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FRENCH HISTORY

Marianne: 5 things to know about the symbol of France

Her face is everywhere from famous artworks to postage stamps, tax bills to public buildings - but who actually is France's 'Marianne'?

Marianne: 5 things to know about the symbol of France
Marianne, the national personification of the French Republic. Photo by JULIEN DE ROSA / AFP

On Tuesday President Emmanuel Macron travelled to Dordogne to unveil ‘the new face of Marianne’, which will appear on all French postage stamps for the next five years.

The ‘Marianne of the future’ represents a woman in profile, with her hair merging into a verdant green background.

The newest depiction of Marianne for the new postage stamp. Image: La Poste

Graphic designer Olivier Balez said he wanted to “share in the narrative about the climate emergency, without falling into stoking anxiety”. “It’s a Marianne of the green transition, with her long neck along the diagonal symbolising momentum towards the future,” he told AFP.

But who actually is Marianne? 

1. She’s very old 

The French symbol of ‘Marianne’ goes back to 1792 and the Revolution, but the figure of a woman wearing a Phrygian cap to represent freedom goes all the way back to ancient Rome.

The goddess Libertas symbolises freedom and her hat is the traditional cap given to freed slaves. A temple to Libertas was first proposed for Rome in 46BC, although it was never actually built. She’s usually described as a ‘matron’ or a mature woman.

She was adopted by the Revolutionaries in France who were casting around for a symbolic figure to represent the country as a replacement for the monarch, who had previously featured on coins and other symbols. 

No-one is quite sure where the name of Marianne came from, but the most frequently-offered explanation is that it is a combination of two of the most common women’s names of the period – Marie and Anne. 

2. She’s an official symbol of the republic 

If you’re taking part in a pub quiz – or your interview for French citizenship – and are asked to name the symbols of the French republic, you will definitely get a point for Marianne.

The others – according to the website of the Elysée – are; the French flag (tricolore), the national anthem (La Marseillaise), the national motto (liberté, egalité, fraternité), the Fête nationale (July 14th), the French cockerel, the crest known as Le Faisceau de Licteur or the seal (Le Sceau).

Marianne has had a few breaks as an official face of the state during the periods of the restoration of the monarchy, but she’s been a well-loved symbol for 231 years. 

Her most famous depiction is in Eugene Delacroix’s painting La Liberté guidant le peuple. Painted in 1830, well after the Revolution, it is the iconic image of France combining both Marianne and the tricolore flag. 

Eugene Delacroix’ painting the “Liberty Leading the People”, at the Louvre in Paris. Photo by THOMAS SAMSON / AFP

3. She wears a hat and sometimes an (insecurely-fastened) blouse

The classic depiction of Marianne shows her wearing a hat – specifically the red ‘phyrgian cap’.

As with Marianne herself, the cap goes all the way back to antiquity but in France it’s particularly associated with the Revolutionaries of the 1790s, cementing her status as a symbol of the French Republic. Most recently, the cap got a new lease of life as the mascot for the 2024 Paris Olympics – although it’s been suggested that the mascots also look like something else.

In Marianne’s official portraits such as on stamps only her head and shoulders are depicted.

But when she’s shown in full-length her depiction often copies Delacroix’s painting by showing her with her right breast bursting out of her blouse. After a 230-year shift as a symbol of the nation you’d think someone could find her a shirt with securely sewn-on buttons. 

4. She’s everywhere 

Once you start looking for Marianne you will realise that she is everywhere – receive any kind of official letter from the government – whether it’s a tax bill, information about your driving licence application or a criminal summons, and there Marianne will be in the top left corner. 

Got a tax bill? There’s Marianne in the corner. Photo: The Local

A sculpted bust of her stands in every mairie in France, from tiny villages to the grand town halls in France’s big cities, and in government offices like ministry buildings and the French parliament. 

There’s a massive statue of her in the Place de la République in Paris. The Monument de la République, to give the statue its official name, has been there since 1883 and she has become a focal point for the frequent protests and demos held in the square – she’s been regularly graffitied and draped in banners and colours symbolising thousands of different causes from equality for women, pension laws and solidarity with Ukraine. She never seems to mind. 

Marianne in Place de la République in Paris, declaring her solidarity with Ukraine. Photo: AFP

She’s also hidden in a few places, including the logo for the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is intended to combine images of the Olympic torch, a medal and Marianne. 

The Paris 2024 logo is intended to be an updated Marianne. Photo by BERTRAND GUAY / AFP

5. She changes all the time

She may be well over 200 years old, but that doesn’t mean that Marianne doesn’t have regular makeovers.

It’s traditional for modern French presidents to choose a new Marianne image for the postage stamps for each of their mandates – as Macron was re-elected in 2022 that means the Marianne unveiled on Tuesday is the second of his presidency.

His first Marianne, also unveiled in Dordogne, was created by the French-British street artist Yseult Digan, more widely known as YZ (pronounced ‘Eyes’), who painted her work across the entire wall of a public-housing estate in Perigueux, southwest France.

French President Emmanuel Macron unveils the previous Marianne postage stamp design in 2018. Photo by Nicolas TUCAT / AFP

“I wanted this Marianne to be strong, proud and determined, with an unflinching look to the future,” the artist told the roughly 150 officials and guests at the work’s presentation in 2018.

Macron praised YZ’s “committed Marianne,” saying: “You were able to marry the reference to the phrygian bonnet with the freedom of her hair.”

She represented a sharp break from the more girlish and dewy-eyed version commissioned by ex-president Francois Hollande, her mouth slightly opened and hand raised over bared shoulders.

The latest new stamps will be available from November 13th. 

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POLITICS

The 3 reasons that French presidents leave office early

French President Emmanuel Macron has ruled out resigning, whatever the result of snap elections he has called for later this month - so what are the circumstances when a French president's term might come to a premature end?

The 3 reasons that French presidents leave office early

Macron has called snap parliamentary elections for the end of June, in an attempt to counter the rise of the far-right. The elections don’t directly affect the office of president since in France presidents and parliament are elected separately.

Although a loss for his party in parliament would be humiliating for Macron, he says he will not resign, telling Le Figaro: “The institutions are clear, the place of the president is clear, and it is also clear whatever the result.”

Listen to the Talking France team discuss the snap elections mean for France, for Macron himself and for foreigners living here in our latest podcast episode.

But do French presidents ever leave office early?

Under the constitution of the Fifth Republic there are three official ways that a presidency can end early, and two of those have happened since 1958.

The three routes are; resigning, dying in office or being impeached.

Dying

This one is pretty clear cut – a presidency obviously comes to an end if the president dies in office. This has happened once during the Fifth Republic, in 1974 Georges Pompidou died of cancer mid-way through his presidential term.

Further back in France’s history president Félix Faure also died in office. His sudden death reportedly occurred when he was in flagrante with his mistress.

In the case of the death of the president, the leader of the Senate takes over as interim president until fresh elections can be arranged – in 1974 this was Alain Poher who served as temporary president until the election of Valéry Giscard d’Estaing a month later.

The President of the Senate takes this role because it is possible to dissolve the Assemblée Nationale, but not the senate. As such, the continuity of the presidential office is ensured.

However, the President of the Senate does not have all presidential powers. For example, they would not have the ability to submit a bill for a referendum, dissolve the Assemblée Nationale, or propose changes to the constitution.

Resignation

The president also has a choice to submit their resignation, whether that is for personal or political reasons.

Again this has only happened once during the Fifth Republic – in 1969, French President Charles de Gaulle resigned following a failed referendum he had initiated. 

De Gaulle’s presidency reached crisis point during the mass strikes and protests of May 1968 and he even briefly left the country, worried for his personal safety. However the general fought back and convincingly won elections later in 1968.

The following year, however, he resigned following the loss of a referendum on the less-than-enthralling subject of proposed reform of the Senate and local government.

As with the death of the president in office, if the president resigns then the president of the Senate steps up as an interim – in 1969 this was again Alain Pohler.

Impeachment

The third scenario where a president may leave office before the end of their term would be impeachment – destitution in French.

This is a relatively new invention in France, as it was first added to the constitution in 2007, in the form of article 68 – and has, so far, never happened.

Impeachment can be triggered “in the event of failure [of the head of state] to fulfil his duties manifestly incompatible with the exercise of his mandate”. For example, this may be a refusal to sign laws, according to French media Ça m’interesse.

According to the French government site Vie Publique, the breach of duty may be political, but it may also be the private behaviour of the president, if his/her actions “have undermined the dignity of his office.”

READ MORE: EXPLAINED: How does the French Senate work?

The dismissal procedure can be triggered without any criminal offence. The procedure must be proposed by at least 10 percent of the Assemblée or the Senate – meaning at least 58 députés or 35 senators. 

Then the impeachment is voted on by secret ballot, with the two chambers serving as the High Court. In order to be accepted, there must be a minimum of a two-thirds majority reached in each chamber. 

During the duration of the procedure, the president would continue in office.

No French president has been impeached during the Fifth Republic, but in October 2016 the Les Républicains party attempted it against then-President François Hollande, accusing him of divulging national security secrets to two journalists who were writing a book about him. The vote was easily defeated. 

There is a separate procedure from impeachment – it is called l’empêchement and it is outlined in Article 7 of the French constitution – which is intended to be used if a president becomes mentally unable to govern.

In this case, a president can be prevented from exercising her or her mandate, but it would be up to the Constitutional Council to determine whether their mental or cognitive faculties are impaired.

Similar to death or resignation, it would be the President of the Senate who steps in while the president is incapacitated.

Military coup

It’s not an official way to end a presidency, but of France’s five (so far) republics, most have ended violently due to wars, invasion or military intervention.

This hasn’t happened during the Fifth Republic but it came close in 1961 – right-wing and military figures, furious at the French colony of Algeria being given independence by president Charles de Gaulle plotted the violent overthrow of his regime. Their plan was defeated and De Gaulle remained in office.

Since 1961 things have been a little calmer on the military coup front, but France is a country of endless surprises . . .

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