The legend says that this flag appeared in the time of Pope Clement III (term 1187–1191) to gather the Gascons during the Third Crusade (12th century), but no proof of this allegation has yet been found.

That flag contains the St Andrew's cross, the patron saint of Bordeaux and the red color of the Kingdom of England, which reigned over Gascony from the 12th to the mid-15th century.

[2] The contemporary return of the historic flag of Gascony is ought to convey identity and values which make of this province a land of "douceur de vivre" (sweetness of life): soft climate, authenticity of relationship, conviviality, good wines and art of dining.

It is often said that the text of the chronicler Roger of Howden mentioned that Pope Clement III gave crosses to the kings of France and England (Richard I of England as well duke of Aquitania and Gascony) during the Gisors conference in 1188 and that these kings then assigned flags, with the cross on it, to their respective nations.

The following text ("The French flags" on the website Heraldica, accessed 04-22-2010) is about this event: The kings of France and England were in a peace conference in a field between Gisors and Trie, in January 1188, when the archbishop of Tyre arrived with the news of the conquest of Jerusalem by Saladdin, and an urgent plea for a new crusade.

[… ad cognoscendam gentem suam signum evidens sibi et suis providerunt, ... et sic unusquisque ...] The original text of Howden stops here.

The triangular shape and a young symbol representing Gascony, often described as a triangle bordering the Garonne, the Pyrenees and the Atlantic Ocean.

Found in the Landes de Gascogne, it dates back 25,000 years and is the oldest known human face today.