I have always associated the rooster with France and being a Francophile, I have a few rooster references in my home. I thought of doing a post on roosters and began to wonder whether the rooster was in fact an official French national symbol, or not. Clearly some research was in order and this is what I discovered.
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| I love this light fitting (via House Beautiful) |
The Gallic rooster (French: le coq gaulois) is an unofficial national symbol of France as a nation.
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| Beautiful pot rack (House Beautiful) |
During the times of Ancient Rome, the rooster was neither regarded as a national personification nor as a sacred animal by the Gauls in their mythology. The association of the rooster with the Gauls is probably not true, but widely believed to be true.
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| A rooster perched in my kitchen |
Its association with France dates back from the Middle Age and is due to the play on words in Latin between Gallus, meaning an inhabitant of Gaul, and gallus, meaning rooster, or cockerel. Its use in Europe dates to this period, originally a pun to make fun of the French.
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| Sweet little egg holder |
The association between the rooster and the Gauls/French was developed by the kings of France for the strong Christian symbol that the rooster represents: prior to being arrested, Jesus predicted that Peter would deny him three times before the rooster crowed on the following morning. Its crowing at the dawning of each new morning made it a symbol of the daily victory of light over darkness and the triumph of good over evil. That is why, during the Middle Ages, the rooster became a symbol of France as a Catholic state and became a popular Christian image on weathervanes.
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| Rooster weathervane |
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| I love this rooster toile |
It had been a national emblem ever since, especially during the Third French Republic. The rooster was featured on the reverse of French 20-franc gold pieces from 1899 to 1914. After World War I it was depicted on many war memorials.
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| A recipe book holder in my kitchen |
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| Beautiful hand-painted wall tiles |
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| I love these rooster gift tags for sale on Etsy |
Today, it is often used as a national mascot, particularly in sporting events such as football (soccer) and rugby. The 1998 FIFA World Cup, hosted by France, adopted a rooster named Footix as mascot. The French national Australian rules football team in the 2008 Australian Football International Cup is known as the Coqs after le coq gaulois. Additionally, the France national rugby league team are known as the Chanteclairs referring to the cockerel's song.
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| French stamp |
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| These wall hooks hang in my pantry |
The popularity of the symbol extends into business. Le Coq Sportif ("The sporty rooster"), is a French manufacturer of sports equipment using a stylized rooster as its logo.
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| Rooster door stop |
Vive le coq, vive la France
Till next time
Sharon x
(info via wikipedia)
