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Colors of the Paris National Guard (France) during the French Revolution (1789-1792)

3. Description (5/6)

Last modified: 2018-07-14 by ivan sache
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  • Part 1. Historical background
  • Part 2. Sources describing the colors and analysis

See also:


Sainte Marguerite du Faubourg Saint Antoine District (5th Division, 1st Battalion)

[Flag]

Color of the 1st Battalion of the 5th Division - Image by Lazare-Maurice Tisserand, 1875

The district, presided by Bélot, lawyer, was named for the St. Marguerite church, originally a small chapel built in 1624, erected a parish church in 1712. Due to the increase in the population of Faubourg Saint Antoine, an adjacent chapel was added in 1765. In 1793, the church was renamed to Temple of Liberty and Egality.
According to a urban legend, the remains of Louis XVI's son, who died on 8 June 1795 in the Temple jail, were thrown in the common grave of the St. Marguerite cemetery. In 1816, an attempt to recover the remains, ordered by King Louis XVIII, failed. Exhumations made in 1846 and 1894 cnfirmed that the buried person had died older than Louis XVII, which did not prevent the "Temple's Child" tombstone to remain there.

Flag quartered blue-red by a white cross. A thin yellow border (or fringe?).
White sash.
Flag offered by (unreadable).
[Vieilh de Varenne's rendition; Margerand's rendition]

Ivan Sache, 24 January 2018


Minimes (5th Division, 2nd Battalion)

[Flag]

Color of the 2nd Battalion of the 5th Division - Image by Lazare-Maurice Tisserand, 1875

The district was named for the convent and church built in 1611 for the Minimes by Marie de' Medici. The cloister was demolished in 1912 while the remaining buildings were transformed into Gendarmerie barracks.

Landscaped flag. In the centre a blue disk charged with three yellow fleurs-de-lis and crowned, branches, clouds, rays.... At the top of the flag, a white scroll the motto "UNION, FIDELITE" (French: Unity, Loyalty).
White sash.
[Vieilh de Varenne's rendition; Margerand's rendition]

Ivan Sache, 24 January 2018


Petit Saint Antoine District (4th Division, 3rd Battalion)

[Flag]

Color of the 3rd Battalion of the 5th Division - Image by Lazare-Maurice Tisserand, 1875

The district was named for the Petit Saint Antoine convent and hospital, founded in 1360 by the Antonins on a piece of land offered by King Charles V. Rebuilt in 1689, the convent was transformed into a religious college and eventually demolished in 1790.

Flag quartered red-blue by a white cross. In the red quarters, fasces with leaves and wreath. In the blue quarter, a yellow three-master ship. The cross inscribed in yellow "LOI ROI" (French: Law King; horizontal arm) and "PATRIE LIBERTÉ" (French: Homeland Liberty; vertical arm, written vertically from bottom to top).
White sash.
Flag offered by the commander of the Battalion.
[Vieilh de Varenne's rendition; Margerand's rendition]

Ivan Sache, 24 January 2018


Saint Gervais District (5th Division, 4th Battalion)

[Flag]

Color of the 4th Battalion of the 5th Division - Image by Lazare-Maurice Tisserand, 1875

The district, presided by Vanglenne, was named for the St. Gervais church. One of the oldest churches in Paris, it was rebuilt in 1211 and, again, in 1420, and increased in 1581. King Louis XIII put up the cornerstone of its gate in 1616. During the Revolution, the church was renamed Temple of the Youth. The big elm that shaded the square in front of the church was cut down at the end of Napoléon I's reign.

White flag with an allegoric scene framed by wreathes (same layout as Saint-Jean-en-Grève). A woman (Liberty) holding a spear topped with a conic device (Liberty Cap), placing a wreath over the head of a bust statue. The column supporting the statue inscribed "L XVI" (Louis XVI). Below the scene, a blue/silver scroll with the motto "LA LIBERTɉ LA LUI DONNE" (French: Liberty gives it to him).
Red and blue sash.
Flag offered by (unreadable)
[Margerand's rendition]

E. Liris explains that the scene represents goddess Liberty, crowning in a condescending and theatral manner the bust of the king. The drawing recalls an engraving made by Saint Non, representing Benjamin Franklin crowned by Liberty. The king, just named "Restorer of Liberty" is still represented. The color was designed by Cholet de Jerphort, lawyer at the Parliament, Vice President of the district and subsequently member of the Commune, to celebrate the courage of the people of Paris, who have destroyed despotism - then still considered as aristocracy, not the monarchy. Another interpretation refers to a desecration of the king in front of Liberty, who is protected by a huge lion symbolizing the force and union of the people of Paris.<+P>

Ivan Sache, 24 January 2018


Saint Jean en Grève District (5th Division, 5th Battalion)

[Flag]

Color of the 5th Battalion of the 5th Division - Image by Lazare-Maurice Tisserand, 1875

The district, presided by Boucher, municipal councillor, was named for the St. Jean en Grève church, originally the baptismal chapel of the St. Gervais church, built in the 14th century. Sold on 17 Nivôse of the Year VIII (17 January 1800), the church was soon demolished.

White flag with an allegoric scene framed by wreathes (same layout as Saint Gervais). In each corner of the flag, a yellow fleur-de-lis pointing centerwise. In the center, a medallion featuring a human face placed against a hill, in the foreground a beast. Above the scene, a blue/silver scroll surmounted by a rooster and the motto "DULCE DECORUM EST PRO PATRIA MORI" (Latin: It is sweet and fitting to die for homeland, originally coined by Horace - Odes, III.2.13).
White sash.
Flag offered by the commander of the Battalion.
[Vieilh de Varenne's rendition; Margerand's rendition]

Ivan Sache, 24 January 2018


Saint Louis la Culture District (5th Division, 6th Battalion)

[Flag]

Color of the 6th Battalion of the 5th Division - Image by Lazare-Maurice Tisserand, 1875

The district, presided by Duparc, was named for the St. Louis la Culture church, built in 1627 by the Society of Jesus, near their Professed House. The first mass was celbrated in the church by Cardinal de Richelieu on 9 May 1641, Ascension Day. The Jesuit orator Louis Bourdaloue preached there several obituaries, the most famous of them being dedicated to the Grand Condé (1687). The Jesuits were expelled by the Paris Parliament in 1762, the church being reallocated to the canons of Sainte Catherine du Val des Écoliers.
When reallocated to the Catholic religion in 1802, the church was renamed Saint Paul Saint Louis, since it succeeded as a parish church the Saint Paul des Champs church, demolished in 1796.

Plain white flag.
White sash.
Flag offered by the damsels of (unreadable).
Sépet gives the color's size as 6 ft.
[Vieilh de Varenne's rendition; Margerand's rendition]

Ivan Sache, 24 January 2018


Blancs Manteaux District (5th Division, 7th Battalion)

[Flag]

Color of the 7th Battalion of the 5th Division - Image by Lazare-Maurice Tisserand, 1875

The district was named for the church and convent established by the Blancs Manteaux (lit., White Coats) Order. When the order was suppressed, the convent was settled by Guillemites, who were called Blancs Manteaux by the inhabitants of Paris. The church was built in 1687. The district was replaced in 1790 by the Marais section, subsequently renamed Homme Armé section and, eventually, Enfants Rouges section.
The song La rue des Blancs-Manteaux, written by Jean-Paul Sartre, lyrics by Joseph Kosma (1944) and popularized by the Frères Jacques, and, mostly, Juliette Gréco, describes the building and immoderate use of the scaffold set up in that street during the Revolution; the not-so-concealed target of the song was capital punishment.

Flag vertically divided blue-white-red. The blue stripe charged with yellow fleurs-de-lis and a yellow "B". The red stripe charged with a yellow "M". In the center, at the top a yellow sun with a crown, at the bottom a sailing ship. Over the sun a white scroll with the motto "LIBRES SOUS UN ROI CITOYEN" (French: Free under a Citizen-King).
White sash.
Flag offered by the ladies of the (district?).
[Vieilh de Varenne's rendition; Margerand's rendition]

Ivan Sache, 24 January 2018


Popincourt / Trainel District (5th Division, 8th Battalion)

[Flag]

Color of the 8th Battalion of the 5th Division - Image by Lazare-Maurice Tisserand, 1875

The district was named for the St. Magdalena convent of Traînel (also written Traisnel, Trenelle...), founded by Benedictin nuns. A piece of land was purchased in 1652, while Ann of Austria put up the cornerstone of the convent on 20 April 1664. Louise-Adelaïde d'Orléans, a niece of Louis XIV, retired in 1731 in the convent, where she restored disipline and died on 20 February 1743. The convent is named for the priory built in 1142 in the village of Traînel (east of Paris) as a daughter of the Paraclet abbey, whose most famous abbess was Héloïse. During the Wars of Religion, the priory was transferred for the sake of safety in 1629 to Melun and, eventually, to Paris in 1652.
The convent's church became the Saint-Ambroise-de-Popincourt parish church.

Flag quartered blue-red by a white cross. In the center, the greater Royal arms. At the top, the writing "BATAILLON DE POPINCOURT". At the bottom, the motto "UN ROI JUSTE FAIT LE BONHEUR DE TOUS 1789" (French: A Fair King Makes Everyone Happy).
White sash.
Flag offered by Mrs. (unreadable).
[Vieilh de Varenne's rendition; Margerand's rendition]

Ivan Sache, 24 January 2018


Capucins du Marais District (5th Division, 9th Battalion)

[Flag]

Color of the 9th Battalion of the 5th Division - Image by Lazare-Maurice Tisserand, 1875

The district was named for the convent established for Capuchins in 1622 in the Marais borough by the financer Claude Charlot. The convent was settled by five monks from the Capuchin convent of St. Honoré Street. Madame de Sévigné was a familar of the convent's chapel. In 1791, the chapel became the St. Francis of Assisi parish church, allocated in 1970 to the Catholic Armenian Church, as the Sainte-Croix Catholic Arminian Cathedral.

Flag quartered red-blue by a white cross. In the first quarter, the Royal arms. In the second quarter, a shovel and other tools. In the third quarter, fasces, a pair of scales and a book. In the fourth quarter, a conic device. At the top, left, and right of the cross, a crown; at the bottom of the cross, a ship. In the center a knot over a silver scroll with the motto "LE MEME NŒŒUD NOUS UNIT" (French: The same Knot Unites Us).
White sash.
Flag offered by the officers and soldiers of the Battalion.
[Vieilh de Varenne's rendition; Margerand's rendition]

Ivan Sache, 24 January 2018


Enfants Trouvés du Faubourg Saint Antoine District (5th Division, 10th Battalion)

[Flag]

Color of the 10th Battalion of the 5th Division - Image by Lazare-Maurice Tisserand, 1875

The district was named for the Orphan (lit., Found Children) Hospital, originally located on the square in front of the Notre Dame cathedral, subsequently transferred to Faubourg Saint Antoine.
The battalion was commanded by the brewer Antoine-Joseph Santerre (1752-1809), involved in several violent events during the French Revolution. The battalion was involved in the seizeure of the Bastile (14 July 1789). Santerre was accused to have ordered to shoot at the mob gathered on the Champ-de-Mars on 17 July 1791, which he denied. On 10 August 1792, Santerre, proclaimed Commander in Chief of the Paris National Guard, favored the seizure of the Tuileries castle, which he was expected to defend; he then managed the transfer of the Royal family to the Temple prison. Commissioned by Pétion, the Mayor of Paris, to protect the prisoners, Santerre allowed the slaughters committed on 2-6 September 1792. Present at Louis XVI's execution on 21 January 1793, Santerre ordered to roll the drums to mask the king's voice. On 17 May 1793, Santerre resigned from the National Guard and went to Vendée, being defeated on 17 Juyl 1793 in Vihiers by the Royalists. Threatened by Robespierre, Santerre escaped trial and eventually survived the Revolution, although ruined.

Flag quartered blue-red by a white cross.
White sash.
[Vieilh de Varenne's rendition; Margerand's rendition]

Ivan Sache, 24 January 2018