HansHolt
2 roosters on 1 coin
Canon EOS 6D - f/18 - 1/3 sec - 100mm - ISO 200
- for challenge Flickr group Macro Mondays,
theme: On a Coin
- coin: France, 50 Francs, 1952, diameter 27mm
- subject: the cock (rooster) is a Venetian glass souvenir
- NB: A rooster, also known as a cockerel or cock, is a male gallinaceous bird, with cockerel being younger and rooster being an adult male chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus).
The term "rooster" originated in the United States as a puritan euphemism to avoid the sexual connotation of the original English "cock", and is widely used throughout North America.
- The Cock (US: Rooster), a Christian symbol of vigilance since the New Testament story of the Passion, has long been part of French national culture, largely because the Latin words for cock and inhabitant of Gaul are similar (Gallus v gallicus).
In the Middle Ages it was widely depicted in French churches and is recorded in 14th century Germany in references to France. Chaucer's vain, foolish and boastful character Chantecleer in the Canterbury Tales may have been recognised by his readership as refering to the French national character.
From the 16th century onwards representations of a cockerel occasionally accompanied the King of France on coins - it appears on the coins struck under both the Valois and Bourbon kings.
The French Revolution gave wider currency to the emblem: it appeared on the Seal of the Premier Consul, and surmounted the staff carried by the allegorical figure of Fraternité. It was an official emblem under the July Monarchy and the Second Republic when it was used on the poles of regimental flags.
Napoleon was not so keen on it. When a commission of Councillors of State proposed it as an emblem of France, the Emperor rejected it on the grounds that: "the cockerel has no strength; in no way can it stand as the image of an empire such as France." He replaced it by a more appropriate eagle. It returned to favour from 1830 onwards.
Under an an ordinance of July 30, 1830, the Gallic cock figured on the buttons of the uniforms of the National Guard and surmounted their colours. It replaced the fleur-de-lis as the national emblem. In 1848 it featured on the the Great Seal of France (The Official Seal of the French Republic) - as it still does - depicted on a ship's rudder next to the figure of Liberty.
2 roosters on 1 coin
Canon EOS 6D - f/18 - 1/3 sec - 100mm - ISO 200
- for challenge Flickr group Macro Mondays,
theme: On a Coin
- coin: France, 50 Francs, 1952, diameter 27mm
- subject: the cock (rooster) is a Venetian glass souvenir
- NB: A rooster, also known as a cockerel or cock, is a male gallinaceous bird, with cockerel being younger and rooster being an adult male chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus).
The term "rooster" originated in the United States as a puritan euphemism to avoid the sexual connotation of the original English "cock", and is widely used throughout North America.
- The Cock (US: Rooster), a Christian symbol of vigilance since the New Testament story of the Passion, has long been part of French national culture, largely because the Latin words for cock and inhabitant of Gaul are similar (Gallus v gallicus).
In the Middle Ages it was widely depicted in French churches and is recorded in 14th century Germany in references to France. Chaucer's vain, foolish and boastful character Chantecleer in the Canterbury Tales may have been recognised by his readership as refering to the French national character.
From the 16th century onwards representations of a cockerel occasionally accompanied the King of France on coins - it appears on the coins struck under both the Valois and Bourbon kings.
The French Revolution gave wider currency to the emblem: it appeared on the Seal of the Premier Consul, and surmounted the staff carried by the allegorical figure of Fraternité. It was an official emblem under the July Monarchy and the Second Republic when it was used on the poles of regimental flags.
Napoleon was not so keen on it. When a commission of Councillors of State proposed it as an emblem of France, the Emperor rejected it on the grounds that: "the cockerel has no strength; in no way can it stand as the image of an empire such as France." He replaced it by a more appropriate eagle. It returned to favour from 1830 onwards.
Under an an ordinance of July 30, 1830, the Gallic cock figured on the buttons of the uniforms of the National Guard and surmounted their colours. It replaced the fleur-de-lis as the national emblem. In 1848 it featured on the the Great Seal of France (The Official Seal of the French Republic) - as it still does - depicted on a ship's rudder next to the figure of Liberty.