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Corsica (France, Traditional province): Nationalist flags

Flag used in Aleria (1975)

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Corsica (France, traditional province)

Flag used in Aléria (1975)

by Ivan Sache & Pierre Gay

The dramatic events which took place in Aleria in August 1976 are considered as the beginning of the "Corsican question", although nationalist movements had already been founded and had started violent actions a few years earlier.

In 1957, a plan of regional action allowed the development of agriculture, mostly citrus and vine growing, in the eastern coastal plain around the city of Aléria. After the independence of Algeria, where more than 100,000 Pieds Noirs of Corsican origin had lived, several Pieds-Noirs were established in the Aléria plain. Corsicans complained that the Pieds-Noirs were favoured by the French government and agitation increased. In August 1975, Corsican nationalists occupied a wine farm near Aléria, which was assaulted by the police. Two policemen and one wine grower were killed. A photograph in Encyclopaedia Universalis shows a nationalist demonstration which took place a few days after the Aléria assault. One of the Corsican flags waved by the demonstrators is the usual white flag with the Moor's head, to which a very sketchy representation of the island was added.

Ivan Sache, 5 August 2002