To mark the beginning of the French presidency of the European Union, the national flag placed under the Arc de Triomphe has been replaced by that of the Twenty-Seven. An initiative which provoked a controversy for certain political figures of the right.
A few hours before the start of the traditional televised address by the President of the Republic of the end of the year wishes to the French, the controversy began on the social network Twitter. To give the note, Marine Le Pen said she was “outraged” to see the tomb of the unknown soldier amputated of the tricolor. The candidate of the National Rally (RN) thus qualified the process of real “provocation”.
I am outraged that the French flag has been replaced by that of the European Union under the Arc de Triomphe, above the tomb of the unknown soldier.
This provocation offends those who fought for France. I ask E. Macron to restore our national flag. pic.twitter.com/sR2IfjV3sG
– Marine Le Pen (@MLP_officiel) December 31, 2021
Two hours later, the candidate of the Reconquest party Eric Zemmour also qualified as “outrage” the replacement of the flags, putting in context the previous modifications made to the monument, the packaging of the Arc de Triomphe in homage to the artist Christo, through the insurrectionary tags inscribed during the Yellow Vests crisis two years ago.
The Arc de Triomphe under Macron: after the sacking and packaging, the outrage. pic.twitter.com/0fLIOBSdO6
– Eric Zemmour (@ZemmourEric) December 31, 2021
THE flag of France “obviously reinstalled”
After Emmanuel Macron’s televised address, the leading figure of the Republicans Valérie Pécresse called for the two flags – European and French – to be placed side by side, believing that the French presidency of the European Union should not be synonymous with ‘a “loss of French identity”.
Presiding over Europe yes, erasing French identity no! I solemnly ask Emmanuel Macron to restore our tricolor flag next to that of Europe under the Arc de Triomphe. We owe it to all our fighters who shed their blood for him. pic.twitter.com/4tQAGwZKmg
– Valérie Pécresse (@vpecresse) December 31, 2021
A little later in the morning, the Secretary of State for European Affairs Clément Beaune declared that the French flag, replaced by that of Europe under the Arc de Triomphe for the start of the French presidency of the EU, was going “obviously to be reinstalled”. He criticized the right for “running” with this controversy “after” the extreme right.
If the flag of the European Union on the Place de l’Etoile was subject to dispute, the blue decoration of the Eiffel Tower received a rather positive reception on the whole.
Like the Iron Lady, other Parisian monuments such as the Pantheon, the Louvre or the Opéra Garnier should soon light up in blue to celebrate the French presidency of the European Union which will run until June. 2022. Across France, many other monuments should also follow suit.