Political Symbols of the French Revolution

The French Revolution, a pivotal period in history, produced powerful political symbols that encapsulated the ideals and aspirations of the revolutionary movement. The tricolor flag with blue, white, and red stripes emerged as a powerful emblem representing liberty (blue), equality (white), and fraternity (red).

The Phrygian cap, a soft, red hat with a forward-tilted peak, became an iconic symbol of revolutionary devotion to freedom and resistance to tyranny. His association with freed slaves in ancient Rome reinforced the revolutionary message.

Marianne, embodying the spirit of the Republic, became a symbolic figure depicted as a woman with a Phrygian cap, symbolizing the triumph of freedom.

The national motto “Liberté, égalité, fraternité” (Liberty, equality, fraternity) aptly captured revolutionary ideals, reflecting devotion to individual freedoms, social equality, and fraternity.

These enduring symbols of the French Revolution not only represented the radical changes of the times but also became universal symbols of democracy and human rights, leaving an indelible mark on political iconography around the world.

Political Symbols of the French Revolution

Introduction

Symbolism in the French Revolution was a means of distinguishing and celebrating the main features of the French Revolution and ensuring public identification and support. In order to effectively illustrate the differences between the new republic and the old regime, the leaders had to introduce a new set of symbols to be celebrated in place of the old religious and monarchical symbolism. To this end, symbols were borrowed from historical cultures and redefined, while symbols of the old regime were either destroyed or reassigned acceptable properties. New symbols and styles were introduced to separate the new, republican country from the monarchy of the past. These new and revised symbols were used to instill in the public a new sense of tradition and respect for the Enlightenment and the Republic.

Fasces

Fasces, like many other symbols of the French Revolution, are of Roman origin. Fasces are a bundle of birch rods containing a sacrificial axe. In Roman times, fasces symbolized the power of the magistrates, which represented unity and agreement with the Roman Republic. The French Republic continued this Roman symbol representing state power, justice and unity. During the revolution, the image of the fasces was often used in conjunction with many other symbols. Although seen during the French Revolution, perhaps the most famous French reincarnation of the fasces is the Fasces surmounted by a Phrygian cap. This image has no depiction of an ax or a strong central state; rather, it symbolizes the power of a freed people by placing the Liberty Cap on top of the classic symbol of power.

Tricolor cockade

Cockades were widely worn by revolutionaries from 1789. They now pinned the blue and red cockade of Paris onto the white cockade of the ancien régime – thus producing the original cockade of France. Later, the distinctive colors and styles of cockades indicated the wearer’s faction – although the meanings of the various styles were not entirely consistent and varied somewhat by region and period. The tricolor flag is derived from cockades used in the 1890s. They were circular rosette-shaped emblems attached to the hat. Camille Desmoulins asked his followers to wear green cockades on July 12, 1789. The Paris militia, formed on July 13, adopted the blue-red cockade. Blue and red are the traditional colors of Paris and are used on the city’s coat of arms. Cockatoos with different color schemes were used during the storming of the Bastille on 14 July. The blue and red cockade was presented to King Louis XVI at the Hotel de Ville on 17 July. Lafayette argued for adding a white stripe to “nationalize” the design. On July 27, the tricolor cockade was adopted as part of the uniform of the National Guard, the national police that succeeded the militias. The Society of Revolutionary Republican Women, a militant group on the far left, called for a law in 1793 that would force all women to wear the tricolor cockade to demonstrate their loyalty to the Republic. The law was passed, but other women’s groups violently opposed it. The Jacobins in charge of the government decided that women had no place in public affairs and in October 1793 dissolved all women’s organizations.

Phrygian Cap or Liberty Cap

In revolutionary France, the cap or cap was first seen publicly in May 1790 at the Troyes festival, where it adorned a statue representing the nation, and in Lyons on a spear carried by the goddess Libertas. To this day, the national emblem of France, Marianne, is depicted with a Phrygian cap. The hats were often knitted by women known as Tricoteuse who sat next to the guillotine during public executions in Paris during the French Revolution and are said to have continued knitting between executions. The Liberty cap, also known as the Phrygian cap or pileus, is a brimless felt cap that is conical in shape with the tip drawn forward. The cap was originally worn by the ancient Romans, Greeks, Illyrians and is still worn today in Albania and Kosovo. The cap includes ennobling effects, as seen in its association with Homer’s Odysseus and the mythical twins Castor and Pollux. The emblem’s popularity during the French Revolution is partly due to its importance in ancient Rome: its use refers to the Roman ritual of freeing slaves, in which a freed slave receives a bonnet as a symbol of his newfound freedom. The Roman tribune Lucius Appuleius Saturninus incited the slaves to revolt by displaying the pileus as if it were a standard. The hat is often red. This type of cap was worn by the revolutionaries when the Bastille fell. According to the Revolutions de Paris, it became “a symbol of liberation from all servitude, a sign of the unification of all the enemies of despotism”. The pileus competed with the Phrygian cap, a similar cap that covered the ears and neck, for popularity. The Phrygian cap eventually supplanted the pile and usurped its symbolism, becoming synonymous with republican liberty.

Clothing

As the Radicals and Jacobins became more powerful, there was a backlash against high fashion due to its extravagance and its association with royalty and aristocracy. It was replaced by a kind of “anti-fashion” for men and women that emphasized simplicity and modesty. The men wore plain dark clothes and short, unpowdered hair. During the Terror of 1794, the daily wear of sans-culottes symbolized Jacobin egalitarianism. Sans-culotte literally translates to “without culottes”, referring to the long trousers worn by revolutionaries who used their dress to distance themselves from the French aristocracy and the aristocracy as a whole, which would traditionally wear culottes, or silk trousers below the knee. . Such long pants were a symbol of a working man. High fashion and extravagance returned under the Directory, 1795-99, with his “directoire” styles; men did not return to extravagant habits. Another symbol of the French aristocracy was the high heel. Before the French Revolution, high heels were a staple of men’s fashion and were worn by those who could afford them to signify high social status. Louis XIV popularized and regulated the wearing of high heels in his court. The king himself, along with many of the nobles at his court, wore red high heels, the color red being used to “…demonstrate that the nobles had not soiled their shoes…” according to court expert Philip Mansel. History. However, during the Revolution these styles fell out of fashion for men as the monarchy became increasingly unpopular and relations with the monarchy became increasingly dangerous. Such fashion also became a symbol of frivolity, making it unpopular with the average French individual.

Liberty Tree

Officially adopted in 1792, the Liberty Tree is a symbol of eternal republic, national liberty and political revolution. It has historical roots in revolutionary France, as well as America, as a symbol shared by two nascent republics. The tree was chosen as a symbol of the French Revolution because in French folklore it symbolizes fertility, which provided an easy transition from revival from one cause to another. The American colonies also used the Liberty Tree idea to celebrate their own acts of rebellion against the British, beginning with the Stamp Act Rebellion of 1765. The riots culminated in the hanging of effigies of two Stamp Act politicians on a large elm tree. The elm came to be celebrated as a symbol of freedom in the American colonies. It was adopted as a symbol that must live and grow together with the Republic. To this end, the tree is depicted as a sapling, usually an oak in the French interpretation. The Liberty Tree serves as an ongoing celebration of the spirit of political freedom.

The Bastille Elephant and the July Column

The fall of the Bastille on July 14, 1789 marked an important moment for the French people. A prominent symbol of monarchical rule, the Bastille initially served as a political prison. Over time, however, the Bastille changed from a prison to a primarily weapons location, although the symbolism remained and the building became synonymous with the French monarchy and tyrannical rule. The fall of the monument resulted in the flight of several nobles from France and violent attacks on the wealthy. The Bastille Elephant was erected on the occasion of the fall of the Bastille, designed by Napoleon as a symbol of his own victories, fashioned from the weapons of his enemies at the Battle of Friedland. The elephant was demolished in 1846 and replaced by the July Column, which now stands in Paris on the original elephant base. This column was created during the reign of King Louis-Philippe I to celebrate the July Revolution of 1830 and the rise of the July Monarchy.

Hercules

(1) The symbol of Hercules was first adopted by the Old Regime to represent the monarchy. Hercules was an ancient Greek hero who symbolized strength and power. The symbol was used to represent the king’s sovereign authority over France during the reign of the Bourbon monarchs. However, the monarchy was not the only ruling power in French history to use the symbol of Hercules to declare its power. During the revolution, the symbol of Hercules was revived to represent the nascent revolutionary ideals. The first use of Hercules as a revolutionary symbol was during a festival celebrating the National Assembly’s victory over federalism on August 10, 1793. “Federalism” was a movement to weaken the central government. This Festival of Unity consisted of four stations around Paris that featured symbols representing the main events of the revolution that embodied the revolutionary ideals of freedom, unity and power.

(2) The statue of Hercules, placed in the station commemorating the fall of Louis XVI, symbolized the power of the French people over their former oppressors. The foot of the statue was placed on the throat of the Hydra, representing the tyranny of federalism that the new republic defeated. In one hand the statue held a mace, a symbol of power, while in the other it held a fasces, which symbolized the unity of the French people. The figure of Hercules helped the new republic create its new republican moral system. Hercules thus evolved from a symbol of the sovereign’s sovereignty into a symbol of a new sovereign authority in France: the French people. This transition was easily made for two reasons. First, because Hercules was a famous mythological figure and formerly used by the monarchy, he was easily recognized by educated French observers. It was not necessary for the revolutionary government to educate the French people against the background of a symbol. Moreover, Hercules recalled the classical age of the Greeks and Romans, a period that the revolutionaries identified with republican and democratic ideals. These connotations made Hercules an easy choice to represent the powerful new sovereign people of France.

(3) During the more radical phase of the revolution between 1793 and 1794, the use and depiction of Hercules changed. These changes to the symbol were caused by revolutionary leaders who believed the symbol was inciting violence among ordinary citizens. The victorious battles of Hercules and the overcoming of the enemies of the Republic became less prominent. In discussions about what symbol to use for the Seal of the Republic, the image of Hercules was considered, but was ultimately ruled out in favor of Marianne. Hercules was on the coin of the Republic. However, this Hercules was not the same as the image of the pre-terrorist phases of the revolution. The new form of Hercules was more tamed. In the early stages of the French Revolution, he appeared more fatherly, older and wiser than a warrior. Unlike his 24-foot tall statue at the Supreme Being Festival, he was now the same size as Liberty and Equality. Also, the language on the Hercules coin was very different from the rhetoric of pre-revolutionary depictions. The words “liberty and equality united” were used on the coins. This is in contrast to the forceful language of early revolutionary rhetoric and that of the Bourbon monarchy. In 1798, the Council of Antiquities discussed the “inevitable” change to the problematic image of Hercules, and Hercules was eventually discarded in favor of an even more docile image.

La Marseillaise

“La Marseillaise” became the national anthem of France. The song was written and composed in 1792 by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle and was originally called “Chant de guerre pour l’armée du Rhin”. It was adopted by the French National Assembly as the anthem of the First Republic in 1795. It got its nickname after it was sung in Paris by volunteers from Marseilles marching on the capital. The song is an early example of the “European March” hymn style. The hymn’s evocative melody and lyrics led to its widespread use as a revolutionary song and its incorporation into many pieces of classical and popular music. Cerulo says that “the design of ‘La Marseillaise’ is attributed to the French general Strasburg , which is said to have directed de Lisle, the composer of the hymn, to produce one of those hymns which will carry into the souls of men the rapture which it (the music) suggests.”

Guillotine

Hanson notes, “The guillotine is the main symbol of terror in the French Revolution.” Invented by a doctor during the Revolution as a faster, more efficient and more expressive method of execution, the guillotine has become part of popular culture and historical memory. He was hailed as the people’s avenger on the left and reviled as a symbol of the Reign of Terror on the right. Its operation became a popular pastime that attracted large crowds of spectators. Vendors sold programs with the names of those who were to die. Many people came day after day, vying for the best places from which to watch the proceedings; the knitting women (tricoteuses) formed a cadre of tough regulars, inciting the crowd. Parents often brought their children. At the end of the Terror, the crowds thinned out dramatically. Repetition stopped even this most gruesome entertainment and the audience grew bored.

Volcano

(1) The rhetoric of violence in the French Revolution was heavily influenced by the tendency to turn to the phenomena of the natural world to describe and explain changes in society. In a world of rapid political and cultural change, prominent figures in the revolution actively used certain linguistic tools to create a political language that resonated with the public. Many of them were also familiar with emerging science fields, either through a developed interest in or pursuit of careers in the natural sciences. As a result, natural images became a means of “representing and explaining the revolution”.

(2) In this way the volcano metaphor flourished in the revolutionary imagination. Initially, the volcano symbolized “unbridled power and destruction, but a destruction that could work even against France”. However, as the revolution progressed, so did the image of the volcano and its importance to human progress. From a source of potential destruction and disaster, the volcano later symbolized ‘constructive revolutionary transformation’ during the Reign of Terror. As the political situation shifted again, the image of the volcano eventually returned to its position as a force of unyielding power. The changing symbolic meanings of the volcano itself represent revolution as a source of unpredictable and inevitable destruction that lies beyond human control. However, given the hostility of the French people, their growing political discontent and unrest, even the burning volcano metaphor paled in comparison. Even metaphors drawn from nature’s fierce glory could not describe the fury of the nation and its people scorned. This metaphorical transformation is reflected in genres across the literary spectrum, including the birth and growing popularity of the novel as a form of expression.

(3) These vivid comparisons between social transformation and natural disaster were not uncommon. Political philosopher Jean Jacques Rousseau, writing twenty years before the 1787 gathering of notables, emphasized seismic activity such as volcanic tremors, explosions, and pyroclastic waves as a key force in the spread of early human civilization. According to his Second Discourse, natural disasters not only brought communities together and strengthened their bonds of cooperation, but also allowed such communities to witness the power of combustion as a fundamental resource for the eventual production of working tools. Rousseau’s optimistic vision of naturalized change, of revolution as a generative and progressive stage in the life cycle of government, is echoed but not shared by the British radical press. When the image of the volcano became codified as a mark of the French language, the revolutionary threat was unclear, however numerous citations can be traced in major newspapers published between 1788-1830. In his Weekly Political Register, MP William Cobbett warns of the “burning lava of the French Revolution” and deplores the day when “our (British) power (shall) be crippled by such a convulsion of nature”.

Marianne

Marianne was the personification of the French Republic and became a national symbol during the revolution. She was depicted as a strong and courageous woman with a Phrygian cap, a spear and a tricolor flag. Marianne represented the values ​​of liberty, equality and fraternity and was used as a symbol of the French Republic.

Common Man’s Revolution

This image is of a Savoy man celebrating the liberation of Savoy, a province in southeastern France. The purpose of this image is to show that the French Revolution was popular in all parts of France, not just Paris. The intention was to show that the revolution was the general will of the people and not just a few urban revolutionaries. It is obvious that he is a peasant because of his clothes. He wears sansculotte trousers, which were a symbol of the lower classes. His rustic shoes also emphasize this. The background shows him in a rural, mountainous region, emphasizing the fact that he is not Parisian. His support for the Revolution is clear from the tricolor flag he holds and the cockade on his hat.

Interesting facts about the symbols of the French Revolution

France still used the guillotine for executions until 1977. La Marseillaise lost its status as a national anthem during Napoleon’s reign. It was not until 1879 that it was restored as the permanent national anthem of France. In 1793 a law was passed requiring all women to wear the tricolor cockade or be sent to prison. The law was later repealed not because it was unjust, but because the leaders decided that women had no place in politics. Watching people being executed by the guillotine was a popular form of entertainment during the revolution. People got there early to get a good seat and bought programs listing those to be executed. Parents even brought their children to watch.

Conclusion

As evidenced by these examples, the symbols of the French Revolution took many forms, from clothing to masterpieces, French history did not yet know nationalist ideals until the advent of the Revolution. At a time when literacy was not common among the lower classes, these symbols served as a way to unite people divided by culture, tradition, and great distances. Not only did these symbols serve to unite otherwise disparate groups of people, they helped educate other members of the lowest strata of society. Our research concluded that in addition to appealing to the passion of the working class for change in government, these symbols evolved into an open invitation to all struggling members of society to join their cause. In numerous regions across France lived thousands of people who had little inclination to consider themselves “French”, as their loyalties often did not extend far beyond their cities. The symbols of the French Revolution greatly aided the overall construction of French identity, and the nationalist sentiments carried during this time are still largely evident in French culture today.

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