Department of France
Finistère carries the two old counties that share it: the black lion of Léon in the north, the silver ram of Cornouaille in the south, under a chief of Breton ermine. Unlike most French departments, it has had official arms since 1975.
Coat of Arms
Not available
| Department | Finistère (29), Brittany — prefecture Quimper |
|---|---|
| Arms | The black lion of Léon and the silver ram of Cornouaille, under a chief of Breton ermine |
| Status | Official since 1975, drawn in the department’s logo |
| Flag | No flag of its own; the council flies its logo |
Coat of arms of Finistère — Per pale: 1st Or, a lion contourny Sable; 2nd Azure, a ram salient Argent, hoofed and horned Or; a chief Argent charged with five ermine spots Sable.
Per pale: 1st Or, a lion contourny Sable; 2nd Azure, a ram salient Argent, hoofed and horned Or; a chief Argent charged with five ermine spots Sable.
Finistère is two old countries put side by side, and its shield says so literally: the north on the left, the south on the right.
The lion of Léon belonged to the family of Léon, who held the county in the north-west of Brittany. The ram of Cornouaille is a different kind of emblem. It is a pun: the Breton kern, horns, and knev, fleece, sound out the name of Cornouaille. Arms that play on a name in this way are called canting arms. The ram is attested from the end of the seventeenth century.
The chief carries five ermine spots, and two readings are given for the number. They may stand for the five departments of historic Brittany, or for the five bishoprics, or parts of bishoprics, from which Finistère was made in 1790.
Most French departments have no official arms. Finistère does: the lion and the ram have been its official coat of arms since 1975, and the department’s logo is drawn from them.
They are not the arms the heraldist Robert Louis had proposed. In 1950, in Marques symboliques des départements français, he gave every department a coat of arms; for Finistère he suggested Per pale indented Azure and Ermine — the ermine of Brittany, cut by a jagged line evoking the coast. Finistère chose its two counties instead.
The department has no specific flag. The council usually flies a flag bearing its logo, which itself reproduces the coat of arms.
They are the arms of the two old counties that make up the department: the black lion on gold for Léon in the north, the silver ram on blue for Cornouaille in the south.
Yes. The arms have been official since 1975, and the department’s logo is drawn from them. Most French departments, by contrast, have no official arms.
The ram is a pun on the name: the Breton words kern, horns, and knev, fleece, sound like Cornouaille. Such arms are called canting arms.
No specific flag. The departmental council usually flies a flag bearing its logo, which reproduces the coat of arms.
The arms are described from the published blazon and the texts above, not from the drawing.
Last reviewed by the Emblema Mundi editorial team on 1 October 2026.