Euro: France cents

France 1 cent, 2007

2 cent, 2007

5 cent, 2004

Marianne is a national emblem of France and represents Liberty and Reason. Marianne is displayed in many places in France and holds a place of honour in town halls and law courts. She symbolises the "Triumph of the Republic", a bronze sculpture overlooking the Place de la Nation in Paris. The origins of Marianne, depicted by artist Honoré Daumier, in 1848, as a mother nursing two children, Romulus and Remus, or by sculptor François Rude, during the July Monarchy, as an angry warrior voicing the Marseillaise on the Arc de Triomphe, are uncertain. In any case, she has become a symbol in France: considered as a personification of the Republic, she was often used on republican iconography — and heavily caricatured and reviled by those against the republic.

apart from the Euro cents, Marianne also features on postage stamps as well as the former franc currency in parallel with the rooster, which is also a national symbol of France.

10 cent, 1999

The higher denomination French cents show the waling Liberty, which is a prominent symbol of France and has also been a constant feature on the erstwhile Francs. Liberty is often mistaken with Marianne even though she is represented as a classical goddess. Modestly attired, and now wearing a crown of seven rays, Liberty still appears on the French Seal of State seated and holding a fasces in her right hand.