Flags In The French Revolution

The Looks of Liberty
Revolutionary leaders during the French Revolution realized that symbols, flags, colors, and cartoons had huge impact on politics and the beliefs of the French people. The symbols, flags, colors, and cartoons provided the revolutionaries and the French people an opportunity to define themselves and their revolution while showing loyalty to the nation. The symbols, clothes, flags, and art stood for not just what their role in the French revolution was, but the symbols, flags, and colors demonstrated what the individual’s beliefs were at this time of the Revolution. This is important because the symbols obviously meant a great deal to the French Revolution and who represented the Republic. Symbols of the French Revolution
Taking a closer look at why the revolutionaries asked the people to raise and hang their flags outside their homes could answer questions as why the flags were important in the first place. In the article written by Fre´ron, while Fre´ron is talking to the citizens of France he says “Arise then, form up in ranks, unfurl your flags, and led by La Fayette and animated by liberty, your will be invincible!” (Peuple, 1791) This shows a revolutionary telling the people to get up and open up their flags and nothing will be able to hurt them, and that there is other French citizens hanging up their flags too. By Fre´ron saying, “unfurl your flags and animated by liberty,” it shows that the flag has great meaning in loyalty and
Symbols and colors had a lot to do with the way people of the French revolution carried themselves. For the people of the French Revolution many things were not just things they showed what that individual represented and how the individual wanted to be perceived. Everything had meaning and stood for something. People’s dress and objects they had represented their role and beliefs towards the nation. One cartoon that shows the distinction of the two different types of citizens through the government’s view was “active and passive citizens.” (active and passive citizen, 2001) In this cartoon it is from the anti revolutionists that want to split the two different types of revolutionaries. The two types are ones with land and ones without land. In the cartoon the nobility are showing that the only the revolutionaries who had land could participate in political process. With that cartoon I believed the revolutionaries proved the government and the nobility work by their clothes and symbols they revolutionaries carried around, revolutionaries wanted liberty no matter if they had land or not. There were many items that the revolutionaries shared to show their nationalism. One way to show nationalism in your house hold was to have plates that resembled liberty. The revolutionaries had plates that showed very detail in what the plate represented. In the plate