Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (French pronunciation:[ovɛʁɲʁonalp]ⓘ;AURA)[note 1] is aregion in southeast-centralFrance created by the 2014 territorial reform of French regions; it resulted from the merger ofAuvergne andRhône-Alpes. The new region came into effect on 1 January 2016, after theregional elections in December 2015.[4]
This region combines diverse geographical, sociological, economic, and cultural areas, which was already true of Rhône-Alpes, as well as Auvergne, to a lesser extent. While the old Rhône-Alpes and Auvergne regions each enjoyed a unity defined by axes of communication and the pull of their respective metropolitan areas,[note 2] the new combination is heterogeneous; it sustained lively opposition from some local officials after its creation.[6][7][8][9]
The region Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and its departments on the background of historical provinces
The text of the territorial reform law givesinterim names for most of the merged regions, combining the names of their constituent regions alphabetically, separated byhyphens. Permanentnames would be proposed by the new regional councils and confirmed by theConseil d'État by 1 October 2016.[10][11]
The interim name of the new administrative region was ahyphenatedplacename, composed of the historic region ofAuvergne, the riverRhône and theFrench Alps (Alpes). The same name has been chosen as the definitive name, which was officialized by theConseil d'État on 28 September 2016.[12]
According to several online polls fromLyon Capitale, the name "Rhône-Alpes-Auvergne" led voting, ahead of "Alpes-Auvergne" and "AURA" (an acronym for Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes),[13] which was proposed byJean-Jack Queyranne, former president of theregional council of Rhône-Alpes. Schoolchildren were consulted about the name of the new region in February 2016; residents were consulted in March.[14]
After adjusting the votes in proportion to the number of inhabitants of the regions (Rhône-Alpes having five times the population of Auvergne) the name "Rhône-Alpes-Auvergne" was still leading, ahead of "Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes" and the acronym "AURA".[15]
Despite this result,Laurent Wauquiez and his team decided not to follow the preference of the citizens of the new region, and the name Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes was put to the vote by the regional council and adopted unanimously on 23 June 2016;[16][17] it was made official on 28 September 2016 through a decree appearing in theJournal Officiel de la République Française.[1]
In October 2017, the region was given a coat of arms that combines those of Auvergne, Savoie, Lyonnais and Dauphiné.[18] The region also has a flag, which initially consisted of the coat of arms on a white background, but was replaced by a heraldic flag in January 2018. On 9 February 2018, the region formalised the flag and the coat of arms on its website, as implemented by Mattieu Casali, a historical scholar.[19] It was received favourably by the national heraldic commission.[20]
Theblazon is described on the region's website (in French) as"Écartelé : au premier d’or au gonfanon de gueules bordé de sinople (Auvergne); au deuxième de gueules à la croix d’argent (Savoie); au troisième de gueules au lion d’argent (Lyonnais); au quatrième d’or au dauphin d’azur, crêté, barbé, loré, peautré et oreillé de gueules (Dauphiné)," which translates roughly to: "Quartered: the first quarter, with anor (gold) background, containing agules (red) banner fringed withvert (green), representing Auvergne; the second quarter, with a gules background, containing anargent (silver) cross, representing Savoie; the third quarter, with a gules background, containing an argent lion, representing Lyon; the fourth quarter, with an or background, containing anazure dolphin[21] with gules details, representing the Dauphiné."[19]
Official coat of arms, released in 2017 and officialised in 2018.
First flag, which appeared at the same time as the coat of arms.
de facto Flag used since 2018
InArpitan and inOccitan, two of the threelanguages that are historically spoken in the region, the name is pronounced:[note 3]
TheGross domestic product (GDP) of the region was 270.0 billion euros (327.0 billion dollars) in 2018, accounting for 11.9% of French economic output. GDP per capita adjusted for purchasing power was 30,200 euros or 100% of the EU27 average in the same year. The GDP per employee was 109% of the EU average.[22]
The region's main airport isLyon–Saint-Exupéry Airport which provides most domestic and international destinations, it handles more than 10 million passengers per year.[23]
^Commission nationale d'héraldique, ed. (2018).Rapport Annuel 2017 des Archives en France(PDF) (in French). p. 41. Retrieved12 December 2018.[...] En 2017, la Commission nationale d'héraldique s'est réunie deux fois, les 3 avril et 18 octobre. Elle a examiné 31 dossiers : [...] • 2 blasons de grandes régions : Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes [...] 61 % de ces dossiers ont reçu un avis favorable de conformité héraldique, notamment ceux des grandes régions. [...]
^"Dolphin".Mistholme. 12 January 2014. Retrieved28 March 2021.
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