Picardy

The flag of Picardy displays a red field bearing three golden lions passant, arranged two above and one below. This heraldic design derives from the arms traditionally attributed to the medieval Counts of Vermandois, a powerful Carolingian lineage that ruled the heartland of Picardy. The three golden lions on red create a martial design reflecting Picardy's turbulent history as a borderland between France and the Low Countries, repeatedly ravaged by wars. The province encompasses the Somme battlefields of World War I and the great Gothic cathedrals of Amiens, Beauvais, and Laon. The warm gules-and-or color scheme places it in a family of French provincial arms featuring felines.