Region of France
The emblem of Corsica is a black Moor’s head with a white headband on a white field, both on its arms and on its flag, the bandera testa mora. Attested for Corsica in a 14th-century armorial among the states of the Crown of Aragon, it was the flag of the Corsican Republic of Pasquale Paoli in the 18th century, and the region adopted it as its flag in 1980.
Coat of Arms
Not available
| Status | Collectivité de Corse, a single territorial collectivity since 1 January 2018 |
|---|---|
| Departments | Haute-Corse (prefecture Bastia), Corse-du-Sud (prefecture Ajaccio) |
| Arms | Argent, a Moor’s head Sable, wreathed of the field |
| Flag | White, a black Moor’s head with a white headband; proportions 1:2 |
| Attested for Corsica | Armorial of Gelre, 14th century |
| Regional flag | Adopted by the region in 1980 |
The coat of arms of Corsica.
D’argent à la tête de Maure de sable, tortillée du champ.
That is: Argent, a Moor’s head Sable, wreathed of the field. French Wikipedia’s armorial of the regions gives this blazon for Corsica and notes that the gendarmerie uses the same emblem.
According to French Wikipedia, the first heraldic use of the Moor’s head is attested in 1281, under Pere III of Aragon, on the cross of Alcoraz that the king adopted as his personal arms. The Crown of Aragon long ruled Sardinia and Corsica, which the pope had granted to it, although it never exercised formal control there; the Moor’s head nevertheless became a symbol of the islands. Historians have long favoured this Aragonese origin, though some note that this rule was more symbolic than real and short-lived, and that the addition may be later. In the Armorial of Gelre, of the 14th century (the late 14th century according to English Wikipedia), a Moor’s head with uncovered eyes represents Corsica among the states of the Crown of Aragon.
Several legends explain the head. According to one, reported in J.-A. Giustiniani’s Légendes du pays corse, a young Corsican named Diana was carried off by Moors in the 13th century to be sold to the king of Granada; her fiancé Pablo freed her, and in the battle that followed he beheaded the king’s lieutenant, Mansour Ben Ismaïl. Another has Ugo Colonna beheading Hugolone, a Muslim king of Corsica, in 816.
The Moor’s head appears on the coins struck in 1736 by Théodore de Neuhoff, the short-lived king of the Corsicans. After the island passed to France, the Moor’s head continued to symbolise Corsica, coupled with the arms of the Kingdom of France, and was used by the Royal-Corse regiment. Under the Anglo-Corsican kingdom founded in 1794, the arms of Corsica were combined with those of the United Kingdom.
The flag of Corsica, also called the Moor’s head flag (a bandera testa mora, or simply a bandera in Corsican), is with the hymn Dio vi salvi Regina one of the main symbols of Corsica. It shows the left profile of a black head, called a Moor’s head, wearing a white headband, on a white field, in the proportions 1:2.
Above all a symbol of the Corsican insurgents against the Genoese, the Moor’s head was adopted on 24 November 1762 at Corte by the young Corsican Republic, according to French Wikipedia, which also says it was adopted as the emblem of Corsica by Pasquale Paoli in 1755; English Wikipedia dates the flag to Paoli in 1755, and the infobox of French Wikipedia’s article on the flag gives 1735. The Republic lasted until the island was provisionally ceded to France by Genoa under the treaty of Versailles and conquered after the battle of Ponte-Novo. According to English Wikipedia, under French rule from 1769 to 1789 Corsican patriots used the version with blindfolded eyes as a mark of protest, and the version without the blindfold, quartered with the British arms, was the official flag of the Anglo-Corsican kingdom of 1794 to 1796.
The sources disagree on the headband. French Wikipedia’s article on the flag reports an 18th-century myth that it originally covered the eyes, and that it was raised to the forehead as a sign of freedom by General Ghjuvan Petru Gaffori in 1735, or by Paoli, Théodore de Neuhoff or others; but it says historians now consider that this change never happened, since the headband is shown on the forehead from the 14th century and there is no trace of a flag with blindfolded eyes. French Wikipedia’s article on the Moor’s head says instead that in 1760 Paoli ordered the necklace to be removed and the headband raised, saying, according to his biographers: “Les Corses veulent y voir clair. La liberté doit marcher au flambeau de la philosophie.” English Wikipedia also says that Paoli had the headband moved above the eyes, to symbolise the liberation of the Corsicans from the Genoese.
According to French Wikipedia, it was only in 1980 that the bandera testa mora was rehabilitated as the regional flag, adopted by the region of Corsica, now the Collectivité de Corse. The flag of neighbouring Sardinia, derived from the arms of the kings of Aragon, bore four heads with blindfolded eyes, the Quattro Mori; on flags after 1999 their headbands too have been raised to the forehead.
The law on the new territorial organisation of the Republic (loi NOTRe) of 7 August 2015 created the Collectivité de Corse, a single territorial collectivity, on 1 January 2018, in place of the former territorial collectivity of Corsica and the two departments, whose councils were abolished. The central administration was kept: Corsica still has two departmental prefectures, Bastia for Haute-Corse and Ajaccio for Corse-du-Sud.
Historians have long favoured an Aragonese origin: the Moor’s head first appears in heraldry in 1281 under Pere III of Aragon, whose crown had been granted Sardinia and Corsica by the pope, and the 14th-century Armorial of Gelre shows it for Corsica. Several legends, such as that of Diana and Mansour Ben Ismaïl, also explain it.
The sources disagree. English Wikipedia and French Wikipedia’s article on the Moor’s head say that Pasquale Paoli had the headband raised, but French Wikipedia’s article on the flag says historians consider that this change never happened, since the headband is shown on the forehead from the 14th century.
According to French Wikipedia, Pasquale Paoli adopted the Moor’s head as the emblem of Corsica in 1755, the Corsican Republic adopted it at Corte on 24 November 1762, and the region of Corsica adopted the flag in 1980.
Argent, a Moor’s head Sable, wreathed of the field: a black Moor’s head on silver, the same emblem as on the flag. The gendarmerie uses the same emblem.
The flag of Sardinia derives from the arms of the kings of Aragon, and historians have long favoured an Aragonese origin for the Corsican head too. The flag of Sardinia has four Moor’s heads around a red cross, the Quattro Mori, whose headbands have also been raised to the forehead on flags after 1999.
Last reviewed by the Emblema Mundi editorial team on 26 October 2026.