Eaglet, Liberty, Hercules, and a Beehive: from the History of the Evolution of the State Seal of France in the Time of Napoleon

Abstract

The article is devoted to the formation of republican and imperial emblems of the late 18th — early 19th centuries. in France, an important element of which was the state seal. A complete break with the heraldic tradition of the Old Order ended not in 1789, but in 1792 in connection with the overthrow of the monarchy. In August 1792, the National Convention approved a new state seal, which was used until 1804 with minor changes. The central element of the seal — the allegory of Liberty in the image of a woman was a well-known visual representation of the image of France from the very beginning of the Revolution, but in September 1792 it for the first time acquires the official status of a state emblem. The author shows how the revolutionary leaders made attempts to replace this image with others, wanting to emphasize the radical break and aspects of their political program. The projects of 1793 by Jean-Louis David and 1796 by Henri Gregoire differed significantly from each other. But the decree on the state seal of 1793, according to which the image of Liberty should be replaced by the image of Hercules, was not put into practice, and Gregoire’s proposals were completely rejected. On the basis of elements of revolutionary emblematic and neoclassical heraldic designs, in June — July 1804, a new state seal of the empire was created, the central elements of which are a golden eagle on an azure field and the image of Napoleon sitting on a throne in imperial insignia. The author emphasizes that the Napoleonic system of heraldic representation was originally conceived by Bonaparte and his advisers as an important political resource.