Welcome to the RSCDS Breton Branch website

Brittany is one of the 23 administrative regions of France, situated at the extreme West of the country. (On this map it is coloured green, and bears the Breton flag).

The capital is Rennes. Brittany consists of 4 departments:

• Côtes d’Armor (22),
• Finistère (29),
• Ille-et-Vilaine (35),
• Morbihan (56).

Click on the picture to enlarge.

But for many years Brittany also laid claim to a 5th department in the South: Loire Atlantique, which is now part of the Pays de Loire.

Historically the afore mentioned departments were subdivided into 9 provinces. From West to East:

• Léon,
• Cornouaille,
• Trégor,
• Vannetais,
• pays de Saint-Brieuc,
• pays de Saint-Malo,
• pays de Dol,
• pays de Nantes,
• pays Rennais.

Click on the picture to enlarge.

The flag was created by a French architect who was active in the Breton movement.His name was Maurice Marchal, known as Morvan Marchal ,and he was born in Ille-et-Vilaine in 1900.

The symbols:

• The ermine tips represent the Duchy of Brittany.
• The 9 equally spaced bands represent the 9 ancient Breton areas:
  • 4 white bands: Cornouaille, Léon, Trégor et Vannetais,
  • 5 black bands: Pays Nantais, Rennais, de Saint-Brieuc, de Saint-Malo et de Dol.

Richard Duclos (of the Maison du Kilt in Paris) who was originally from Plouray in the Morbihan created the national Breton tartan in 2002.

Since then other designers have created tartans for each of the 9 areas based upon their respective flags.