The
Cross of Lorraine. The Second World War was fought by the Free French under
the sign of the Cross of Lorraine, the emblem chosen by the Resistance to distinguish
their flag from the tricolour which had been kept by the Vichy Government. 
The
Cross of Lorraine is therefore used regularly on monuments commemorating the 1940-1945
period, from the greatest monuments to the humblestplaces marking the fighting
in the maquis. The first President of theFifth
Republic, General Charles de Gaulle (President 1958-59) 
replaced
the Republic portrayed as a woman by the Cross of Lorraine, surrounded by a V
for victory, on the medal commemorating his entry into the Elysée Palace. This
set a precedent for Presidents to choose their own personal devices. The Cross
of Lorraine features in the bottom left hand corner of the stamp shown on the
right, along with the French
cockerel or rooster and the National
cypher.
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A recent election poster |
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Until
2002 the cap appeared, along with the Cross of Lorraine,
on the logo of a right-wing French political party called
Rassemblement pour la République (RPR),
the neo-Gaullist party of Jacques Chirac. The other part
of the design is a
Phrygian cap (or Liberty Cap) .
The Cross of Lorainne is one of the gererally recognised symbols of sovereignty not mentioned in article 2 of the French Constitution of 1958, which refers only to le drapeau tricolore, bleu, blanc, rouge: The French Flag , L'hymne national, the national anthem, The Marseillaise and La devise de la République; the motto . "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité".
A
cross with two cross-pieces is not always a Cross of Loraine
- it is also used to indicate a senior Churchman such as
a Patriarch (it is also known as a Patriarchal Cross). It
also appears on the arms of the Archbishop of Narbonne (left)
The
Fasces
