Le Chêne brisé

The symbolic value of this tree is all the more significant given that it has become one of the main landmarks of the Sedan region. It is the image of a woman opposing war, combined with that of a tree being reborn. The oak, along with the wild boar, is one of the symbols of Sedan, whose motto "Undique Robur" (Strength from all sides), inherited from the La Marck family, includes the Latin word "robur", meaning both oak and strength. The people of Floing initiated a fund-raising campaign to commission a "broken oak" from marble carver Constant Duc, who belonged to an ancient dynasty of Savoyard stonemasons who had come to Sedan. Despite successive deteriorations, a silhouette of a woman can still be seen at the foot of the Chêne brisé, breaking a cannon with a sledgehammer, while a new branch of the oak grows above her. Many of the soldiers killed in the final hours of the battle were buried here.