National symbols of France are emblems of the

French Republic France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

and

French people The French people (french: Français) are an ethnic group and nation primarily located in Western Europe that share a common French culture, history, and language, identified with the country of France. The French people, especially the na ...

, and they are the cornerstone of the nation's republican tradition. The national symbols of the

French Fifth Republic The Fifth Republic (french: Cinquième République) is France's current republican system of government. It was established on 4 October 1958 by Charles de Gaulle under the Constitution of the Fifth Republic.. The Fifth Republic emerged from ...

are: * The French flag * The national anthem: "

La Marseillaise "La Marseillaise" is the national anthem of France. The song was written in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle in Strasbourg after the declaration of war by France against Austria, and was originally titled "Chant de guerre pour l'Armée du R ...

" * The national personification:

Marianne Marianne () has been the national personification of the French Republic since the French Revolution, as a personification of liberty, equality, fraternity and reason, as well as a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. Marianne is displayed in ...

* The national motto: ''

Liberté, égalité, fraternité ''Liberté, égalité, fraternité'' (), French for "liberty, equality, fraternity", is the national motto of France and the Republic of Haiti, and is an example of a tripartite motto. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, i ...

'' (Liberty, equality, fraternity) * The national day:

Bastille Day Bastille Day is the common name given in English-speaking countries to the national day of France, which is celebrated on 14 July each year. In French, it is formally called the (; "French National Celebration"); legally it is known as (; "t ...

(celebrated on 14 July) * The

Gallic rooster The Gallic rooster (french: le coq gaulois) is a national symbol of France as a nation, as opposed to Marianne representing France as a state and its values: the Republic. The rooster is also the symbol of the Wallonia region and the French Commu ...

* The lictor's fasces emblem * The

Great Seal of France The Great Seal of France (french: Grand Sceau de la République française) is the official seal of the French Republic. After the 1792 revolution established the First French Republic, the insignia of the monarchy was removed from the seal. Ove ...

Other French symbols include: * The

cockade of France The cockade of France (french: Cocarde tricolore) is the national ornament of France, obtained by circularly pleating a blue, white and red ribbon. It is composed of the three colors of the French flag with blue in the center, white immediately ...

* The letters "RF", standing for ''République Française'' (French Republic) * The National Order of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleo ...

and the

National Order of Merit An order of merit is conferred by a state, government or royal family on an individual in recognition of military or civil merit. Order of merit may also refer to: * FIFA Order of Merit, for significant contribution to association football * PDC ...

* The Phrygian cap *

Joan of Arc Joan of Arc (french: link=yes, Jeanne d'Arc, translit= �an daʁk} ; 1412 – 30 May 1431) is a patron saint of France, honored as a defender of the French nation for her role in the siege of Orléans and her insistence on the coronat ...

Fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

Flag

The French flag is a

tricolour A tricolour () or tricolor () is a type of flag or banner design with a triband design which originated in the 16th century as a symbol of republicanism, liberty, or revolution. The flags of France, Italy, Romania, Mexico, and Ireland were ...

that consists of three vertical stripes of equal width, coloured in royal blue, white, and red. It is the only official French emblem, according to article 2 of the current

Constitution of France The current Constitution of France was adopted on 4 October 1958. It is typically called the Constitution of the Fifth Republic , and it replaced the Constitution of the Fourth Republic of 1946 with the exception of the preamble per a Consti ...

, adopted in 1958.

Fleurs-de-lis

File:Blason_paris_75.svg, Coat of arms of Paris File:Flag_of_France_(XII-XIII).svg, Flag of France under the Capetian Dynasty since the 12th century File:Flag_of_Quebec.svg, Flag of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirte ...

, paying homage to French symbols

Anthem

The national anthem "La Marseillaise" was composed by

Rouget de Lisle Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle (), sometimes spelled de l'Isle or de Lile (10 May 1760 – 26 June 1836), was a French army officer of the French Revolutionary Wars. He is known for writing the words and music of the ''Chant de guerre pour l'armé ...

in 1792.

Marianne

Marianne is the

national personification A national personification is an anthropomorphic personification of a state or the people(s) it inhabits. It may appear in political cartoons and propaganda. Some early personifications in the Western world tended to be national manifestation ...

of the French Republic. An embodiment of liberty and reason, and a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty, her bust is present in every city hall in France. Her face is also drawn on stamps. The name Marianne enabled the French people to take over the newborn republic, by creating a popular figure with whom French people could easily identify.

Gallic rooster

The choice of the Gallic

rooster The chicken (''Gallus gallus domesticus'') is a domesticated junglefowl species, with attributes of wild species such as the grey and the Ceylon junglefowl that are originally from Southeastern Asia. Rooster or cock is a term for an adult m ...

as a symbol for France dates to the Middle Ages. It finds its origin in a play on the word ''gallus'' (Latin for rooster) and ''Gallus'' (Gallic). Despite its frequent use as a symbol for France, in particular by sports federations, the rooster has never been an official emblem. ''Cocorico!'' (French for 'cock-a-doodle-doo') is often used as an affirmation of French patriotism.

Great Seal

The Great Seal of France (French: ''Grand sceau de la République française'') is the official seal of the French Republic. The seal features Liberty personified as a seated Juno wearing a crown with seven arches. She holds a fasces and is supported by a ship's tiller with a cock printed on it. At her feet is a vase with the letters "SU" (''Suffrage Universel, French for 'universal suffrage'). At her right, in the background, are symbols of the arts (painter's tools), architecture (Ionic order), education (burning lamp), agriculture (a sheaf of wheat) and industry (a cog wheel). The scene is surrounded by the legend ''RÉPUBLIQUE FRANÇAISE, DÉMOCRATIQUE, UNE ET INDIVISIBLE'' (French Republic, democratic, one and indivisible) and ''24 FEV.1848'' (24 February 1848) at the bottom. The reverse bears the words ''AU NOM DU PEUPLE FRANÇAIS'' (In the name of the French people) surrounded by a crown of oak (a symbol of perennity) and laurel (a symbol of glory) leaves tied together with weed and grapes (for agriculture and wealth), and the circular national motto ''LIBERTÉ, ÉGALITÉ, FRATERNITÉ''.

Diplomatic emblem

The

lictor A lictor (possibly from la, ligare, "to bind") was a Roman civil servant who was an attendant and bodyguard to a magistrate who held ''imperium''. Lictors are documented since the Roman Kingdom, and may have originated with the Etruscans. Origi ...

fasces Fasces ( ; ; a '' plurale tantum'', from the Latin word '' fascis'', meaning "bundle"; it, fascio littorio) is a bound bundle of wooden rods, sometimes including an axe (occasionally two axes) with its blade emerging. The fasces is an Italian sym ...

emblem was adopted by the French Foreign Ministry as a symbol for use by French diplomatic and consular missions in 1913, using a design by the sculptor

Jules-Clément Chaplain Jules-Clément Chaplain (12 July 1839 – 13 July 1909) was a French sculptor and one of its finest medallists. With Louis Oscar Roty (1846–1911) he helped found the Art Nouveau movement. Chaplain was born in Mortagne-au-Perche, Orne, and ...

. The emblem also appears on the cover of

French passport A French passport (french: Passeport français) is an identity document issued to French citizens. Besides enabling the bearer to travel internationally and serving as indication of French citizenship (but not proof; the possession of a French p ...

Coat of arms

The current

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of France has been a French symbol since 1905, but it does not have the status of a

national coat of arms A national coat of arms is a symbol which denotes an independent state in the form of a heraldic achievement. While a national flag is usually used by the population at large and is flown outside and on ships, a national coat of arms is normally ...

Cockade

The

cockade A cockade is a knot of ribbons, or other circular- or oval-shaped symbol of distinctive colours which is usually worn on a hat or cap. Eighteenth century In the 18th and 19th centuries, coloured cockades were used in Europe to show the allegi ...

of France is the national ornament of France, obtained by circularly pleating a blue, white and red ribbon. It is composed of the three colors of the French flag with blue in the center, white immediately outside and red on the edge.

Other RF and tricolour-based emblems

File:Blason_tricolore_fr.svg, Shield on the Senate entrance File:Blason RF.svg, Sometimes used on a semi-official basis, but having no official status as the arms of the French Republic

Historical emblems

1940–1944

File:Le cartouche de l'État Français.svg, Official
Cartouche of the French State (

Vichy France Vichy France (french: Régime de Vichy; 10 July 1940 – 9 August 1944), officially the French State ('), was the fascist French state headed by Marshal Philippe Pétain during World War II. Officially independent, but with half of its t ...

; 1940–1944) File:Informal emblem of the French State (1940–1944).svg, Unofficial
Emblem of

Philippe Pétain Henri Philippe Benoni Omer Pétain (24 April 1856 – 23 July 1951), commonly known as Philippe Pétain (, ) or Marshal Pétain (french: Maréchal Pétain), was a French general who attained the position of Marshal of France at the end of Worl ...

, chief of state of the ''French State'', featuring the motto ''Travail, Famille, Patrie'' (Work, Family, Fatherland). The '' Francisque'' was only Pétain's personal emblem but was also gradually used as the regime's informal emblem on official documents (

; 1940–1944). File:La Francisque insigne du Maréchal de France, Chef de l'État Français.svg, Unofficial
Alternate version of the '' Francisque'' emblem of Philippe Pétain, chief of state of the ''French State'' File:Croix de Lorraine 3.svg, Unofficial
The

Cross of Lorraine The Cross of Lorraine (french: Croix de Lorraine, link=no), known as the Cross of Anjou in the 16th century, is a heraldic two-barred cross, consisting of a vertical line crossed by two shorter horizontal bars. In most renditions, the horizon ...

, emblem of

Free France Free France (french: France Libre) was a political entity that claimed to be the legitimate government of France following the dissolution of the Third Republic. Led by French general , Free France was established as a government-in-exile ...

(1940–1944)

References

{{Europe topic, National symbols of