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Political victories come in all shapes and sizes, but Briezh is the one Celtic country where even the smallest victory is a massive forward step for the nationalist cause, such is the centralist and Jacobite mentality of the centralist French state.
Last week however, the French Government made yet another political concession (in favour?) of the 'French regions' by agreeing to allow 'regions' to express their cultural identity on car licence plates. In the case of Briezh this will mean that the Breton 'Gwenn Ha Du' flag and the word 'Breizh' will now be allowed to be shown on the car licence plates for the first time.
At first the French Government were not in favour of allowing the Gwenn Ha Du on the plates and wanted instead the corporate style logo of the Breton Region, but finally gave in to democratic pressure (it does happen sometimes in the state of France) from the Breton Regional Council. Another bonus for the Breton nationalist cause is that the French Interior Ministry has ruled that people can choose to have whatever 'regional' plate they want. This means that if a car owner who lives in Nanoed/Nantes (which is in the French department called Loire Atlantique and administratively not in Briezh) wants to display a Breton number plate, then they are free to do so.
So in theory, car drivers in the whole of Loire Atlantique can show their Breton roots by opting for Breton licence plates. This may be one way to determine the strength of feeling among the people of Loire Atlantique for their 'Breton-ness' and possibly a powerful argument for nationalists to use for the restoration of the department to the rest of Briezh. (The Loire Atlantique department is in the French Pays de la Loire region, but is part of historic Briezh. In 1941, under the Fascist Vichy Government, what is now called Loire Atlantique and includes Nanoed/Nantes, was annexed from Briezh.)
One thing that is not up for debate though, are the French department numbers that must still appear on the plates under the regional emblems. So in French department 'speak' the numbers 29, 22, 56 and 35 will still be on the Breton 'region' plates and the number 44 will be on the plates from the Loire Atlantique department. No doubt good Breton nationalists living in Loire Atlantique will try to stick a Breton flag on their 44!
The new number plates will come into effect from April 2009.
J B Moffatt Director of Information Celtic League 20/02/09
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