Charleroi is the third biggest city in Belgium and the biggest in Wallonia, of course its the biggest city of the province of Hainaut. This place is best know for its heavy industrial decline that started since the 70's. So there are lot of industrial ruins around and man-made hills of coalmine waste that nature trying to take back. Also the city has an metro system that build in the 70's at the same moment of the starting decline. For very long time the metro of Charleroi barely work properly, in general an metro system work properly in places with more than an population of an half million and Charleroi has an population of around 200 thousand. But nevertheless Charleroi will rise like phoenix eventually. Now lets look at their flag and automatically at their coat of arms too.
Its an white flag with an big red rooster that holds the coat of arms of Charleroi. That rooster symbolizes the allegiance to Wallonia, the French speaking part of Belgium. The name in French of that rooster is "coq hardi" what means "bold rooster" and its also found on the flag of Wallonia.
In top of the coat of arms you see an fleur-de-lis that recalls that the French increased the fortification that the Spanish build when the conquered briefly the city. Charleroi was initially found by the Spanish as an fortified city.
Those red and white squares if you count them there 15 of them, those recall the 15 municipalities that merged with Charleroi in 1977. The following former municipalities are part of Charleroi now: Dampremy, Lodelinsart, Gilly, Montignies-sur-Sambre, Couillet, Marcinelle, Mont-sur-Marchienne, Marchienne-au-Pont, Monceau-sur-Sambre, Goutroux, Roux, Jumet, Gosselies and Ransart. Some of them have their own coat of arms, but that is an subject for later.
The twelve stars comes from the European Union flag to symbolize unity.
At last at within the stars you see the fortress that French military engineer Vauban build. His full name is Sébastien Le Preste de Vauban and was an legendary expert of building fortified cities in the reigning days of king Louis XIV of France.
