Dauphiné

The flag of Dauphiné features a golden dolphin (dauphin) on a blue field, a canting arms design where the heraldic charge is a visual pun on the province's name. The Dauphins of Viennois, who ruled this southeastern Alpine territory, bore the dolphin as their emblem from the 12th century. When the last Dauphin sold his lands to the French crown in 1349, the title 'Dauphin' was transferred to the heir to the French throne — thus every French crown prince from the 14th century onward was called 'le Dauphin.' The golden dolphin on blue creates an elegant, maritime-feeling design for a province that is, paradoxically, entirely mountainous.