The legendary flag bearing the Occitanian cross is ready to be hoisted wherever you choose.



Description: Polyester mesh – Eyelets for hanging – Weather resistant.
Dimensions : 70 (H) x 100 (W) cm


Historically : THE OCCITAN CROSS
This cross has four symmetrical branches each ending in three pommels, making a total of twelve extremities.

Many people believe that the Occitan Cross is solar in origin. The twelve parts are suggestive of the twelve hours in a day or night, the twelve months of the year, the twelve signs of the zodiac, etc. We can go further than these elementary explanations by exploring the realm of the sun gods and the significance of the number twelve.

References to sun gods
Since the dawn of time the sun has played a major role in all civilizations; it is generally seen in the role of god and in France this can be traced back to the Bronze Age.
In Anatolia a solar disc dating from before 3000 BC was found in tombs of the ancient Hittite capital, Hattousa.
In Egypt there were several sun gods. Ra was represented by a solar disc. There is a famous etching where the god Aton can be seen firing fourteen sunbeams, each with a hand at the end, at Akhenaton and his wife Nefertiti.
For the Akkadians, the Babylonians and the Assyrians who first studied astronomy and astrology, the symbol of the sun-god Shamash was a disc with flaming rays and a four-pointed star

The number twelve
The Egyptians and later the Romans grouped things by tens, using the fingers and thumbs of both hands. Other peoples counted in twelves using the three phalanxes (bones) of the four fingers of one hand. The Sumerians used a system based on twelve and another based on five, using the twelve parts of the four fingers on the right hand to count to twelve, and then the fingers and thumb of the left hand to count the number of dozens!
The Babylonians used sixty as a numeric base. The hour, minute and second for measuring time along with the degrees and minutes of an angle come from this sexagesimal system.

The number twelve features strongly in institutions and the symbols of other civilizations: in Persia the god Mithra had twelve companions. In Greece twelve cities sent representatives to the Amphictyonic Council at Delphi. In Rome the law was written for the first time on twelve tablets. In his final address Buddha spoke to his twelve disciples and, according to legend, when he felt death approaching and wanted to communicate with the animal world, only twelve beasts replied – the twelve signs of Chinese astrology.

In astrology the number twelve, the product of four times three, is of great importance. It represents both the four elements: earth, air, fire, water; and the three modes: cardinal, fixed, changeable. Astrology is a way of combining space and time.
In the Bible twelve is the number of choice or election: the twelve sons of Jacob, the twelve patriarchs and tribes of Israel, the twelve Apostles.

The link between the number twelve and the sun is present in popular Occitan tradition. Religious ideas, beliefs, popular practices, linguistic and mathematical facts concerning the number twelve and the sun show strong connections with the Occitan Cross. Sun worship was also partly responsible for the creation of discs, rosettes and crosses.