ABSTRACT
T he Republic of France is perhaps the onlystate in the world that has a motto with the word fraternity in it. Whether or not it really is
the only one doesn’t change the fact that this
motto continues to be tightly linked to the
Revolution of 1789 – after the English and
American Revolutions which were more strictly
national in character – as the inaugural moment
of democracy such as it was being offered to the
totality of nations or peoples. As a result, the
motto that came to stand for the Republic, not
precisely at its inception but doubtless starting
from 1793, only really took on its full function
and – if one dares say such a thing – its full
splendour during the Second Republic in
1848. The historical facts regarding this point
are complicated and not very well established,
but what is certain is that it took some time
for the tripartite motto as it is now known –
on the one hand, with the addition of fraternity
to the other two terms, and on the other,
without the supplement of “or death” that was
used in 1793 – to be fully adopted. Some
groups or people were still proposing other
mottos after it was put into place, particularly
in the context of labour movements. For
instance, the Labour Exchange in the city of
Saint Etienne, inaugurated in 1888, bore the
motto “Liberty, Equality, Solidarity, Justice.”
