French flag imbued with new meaning as nation honors victims

Rather than far-right wing politics, the tricolor flag now represents a sense of togetherness akin to the U.S. flag post-9/11 as France commemorates the victims of the Paris terrorist attacks

French flag imbued with new meaning as nation honors victims

Since the terrorist attacks on Paris, France has embraced its tricolor flag in a whole new way: as a symbol of unity, peace and the French way of life.

French President Francois Hollande urged his countrymen and women to display the blue, white and red flag at their homes to take part in a ceremony Friday commemorating the 130 people who died after jihadists attacked the nation's capital two weeks ago.

Survivors, family members and politicians gathered at Paris’ Les Invalides military museum – home to Napoleon’s tomb – to hear the names and ages of the victims, most of them young, read aloud.

Displaying the national flag is not as common in France as it is in United States. For decades, the French flag has been viewed domestically as either a far-right symbol or something mostly suited for government buildings and sporting events.

The Front National party, which has gained popularity in recent years, has been using the flag to represent its far-right and anti-immigrant views, which caused many liberals and moderates to shy away from it.

Brigitte Béjean, a 50-year-old woman who grew up in Burgundy and has been living in Paris for more than 25 years, told Yahoo News that she has long considered it a mistake to let the right wing appropriate famous French symbols like the flag or the national anthem, “La Marseillaise.”

One can be patriotic and still love the diversity of people that comprises the country, she said, unlike the “nationalists” who typically dislike or fear “the others.”

“In the past two weeks, the change around the flag has been obvious,” Béjean said to Yahoo News Friday, “because the victims we paid tribute to today really represented all of the population – and especially the youth – so everybody felt hurt.”

Suddenly, she said, the French people realized they needed to stand together, show their strength and protect each other, including Muslims.

“The flag and ‘La Marseillaise’ became symbols in the hearts of billions of people,” Béjean added.

The people of France and their supporters around the world are hanging the flag from their homes and businesses in a show of solidarity and defiance. It can be seen in restaurant windows, over shop entrances, beside balconies and above private gardens.

According to a poll last week, nearly two-thirds of French people think it is positive to display the flag outside one’s home or yard.

The French flag came into use after the French Revolution, and the three colors are often said to represent the national values of liberté, égalité and fraternité.

In a tweet, the French government asked its citizens to share pictures of themselves with the colors of the French flag using #FiersdelaFrance (Proud of France). A deluge of images quickly followed.

Arnaud Meunier, director of marketing at Doublet, a flag manufacturer, said his company’s sales have skyrocketed since Nov. 13.

“We have rarely seen anything like this,” Meunier told French magazine L’Obs. “For a regular November, we would sell about 5,000 flags. This year, we should have around 10,000 orders by the end of the month.”

There had been previous attempts to reappropriate French iconography from the far right. In 2007, for instance, Socialist presidential candidate Ségolène Royal raised a few eyebrows among the left when she started to incorporate the national anthem and flag into her rallies.

The French flag’s current omnipresence is reminiscent of the American flag’s widespread display following the September 11 terrorist attacks on the U.S. carried out by al-Qaida.

The Islamic State terrorist group claimed responsibility for the Nov. 13 terrorist attacks, which targeted a soccer stadium, a concert venue, cafés and restaurants. It was the deadliest attack on French soil since World War II.

Séverine, a 40-year-old physical therapist in Paris who wished to have her surname withheld, said she was happy to see the French flag hanging from the balcony of a home in a predominantly Muslim suburb on her way home from work Friday.

“I was very proud to see migrants prove their love to France,” she told Yahoo News. “Tonight, I think French people consider this flag to be ours, despite politics, despite hate. ... We are a nation. We are people who want to leave in peace, raise our children in freedom, equality and brotherhood.”

According to Séverine, it would have been unimaginable for her to display a French flag before “our 09/11,” even after France won the 1998 FIFA World Cup.

“If I said, ‘I have a French flag in my home,’ some people would think that I'm with the SS [referencing the Nazis],” she said. “But now, if I had a French flag, I’d be a patriot.”

She said that she will light a candle tonight to honor the victims because she does not have a flag.

“I’m French. I love my country and I don’t have French flag,” Séverine said. “But my heart is always French.”

Related video: