Month: November 2024

“From Azure to a Castled Keep…” – The Coat of Arms of Gassin: A Medieval Heritage

The Coat of Arms of Gassin

The town hall of Gassin proudly displays its coat of arms.

Logo-coat of arms of the town hall of Gassin

Its origins lie in the distant past of the village, during the medieval era, when Gassin was under the co-lordship and principal lordship of the Castellane family.

Louis de Bresc, Armorial des communes de Provence, ou Dictionnaire géographique et héraldique des villes et villages des Bouches-du-Rhône, du Var, des Basses-Alpes, de Vaucluse et des Alpes-Maritimes, Paris, Bachelin-Deflorenne, 1866

The community of Gassin adopted the lord’s arms, modifying them by incorporating its own colors, yellow and blue.

Armorial général de France, dressé, en vertu de l’édit de 1696, par Charles d’Hozier, Provence, I, (source : Bibliothèque nationale de France).

The coat of arms is described as follows:

« d’azur à un château donjonné de trois tours d’argent, maçonné de sable »
(“Azure, a castle with three towers argent, masoned sable.”)

The community of Gassin, later the commune, also adopted the motto of the Castellane family, one of the oldest in Provence:

« May d’honour que d’honours »

This translates into english as: “Better honor than honors.”

Supporters and Embellishments

The historical coat of arms of the commune does not have supporters. Occasionally, the supporters of the Castellane family—two wild men—are mistakenly used. Laurel branches are used to decorate the coat of arms of the town hall.

A crown also adorns the communal coat of arms, echoing the municipal crown created by L. de Bresc to replace the comital crown.

Personal Coats of Arms

Some residents had their own coats of arms. This includes several members of the Germondy family, which included royal notaries.

Blason de Jean Germondy, notaire de Gassin
Coat of arms of François Roux, bourgeois of Gassin
Coat of arms of Michel Tornel, merchant of Gassin
Coat of arms of Louis Germondy, bourgeois of Gassin
Coat of arms of Nicolas Gras, bourgeois of Gassin
Coat of arms of Honoré Germondy de Pierre, bourgeois of Gassin

Coat of arms of Pierre Germondy, bourgeois of Gassin (erroneously labeled “Grassin”)

Coat of arms of the Castellane family

« Recueil d’extraits de Tiltres scellez, pour servir à l’Armorial de l’ancienne noblesse, aux généalogies et à l’histoire », bibliothèque nationale de France, I, pages 1 à 45 : Armorial de Provence.
Armoriaux de Provence et de Danemark, XVIIe siècle, 41 feuillets.

Interpretations…

Throughout history, different visual representations have been used to depict the coat of arms of Gassin.

The former coat of arms used by the commune of Gassin
The coat of arms featured on the Armoirial de France website.
The coat of arms reinterpreted by Celbusro for Wikipédia
The coat of arms previously used on envelopes by the Gassin town hall
A naive interpretation of Gassin’s coat of arms by the native of Cotignac Gabriel Henri Blanc