Rallying around the French flag... or not
- 9 years ago
For every French patriot who hung the tricolour from their balconies during Friday's memorial ceremony for the victims of the Paris attacks, countless others didn't. Flag-waving patriotism of the US kind is a turn-off for many French people.
"Non. We are not in the United States."
Muriel Babandisha, a 23-year-old resident of Paris's 19th arrondissement, was echoing the views of many of her compatriots - especially the younger ones – when she told the Le Parisien newspaper that she didn’t think hanging a flag in her window was the right symbol for commemorating the 130 people killed in the Paris attacks. “I am always a little wary of these patriotic eruptions,” she explained.
For President François Hollande, bedecking public monuments and homes in the blue-white-and-red tricolour is an ideal way for French people to show their solidarity at a time of national mourning. And given the ban on public gatherings under the State of Emergency, many are inclined to agree.
Flags have been hoisted, waved and draped from lamp posts at other epochal moments in recent French history – most memorably, after the “Libération” in 1944, or the against-all-odds victory in the 1998 World Cup.
But at other times, the tricolour has been associated with darker chapters. It was the standard of the World War II Nazi-collaborating Vichy regime and, more recently, has been appropriated by nationalists, including the far right National Front political party.
By embracing the flag as a potent symbol of Republican values, Hollande, a Socialist president, is also attempting to reclaim it from the right, in the name of universal French values of freedom and democracy.
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"Non. We are not in the United States."
Muriel Babandisha, a 23-year-old resident of Paris's 19th arrondissement, was echoing the views of many of her compatriots - especially the younger ones – when she told the Le Parisien newspaper that she didn’t think hanging a flag in her window was the right symbol for commemorating the 130 people killed in the Paris attacks. “I am always a little wary of these patriotic eruptions,” she explained.
For President François Hollande, bedecking public monuments and homes in the blue-white-and-red tricolour is an ideal way for French people to show their solidarity at a time of national mourning. And given the ban on public gatherings under the State of Emergency, many are inclined to agree.
Flags have been hoisted, waved and draped from lamp posts at other epochal moments in recent French history – most memorably, after the “Libération” in 1944, or the against-all-odds victory in the 1998 World Cup.
But at other times, the tricolour has been associated with darker chapters. It was the standard of the World War II Nazi-collaborating Vichy regime and, more recently, has been appropriated by nationalists, including the far right National Front political party.
By embracing the flag as a potent symbol of Republican values, Hollande, a Socialist president, is also attempting to reclaim it from the right, in the name of universal French values of freedom and democracy.
Securi... Go on reading on our web site.
Visit our website:
http://www.france24.com
Like us on Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English
Follow us on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/France24_en