The principles and values of the French Republic

“Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité” is the motto of the French Republic. You see it on town halls, schools, coins and official papers.

• Liberty (liberté): you are free to think, speak, believe, move and live as you wish, as long as you respect the law and the freedom of others.
• Equality (égalité): everybody is equal before the law, with the same rights and duties, whatever their origin, sex, religion or situation.
• Fraternity (fraternité): solidarity between people. It is why there is a social security system, public help for those in need and respect between citizens.
• The motto comes from the Revolution of 1789 and appears in the Constitution of the Fifth Republic (1958), Article 2.
• Article 1 says that France is an indivisible, secular, democratic and social Republic.

Exam tip: If a question asks what the motto is, the order is always Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité.

Laïcité is one of the most important and most asked ideas. It means that the State is neutral about religion and that every person is free to believe or not to believe.

• The law of 9 December 1905 separated the Churches and the State. The State does not pay for any religion and does not favour one.
• Everybody is free to practise a religion, to change it or to have none, and to show it in private life and in public, within the limits of public order.
• Public services are neutral: civil servants must not show their religion when they work, and the public schools are secular.
• Since the law of 2004, pupils in public primary and secondary schools may not wear signs that clearly show a religion, such as a veil, a kippah or a large cross.
• Adults who use a public service are free to wear religious signs, but they cannot hide their face in a public space (law of 2010).
• Laïcité is not against religion: it protects the freedom of conscience and the equality of believers and non-believers.

The Republic has several official symbols. You should be able to recognise them and know what they stand for.

• The flag is the tricolour: blue, white and red, in three vertical stripes, with the blue next to the pole.
• The national anthem is “La Marseillaise”, written in 1792 and made the national anthem in 1795; it was confirmed in the Constitution.
• Marianne is the female figure that stands for the Republic. Her bust is in every town hall; her face has changed with the years.
• The national day is 14 July. It remembers the storming of the Bastille in 1789 and the Fête de la Fédération of 1790. There is a parade on the Champs-Élysées.
• The language of the Republic is French (Article 2 of the Constitution). The capital is Paris. The Republic is also symbolised by the Gallic rooster and the seal of the Republic.

Exam tip: Remember: 14 July, La Marseillaise, blue-white-red, Marianne.

Equality is a value of the Republic and a question topic that comes up in every kind of situation: school, work, the family, the street.

• Women and men have the same rights: to study, to work, to vote, to choose a partner, to own property and to be paid the same for the same work.
• Women got the right to vote in France in 1944 (they voted for the first time in 1945).
• Marriage needs the free consent of both spouses. A forced marriage is a crime, and so is violence in the couple or in the family.
• Discrimination (treating somebody worse because of origin, sex, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation…) is forbidden and punished, for example in a job search, in housing or at the entrance of a place.
• Racism, antisemitism and hatred are not opinions but offences. If you are a victim you can call 3919 (violence against women) or ask the Défenseur des droits.