added to avoid confusion with the so-called Bourbon flag (white semé with golden fleurs-de-lis) then used by the French legitimists.

Source: P. Rault. Les drapeaux bretons de 1188 à nos jours [rau98]

Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

Fédération Régionaliste de Bretagne (Regionalist Federation of Brittany)

Two successive flags of FRB - Images by Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

Seceding from URB, FRB was founded by J. Cholleau and Y. Le Diberder, who added economical demands to the program of URB.
The first flag of FRB combined the black cross and the ermine. It was a white field charged with a black centered cross voided throughout and seven ermine spots (4+3) placed in canton. The flag appeared in January 1913 in the review Brittia.
To avoid confusion with the German Reichskriegsflagge, the cross was later changed to a black centered voided cross.

Source: P. Rault., op. cit.

Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

Bleuñ-Brug (Flower of Heather)

Two successive flags of Bleuñ-Brug - Images by Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

Bleuñ-Brug was founded in 1905 by the priest Y.-V. Perrot to defend the Breton language and the Roman Catholic religion.
The first flag of Bleuñ-Brug was white with a black centered cross and seven ermine spots (4 + 3) in all of the four quarters.
The association also used a more specific flag made of a purple field charged with a white Celtic cross including an unusual geometrical ermine spot with a wide basis. Purple stood for heather, the Celtic cross for Christianity and Celtic culture, and the ermine spot for Brittany.

Source: P. Rault., op. cit.

Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

Urz Goanag Breiz (Order of the Breton Hope)

Urz Goanag Breiz - Image by Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

Urz Goanag Breiz was a youth movement for Celtic revival founded in 1943 by Y.-V. Perrot and H. Caouissin, on the model of the Welsh movement Urdd Gobaith Cymru (Order of the Welsh Hope).
The flag, designed by H. Caouissin, is similar to the second Bleuñ-Brug flag, purple being replaced by green to recall the Welsh origin of the movement. Rectangular and square flags were used.

Source: P. Rault., op. cit.

Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

Parti National Breton/Strollad Broadel Breiz (Breton National Party)

PNB was a separatist movement, founded by O. Mordred and F. Debauvais in 1932 and dissolved in 1945.

Election flag of PNB, 1936 - Image by Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

PNB used during a local election held in Guingamp in 1936 a vertical red flag charged with a red ermine spot in a white disc.

Banner of PNB, 1940 - Image by Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

PNB also used the Gwenn-ha-Du and black and white triangular or swallow-tailed flags. A triangular, horizontally divided black-white flag was hoisted in July 1940 on the balcony of the castle of Pontivy, where PNB expected to create a Breton state with the help of the German army.

Source: P. Rault., op. cit.

Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

Bagadoù Stourm (Battle Groups)

Flags of Bagadoù Stourm - Images by Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

Bagadoù Stourm was a youth paramilitary movement founded in 1941 by the PNB and directed by Y. Goulet.
The flag of Bagadoù Stourm, designed by Y. Goulet and C. Lainé, was officialized on 7 September 1941. It is inspired by the German Reichskriegsflagge. It is a white field charged with a Scandinavian black cross. The middle of the cross is charged with a yellow-orange triskell in a black disk outlined in white. The cross is outlined in white and yellow-orange.
The movement also used an horizontally divided black-white-black flag.

Source: P. Rault., op. cit.

Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

Bezen Perrot

Flag of Bezen Perrot - Image by Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

Bezen Perrot was a "Breton company fighting war against France", founded by C. Lainé, who rejected the neutrality of the PNB. The unit was renamed Bezen Perrot in 1943 after the murder of Y.-V. Perrot by a member of the anti-German Resistance movement. The unity was composed of a few dozens of people, who fought locally under German uniform and command, with the name of Bretonische Waffenverband der SS.
The flag of Bezen Perrot was in proportion 4:5, white with a slightly decentred black cross.

Source: P. Rault., op. cit.

Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

Mouvement Ouvrier Social-National Breton ( Breton Social-National Workers' Movement)

Flag of MOSNB - Image by Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999

MOSNB, a "National-Bolshevik movement", seceded from PNB; it was founded in 1941 by T. Jeusset, and dissolved the same year.
The flag of MOSNB was a vertical, parochial-like, red banner with a black ermine spot included in a white disc.

Source: P. Rault., op. cit.

Ivan Sache, 6 January 1999