In addition to official coats of arms, countries and nations also have national symbols. Russia has a bear, Great Britain has a lion. There is also a country whose national symbol is the rooster. This is France.
A bit of antiquity
Gauls is the Latin name for the Celtic tribes that inhabited the territory of France, Switzerland, Belgium and Northern Italy. In Latin, the word gallus means rooster. So the Romans called their northern neighbors for the bright red color of their long hair, similar to cockscombs. The extraordinary fighting spirit of the Celtic tribes was also widely known, constantly arranging raids and fighting literally to the last, which only strengthened the prevailing opinion.
The inhabitants of modern France consider themselves the descendants of those ancient Gauls. Strictly speaking, this is not entirely correct, because in their ancestors they have both the Romans and the Goths, as well as the Lombards, Britons and many other peoples. However, the inhabitants of this country are impressed by the kinship with the bullying Gauls, the most similar in temperament to the French.
How the rooster became a national symbol
In the early 90s of the 18th century, a competition was announced in revolutionary France for new images of the obverse and reverse of a new 20 franc coin. Augustin Dupre became the winner. His sketch showed an image of the genius of France and an altar, on one side of which the jury advised to add a symbol of vigilance - a rooster.
New coins were minted and put into circulation in 1791. The French, who saw the image of a bird on them, began to call it the Gallic rooster, especially since they were always proud of their relationship with the fighting Gauls. In addition, the country, gripped by a revolutionary fever, experienced a real spiritual uplift at that time: women of fashion sported in hats resembling rooster combs, ordinary townspeople sang patriotic songs at work and on vacation, artists depicted a rooster in paintings as a symbol of the revolution. Gradually, the rooster in the minds of the French became associated exclusively with their freedom-loving nation.
The image of a rooster in this role has since been widely represented not only on coins, but also on postage stamps, cartoons, posters and military awards. It is noteworthy that the rooster is also present on the emblem of the French Olympic Committee.
But is it only the French who use the rooster as their symbol? Not. The rooster is the national distinctive emblem of Portugal and Sri Lanka, its image is on the coats of arms of the states of Kenya and Trinidad-and-Tobago. However, thanks to the Great French Revolution, which influenced the fate of the whole world and raised the Gallic cockerel to heaven in the minds of people, he is primarily associated with the French.
