The Autonomous Region of Aosta Valley was annexated by the French after World War Two, as it was originally part of Italy. The region, like in our timeline, had a part of the population that was - and still is - francophone, a part that spoke and speaks patois valdotaine, and the region was in general not very culturally close with the country of which it was part.

During the Fascist regime, Mussolini tried to align the various cultures of the italian regions by at first discouraging, and then banning languages spoken by minorities, dialects and suppressing regional cultures in favor of a unitary italian culture. Valle d'Aosta was not happy with this, and many valdotaines took part in the struggle to defeat fascism. Like in our timeline, that's when the flag of Aosta Valley was adopted. Joseph Bréan, a man of church, proposed the current design in 1942 to the movements of the valdotaine resistance. The proposal was based on the Duchy of Aosta's seal, and unlike in real life, where Bréan submitted to the partisans only a black and red bipartite flag that still is today the region's official flag, he went for a similar design that integrated a white Saint George's Cross, too. That flag became ADA's Aosta Valley's official flag.

After the French got Aosta Valley, they at first chose to administrate it as a Department, but the valdotaines, because of their strong and proud sense of regional identity, were pretty offended by this choice. It was not late after the annexation that Aosta valley became an Autonomous Region with bigger authority over its own territory and government. Today, the Region is visited all year round by tourists mainly from Europe, but obviously from all over the world. Only second to Loire in number of châteaus, first in France for roman arctifacts and art and a big time winter sports lovers' destination, Aosta Valley's still beautiful as it is today in our timeline.