Last modified: 2004-12-22 by ivan sache
Keywords: first empire (france) | eagle | aigle | thunderbolt (yellow) | bee | irish legion | legion irlandaise | harp | imperial guard | garde imperiale |
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On 18 May 1804, Premier Consul Napoléon Bonaparte was proclaimed Emperor of the French (Empereur des Français). This ended the political regime known as the Consulate (Consulat), which had started with the coup against the Directoire led by the very same Napoléon Bonaparte on 18-19 Brumaire Year VIII (9-10 November 1799).
Emperor Napoléon was crowned on 2 December 1804 in cathedral Notre-Dame in Paris by Pope Pius VII. The crowning ceremony took place nearly seven months after the proclamation of the Empire because the new Emperor had to reorganize the institutions, establish an Imperial family and court, and, last but not least, convince the Pope to crown a former revolutionary.
On 5 December, Napoleon presided a ceremony on the Champ-de-Mars, in Paris, during which new colours were allocated to the regiments. The choice of the place for the ceremony was not coincidental at all. The Champ-de-Mars was a parade ground, named after the Roman god of war. The Fête de la Fédération was celebrated othe Champ-de-Mars on 14 July 1790. Next year, the red flag was hoisted on the Champ-de-Mars on 17 July and the first martyres of the Revolution were killed. Therefore, the new Emperor claimed to be the successor of the Roman emperors without abandoning his own revolutionary past.
The Champ-de-Mars ceremony is shown on a painting by Louis David (1748-1825, often considered as the inventor of the optical proportions of the French flag at sea), now exhibited in the Palace of Versailles. The Emperor is shown wearing a purple coat decorated with golden bees, holding in his left hand a scepter topped by an eagle, and crowned with laurels. He points his right arm to a group of soldiers which dip their regimental flags. The space between the Emperor and the soldiers is filled up with a group of marshals raising their batons. The scenography was directly inspired by the ceremony of oath taking by the Roman legions.
The flags shown by David are different from the Imperial Guard standard shown below. The flags are made of a white diamond reaching the borders of the flag, charged with the golden writing:
The triang