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The Occitan cross — also '''cross of Occitania''', '''cross of Languedoc''', ''' Cathar cross''' and '''Toulouse cross''',— is the symbol of Occitania . It was first used as such, probably, in the Coat Of Arms of the counts of Forcalquier in Provence , and then by the counts of Toulouse in the traditional territory of Languedoc and later spread to the other provinces of '' Lo País '', 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 Félibrige makes up the flag of modern-day Occitania. It can also be found in the emblems of Midi-Pyrenées , Languedoc-Roussillon and Hautes-Alpes , among many others, as well as in cemeteries and at country crossroads. The Occitan cross is technically described as "mouthed and hollowed out, with keys (or paws) and golden spheres" (''de golas a la crotz voidada, clechada ''(or ''patèa'')'' e pometada d'aur''). In '' La Cançon De La Crosada '', it goes by the name of '''Raymondine cross''' (''crotz ramondenca'', ''laisse'' 109). It's still the object of a dispute among experts as to whether its first appearance in Occitania was in Provence or Languedoc. HISTORY cross]] The and is even spotted in various towns up north throughout the XIIth Century . Several interpretations have been proposed for the cross, often stressing the symbolic side of it and leaving aside the fact that " Heraldry is not a science of symbols, but one of emblems" (M. Pastoureau). In ate of Provence, north of the Durance , more precisely the town of Venasque {Link without Title} . In {Link without Title} . This hypothesis would definitely locate the birth of the Occitan cross in or around Toulouse. language in Béziers on March 17 , 2007 ]] In found in the small Alpes-de-Haute-Provence '' Commune '' of Ganagobie. In the December 1994 edition of the ''Archistra'' magazine, Pierre Saliès once again maintains that the cross is from Toulouse and is the fruit of successive local evolutions, possibly from the Jerusalem cross {Link without Title} . Two years After , in ''L'Auta'' (#612), Jean Rocacher confirms that the Occitan cross "is first the own emblem of the old county of Venasque, later torn between the houses of Toulouse and Forcalquier." In area and spread across Western Europe through Italy and Provence. The crosses of Venasque and Forcalquier would thus share the same origin, though one wasn't inspired by the other. Later in the same year, Bertran de la Farge (in ''La Croix occitane'') locates the original Occitan cross somewhere in the marquisate of Provence, probably Venasque. He argues it could be a mixture of the Constantinople cross and the . As for now, there is no undeniable evidence as to which side is right. MODERN USES ]] The Occitan cross can be found on a number of flags, coats of arms, emblems and logos. Here follows a non-exhaustive list of occurrences: Regions and provinces
Départements
Cities and towns
Miscellaneous
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