Gilets Jaunes under protestors’ banners declaring “For God and for the King”

The title may be provocative, but the symbolism of the flags at demonstrations harks back to the distant past of France. And it is not coincidence that it is back to Brittany and Normandy and the royalist uprising of the 18th ct.

The Gilets Jaunes, or Yellow Vests, is the term now commonly used in France for the universal protest movement throughout France. Let us leave aside the goals and political and social background of this doubtlessly fascinating movement which is so similar, while being at the same time so different from the protests to which the French are accustomed.

Attentive viewers of video media or people following the demonstrations at street level, in addition to the expected CGT trades union flags and French flags, must have noticed frequent seas of flags with black and white stripes and heraldic ermine in the corner. Sometimes there are more of these than the French tricolour. Occasionally flags with a symbolic red heart with a cross among the flames in the streets.

These flags at demonstrations by the Gilets Jaunes hark back deep into history to the 17th century, recalling stories of revolts in some way similar to those of today. Without a doubt, the demonstrators use them on purpose, to show the government that the current protests did not begin from one day to the next; it is a raised finger to those who can interpret symbols. The flag with black and white stripes is the flag of Brittany, a regional flag and the symbol of Bretons.

And why do these flags appear at demonstrations? For several years now, the “Red Caps” (Bonnets Rouges) movement has been active, protesting against increased tolls on the local motorways because this raises the price of the agricultural products cultivated by the local farmers, and also against Paris’s fiscal and employment policies. Brittany has an inherent awareness of a certain independence from France. As the Duchy of Brittany, the region used to be disputed territory between the English and the French and enjoyed independence until the 16th century. Even after this, as a duchy it had its own assembly and considerable independence from central fiscal policy. Under the rule of Louis XIV, the great uprising of 1675 (Révolte des Bonnets Rouges) began here, in reaction to an attempt to impose new taxes on the region. The ruler had been waging numerous wars and had completely emptied the coffers; it was under Louis XIV that processes began, insufficiently dealt with by his successors, eventually leading to the fall of the monarchy in 1789. During the reign of Louis XIV, the insurgents wore red caps as a symbol which is now being used by today’s protesters in Brittany in honour of their ancestors who also fought against the policies of the centre of the State, in other words the king.

It is no coincidence that in 1794 a great royalist uprising began in Brittany against the government of the Republicans (Jacobins), lasting until 1800. Known as the “Chouannerie”, the uprising had military support from England. Thousands of people died in the rage of civil war. In 1793, an uprising began in Vendée which lasted until 1796. The war was unbelievably cruel and bloody; it is estimated that more than 205,000 people died during it. Great expanses of Brittany and Normandy lay in ruins. Retaliatory raids (known as “hell raids”) under the command of members of the Convention mercilessly burned down entire villages and mass executions took place (e.g. drowning in Nantes). These events were tabooed in French historiography and detailed research was not conducted until the 1980s. It is still a very sensitive topic. Many readers will surely remember the film with Jean-Paul Belmondo, Husband and Wife from the Year Two (1971) with the enchanting music by Michel Legrand. Sometimes this comedy quite accurately illustrates Chouanne royalist rebels and the chaotic atmosphere in Vendée at that time. And why am I talking about these revolts? Because, my dear and respected reader, their symbol was a red heart with a cross, accompanied by the motto “For God and for the King” and these symbols are to be seen at today’s demonstrations too. Although the Gilets Jaunes are not planning to overthrow the Republic and reinstate a king, but the symbolism expresses resistance towards the policies of the so-called 5th Republic and the desire for change. Alongside the yellow vests, Breton symbolism is strikingly evident. It is even more pronounced on the social networks where posts with pictures of former royalist leaders are commonplace. This shows that the symbolism has been adopted by supporters of the Gilets Jaunes, but not just by supporters from Brittany.

Here ends this short excursion to the demonstrations of the Gilets Jaunes. The symbolism used by the movement is very complex (and considerably more complicated than the detail I have described) and is very useful to decipher it, because it reveals the fact that the Gilets Jaune are not just a phenomenon that sprang up in Paris a month ago, but has roots that go far deeper.

Česká verze (překlad) zde: https://kolackovsky.blog.idnes.cz/blog.aspx?c=692361