The Occitan cross (also called cross of Occitania, cross of Languedoc, cross of Toulouse;[1] heraldically cross cleché, pommetty and voided) is a heraldic cross, today chiefly used as a symbol of Occitania.
The design was probably first used in the coat of arms of the counts of Forcalquier (in modern Provence), in the 12th century,[citation needed] and by the counts of Toulouse in their capacity as Marquises of Provence, on 13th century coins and seals. It later spread to the other provinces of Occitania, namely Provence, Guyenne, Gascony, Dauphiné, Auvergne and Limousin.
A yellow Occitan cross on a blood-red background with the seven-armed golden star of the Felibritge makes up the flag of modern-day Occitania. It can also be found in the emblems of Midi-Pyrénées, Languedoc-Roussillon and Hautes-Alpes, among many others, as well as in cemeteries and at country crossroads.
The blazon of the modern emblem is gules, a cross cleché (or: pattée) pommettée voided or ("in a red field, a gold cross 'with keys' (or: 'with paws') and 'with spheres/apples', in outline"; Occitan: de golas a la crotz voidada, clechada (or patèa) e pometada d'aur),[citation needed] also described as cross pattée botonnée, cross pommettée, cross toulouse,[2] or cross fleury voided (or: in skeleton).[3] In the Chanson de la Croisade Albigeoise, it goes by the name of "Raymondine cross" (crotz ramondenca).[4]
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