Coat of arms of France

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The current coat of arms of France has been a symbol of France since 1953, although it does not have any legal status as an official coat of arms. It appears on the cover of French passports and was originally adopted by the French Foreign Ministry as a symbol for use by diplomatic and consular missions in 1912 using a design drawn up by the sculptor Jules-Clément Chaplain.

In 1953, France was faced with a request from the United Nations for a copy of the national coat of arms to be displayed alongside the coats of arms of other member states in its assembly chamber. An inter-ministerial commission requested Robert Louis (1902-1965), heraldic artist, to produce a version of the Chaplain design. This did not, however, amount to the adoption of an official coat of arms by the Republic.

Technically speaking, it is an emblem rather than a coat of arms, since it does not respect heraldic rules—heraldry being seen as an aristocratic art, and therefore associated with the Ancien Régime.

The symbol is used on plaques marking French consulates

• A wide shield with lion-head terminal bears a monogram "RF" standing for République Française (French Republic).
• An olive branch symbolises peace
• An oak branch symbolises perennity.
• The fasces is a symbol associated with justice (from Roman lictor's axes, in this case not fascism).

See also

• Marianne, personification of the French Republic.
• Great Seal of France

External Links

• [The French Arms and other French symbols of state]

Symbols of the French Republic
Marianne > Flag of France
Coat of arms of France > Great Seal of France

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