It caps Liberty and therefore the Republic
The Phrygian bonnet tops "La Liberté guidant le Peuple" in Eugène Delacroix's 1830 painting at the Musée du Louvre in Paris.
Symbol in the Roman Empire.
The word "Phrygian" comes from the Phrygian people who wore it in battle, in red, and lived on the borders of Anatolia (now Turkey). It is sometimes seen on the headdress of Parîs, son of King Priam of Troy. He also wore the headdress of the god Mythra, originally a Persian god, but later revered by Roman soldiers. It came to be confused with the "pileus", the cap worn by freedmen, former slaves who were able to become free. It was this use of the bonnet that inspired the French revolutionaries. In France, galley slaves (sentenced to row on the king's galleys) wore similar red bonnets, not at all a symbol of freedom.
![Ulysse wearing a pileus. Image chosen by monsieurdefrance.com: Nordisk familjebok (1914), vol.20, p.505 [1], Domaine public, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1379091](https://monsieur-de-france.com/media/cache/ludodev_compress_webp/uploads/images/odysseus-bjuder-cyklopen-vin-nordisk-familjebok-1707060898.png)
Ulysse wearing a pileus. Image chosen by monsieurdefrance.com: Nordisk familjebok (1914), vol.20, p.505 [1], Domaine public, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1379091
Revolutionary symbol
Tree of Liberty designs during the French Revolution. They are all topped with Phrygian bonnets. Image selected by monsieurdefrance.com via gallica.fr / BNF.
In the first years of the French Revolution, the most determined began to wear the red bonnet to demand liberty . It is thought that it was Swiss soldiers, condemned to prison and thus to wear the red bonnet, during the Nancy affair in 1790, then rehabilitated in 1792, who made the headdress fashionable by wearing it when they were received by the crowd at the Assemblée Nationale. Little by little, the Phrygian cap became the symbol of the "sans-culottes". The sans-culottes were far from naked; they were poor, from the working class, and wore pants, because trousers were short pants worn with silk stockings, which implied being rich and therefore, in the spirit of the times, aristocratic. They were worn during major demonstrations, at the foot of the scaffold, or during the battles the Republic waged against allied Europe. Having become a symbol of the People, King Louis XVI was forced to wear it and toast the health of the Nation when the Tuileries Palace was first taken in June 1792.
Louis XVI wearing the Phrygian cap at the time of the first capture of the Château des Tuileries in 1792. Image selected by monsieurdefrance.com; vintage etching.
Symbol of the Republic.
Marianne wearing a Phrygian cap on the Place de la République in Paris / Photo chosen by monsieurdefrance.com: Hagen411 via depositphotos
It disappeared during the Empire and Restoration (the return of the monarchies from 1815 to 1830), but is now back in fashion. With the fall of the 2nd Empire in 1871, the red bonnet made a strong comeback. It became one of the symbols of the Republic, topped by Marianne, the woman who symbolizes the Republic. The red bonnet is now to be found in every town hall in France. It appears on the symbols of the Republic, notably on the coat of arms of the French Republic.
The Phryges
Phryges mascot for Paris2024. Photo chosen by monsieurdefrance.com: FreerLaw via depositphotos.
In 2024, the Phrygian cap has inspired the "phryges" mascots of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. There are 2 main ones, one of which is disabled. They are available in a wide range of designs to promote the various Olympic events. They are also used by French cartoonists to mock Paris 2024.
A symbol shared with others
The Phrygian cap is also a symbol of the republics of Colombia, Paraguay, Argentina, Haiti and El Salvador. For the record, it's also worn by Peyo's famous Smurfs.
