Where does the “bonnet de Marianne” come from?
Marianne is one of the symbols of the French republic and embodies the republic as much as the tricolor. Marianne represents the permanence of the values which underpin the attachment of citizens to the republic: “ Liberte, Egalite, Fraternity ". A Marianne is a bust of a woman wearing a Phrygian cap. The Phrygian cap was therefore already a symbol of freedom from antiquity. Under the influence of the Jacobins, the red bonnet became an important emblem of the revolution. During the French Revolution, the first Phrygian caps appeared on the heads of the French, a few months after the storming of the Bastille. They were made of red fabric, and matched the striped clothes of the most fervent revolutionaries, the sans-culottes. Wearing the Phrygian cap was indeed a way of displaying one's patriotism. This cap was also one of the hallmarks of June 20, 1792, a historic day that saw the people invade the Tuileries. Revolutionaries adopted it to symbolize regime change.
What is a “yellow vest”?
The high visibility vest or safety vest is a high visibility garment considered as personal protective equipment (PPE), intended to improve the visibility of a person operating in a dangerous situation. By wearing a yellow vest, the protesters want to express on the one hand that they feel forgotten, invisible to politicians who ignore their living conditions and who do nothing to improve it. They want to be “SEEN” and for that they demonstrate in high visibility vests on the main avenues of the republic. On the other hand they wear this safety vest because they consider evolving in a situation criticism in which they express existential distress. They feel in danger and “EXPRESSES IT”.