As (perhaps surprisingly) most readers of
The Mad Monarchist hail from the United States, I am sure everyone knows about the recent campaign to purge all symbols of the former Confederacy on the grounds that these are symbols of hatred, racism and division. It started with the Confederate battle flag flying over a monument to Confederate soldiers in Columbia, South Carolina and very quickly expanded to banning the rebel banner from public view entirely. The campaign gained such momentum that the bodies of a dead Confederate general and his wife are now set to be dug up in Memphis and the 70's TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard" has been banished from the airwaves as the main characters drive a car with the offensive flag on the roof. What (I am sure someone is already asking) does any of this have to do with monarchy? Well, the symbol of one of the most prominent monarchies in the world may be next. It is a symbol prominently featured on flags across the United States and a symbol long identified with a kingdom near and dear to the hearts of many monarchists; the traditional Kingdom of France. Yes, I refer to the fleur-de-lis of the Bourbon monarchy.
On Thursday, at a New Orleans City Council meeting, the leader of the activist group "Remove Racist Images", one Rudy Mills, said that the fleur-de-lis is the next offensive symbol that should be removed from view. After applauding the removal of the Confederate ensign, Mr Mills said that the fleur-de-lis should go as well. "Check the history. It's also a very racist symbol" he said. Last month, this same man held a rally to demand the removal of this and any other symbol from New Orleans deemed to be offensive saying, "The rally is to start a movement to remove all the racist images that surround our city." At the same City Council meeting, New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu (Democrat, son of a former mayor, brother of a former senator) said that, "New Orleans is a place where the original vision of America rings authentic and true, that all men are created equal. However, make no mistake, these statues and symbols that reflect the opposite of our shared American values have no place where they are today."
As New Orleans was the largest city of the longest-held foothold of the Kingdom of France in North America, the fleur-de-lis can be seen almost everywhere. It appears on the state flag of Louisiana, is carved into old buildings and markers, appears on the French flags flown along with other historic colors and is even emblazoned on the helmets of the NFL's New Orleans Saints football team. How did it suddenly become racist? Well, almost anything can be seen that way if one chooses to. If you have made up your mind to find something, no matter what it is, you will probably be able to come up with something to fit your criteria. In this case, Dr. Ibrahima Seck, described as a "slave historian", said that the fleur-de-lis was branded onto slaves in Louisiana under the Kingdom of France according to the "Code Noir" adopted in 1724 for French colonies across the globe. Seck told a local television station, speaking of escaped slaves that were re-captured, "He would be taken before a tribunal or court and the sentence would be being branded on one shoulder with the fleur-de-lis, and then they would crop their ears," also saying that if a second attempt was made to escape that another fleur-de-lis would be branded onto the slave and his hamstrings would be cut.
Now, monarchists and French royalists can be somewhat reassured that, in all probability, the Confederate flag will remain the only pariah in this country as no one is prepared to defend it. The fact that the French reign is so far distant in history, the fact that France supported the United States in winning independence from Britain and because it is so widespread, it is highly doubtful that this effort to ban the fleur-de-lis will be successful. Terence Fitzmorris, a Tulane history professor, said in a television interview that the symbol of Bourbon France cannot be seen in the same way as the Confederate flag. He said, "The fleur-de-lis was the symbol of a monarchy. The United States of America was a slave-holding republic, not just the south or the Confederacy. Where do you stop? Do you get rid of all symbols?" A valid question and one that appeals to common sense. However, common sense has been rather lacking in the rush of anti-Confederate hysteria (when you start digging up skeletons after over a century and banning TV shows that were about slapstick comedy and car chases, I think you have waved 'bye-bye' to rationality some time back). Personally, I doubt that enough people could be moved to outrage to start banning the fleur-de-lis. However, I would not dismiss those who worry. Recent events have shown just how easy it is to get such a campaign moving and if enough people choose to seize on it as a symbol of racism, no one is going to defend it.
Remember,
as we have talked about before, other monarchial flags have been deemed offensive such as the St George Cross of England, the War Ensign of Imperial Germany, the Prince's Flag of the Netherlands, the Canadian Red Ensign or the Rising Sun flag of Japan. Stranger things have happened and the lilies of France may be next. With no Confederate flag to be the bogeyman anymore, a new target will have to be found. Again, I doubt this will succeed but I cannot dismiss it out of hand. I learned long ago never to underestimate the stupidity of people in large numbers or politicians who want to jump on every passing bandwagon that comes along.
This is full blown Communism or almost full blown because to remove images of something that offends people shows how childish we are as a nation. The majority of Americans have no idea of the real history of this nation or who helped us win our Independence. Without France, we would still be a a type of colony and how do u repay France by watching as their King and queen is murdered. Americans still think we won it all on our own but what can u expect from a nation of lemmings.
ReplyDeleteNow, now, there should be fairness here. The U.S. did not sit back and do nothing while the King & Queen of France were murdered. They ended the alliance with France and fought the "Quasi-War" against the First Republic. Even that arch-English-traitor Thomas Paine warned the French Revolutionaries that Americans saw King Louis as their savior and that if they sent him to the guillotine it would turn public opinion in the U.S. against the Revolution.
DeleteI would be 100% against the removal of the fleur-de-lis. It was not designed as a racist symbol. It was literally thousands of years old before the Americas were discovered. Though I've never been a -huge- Bourbon fan they didn't invent the fleur-de-lis.
ReplyDeleteWilliam Tappan Thompson and those who designed the Confederate flag explicitly stated it was:
1.) The white man's flag, representing the "heaven ordained" supremacy of the White "Race."
2.) An a-religious symbol, the use of the saltire actually replacing older Secessionist flags that were crosses.
3.) Representing the slave-holding states via the stars on the flag.
4.) Was not used in the South (Robert Lee instructed Southerners to fold up and put away the Confederate symbols to foster unity) until the Civil Rights Era, when Dixiecrats flew it in defiance of the Federal Government's attempts at integration and desegregation.
These are historical facts.
Equating the French Monarchy and its symbols with the Southern Confederacy is an insult. An insult to Catholics, Frenchmen, Louisianians, Cajuns, and truth.
1) One man designed the Confederate battle flag and that was General Pierre G.T. Beauregard, a native of Louisiana and the first American Catholic to become a 4-star general. After the war he campaigned for civil rights for Blacks (including voting rights).
Delete2) It was used long before the 60's and there are plenty of photos to prove it. Immediately after the war it was banned because the south was under military occupation and had no civil rights. Any display of anything Confederate was banned. When the country began to reunite, those rules were abolished and all Confederate veterans were given the same treatment as any American veterans before the 20th Century event started.
Those are some facts for you.
Oh no, the ebil waycism!
DeleteThis idea of "racism" is itself a joke. It's entire purpose is to guilt White people. The supposed "crimes" committed by evil White racists have been committed by virtually every people ever. Slavery was just there before the mid-19th century. Everybody believed that you should, generally speaking at least: marry within your own race/ethnicity, prefer people of your own race, and make policies that benefited your own ethnicity over others. It's only White people who have ever even thought anything of this. Now it's getting ridiculous: You're accused of racism for a little bit of nostalgia and preferring to marry a woman of your own race. Heck, you're accused of racism if you thing the term "race" has a meaning to it.
Stop trying to out-left the left. It isn't working, and it hasn't worked in more than a hundred years of trying. Joining in the Anti-Confederate crusade at this point in time gets you exactly nowhere politically and only encourages the cultural Marxist bullies further. If you're to the right of center in America, we're all Confederates now.
They are not banning any flags, every American has a constitutional right to fly any flags. While the Confederate battle flag has a racist history, especially when it was by segregationists in the South as a protest against Civil Rights, and the tension around has sparked this. The companies are choosing to get rid of the rag, to fit in with the public. No one automatically thinks racist or slavery when they see the Fleur-de-lis, but plenty of people see the confederate flag as racist, because of the confederacy's connection to slavery.
ReplyDeleteTry absorbing more instead of reflecting. They have banned the flag from federal property, including national military cemeteries. Companies are not doing anything to "fit in with the public", more people are buying Confederate flags than ever before. They pulled them because of hysterical scapegoating that arose because there was no other way to exploit the tragedy that had just occurred. As for the last -*read* the article -I said the same thing, but if these people continue to spread it around that the fleur-de-lis is "racist" it can be banned just the same because no one will defend it.
DeleteMight as well they remove the US flag for extermination of Native Americans.
ReplyDeleteWell, that's the point. Once you start down this path, there is no end to it. The real problem (which evidently some of the readers above failed to grasp) is that many countries have special pressure groups that assume the authority of determining what symbols are offensive and once they have decided, no one dares oppose them for fear of being labeled as a racist or imperialist or colonialist etc.
DeleteSeriously, I really feel politicians are wasting their time in this debate about flags. Flags do symbolism something, but most of them fail to recognise that there are others, like me and you, concerned about preservation etc. But the condemnation if the Fleur de lis is nothing but an act of stupidity and a contradiction of reason and truth. It isn't racist. It was well in place since the establishment of the Kingdom of France. It isn't just un racist, but nothing to do with race at all.
DeleteThe whole thing with going after the Confederate Flag is stupid. The left just wants to attack traditional culture in any way it can. We may not of had royalty or noble families in the US after the revolution but the closest we had to them died on the fields of battle in the civil war.
ReplyDeleteI don't doubt for a moment that eventually they will get around to attacking the fleur-de-lis because it represents a tradition greater than them.
I don't know if the Mad Monarchist really believes in monarchy or just enjoys larping, but with the way the West is going I honestly have to question if both the American and French revolutions were ultimately turning points downward. We have technology now, but we don't have wisdom. I would argue the scholastic philosophers of medieval Europe had greater arguments and more consistent logic than most of the corrosive modern systems of thought.
It would be nice to dream that there is a legendary king waiting to return and bring order to things again, but I don't see any such figures. The remaining monarchs of developed nations do nothing to actually help their people and in fact give tacit approval to the slow degradation of their cultures by not saying anything. Like a line out of some fantasy novel, I would say, the blood of kings has run dry.
The Mad Monarchist, having been at this for many years, six on this site alone, is having a chuckle at someone who is considering whether the French Revolution was a bad thing questioning if he is really a monarchist. Yes, I really am a monarchist and, yes, the French Revolution was when things started to go wrong in a big way. As for current monarchs, they are doing the best they can but we cannot expect them to be untouched by the times we live in. Given how far things have gone, I am becoming increasingly concerned that when disaster finally forces people to come to their senses they may see monarchs as part of the problem rather than the solution. I hope the legitimate leaders of the world will get out in front before that happens.
DeleteLet me get this straight. They want to remove the Fleur-de-Lys because it's racist? How about the anthem of those who opposed the Fleur-de-Lys of the flag of France, otherwise known as the Anthem of Satan, La Marseillaise? In the chorus, repeated after every verse, is a line that can be translated as 'Let us drench our furrows with the impure blood of the foreigner'. Sounds just a bit racist to me! But then, what do the leftist destroyers of civilisation and culture care. Anything to advance their satanically inspired, evil agenda!
ReplyDeleteFor such people, given the American experience, I am sure all that will matter is that slavery was legal under the kingdom but abolished by the revolutionaries. Of course, as I have talked about here before, that didn't really mean anything. Slaves were still used for forced labor so slavery continued in all but name and the sons of the Revolution finally restored slavery in name as well. France then abolished it for good later on. However, these types never like to be confused with the facts. They invariably run counter to their narrative.
DeleteBut no one would oppose. After all, France is a republic.
DeleteIt's just like in Spain where all memory of Franco has been erased and the people in South Africa who want to erase Jan Smuts and in Hungary, Horthy.
ReplyDeleteHorthy was a traitor to King and Country and deserves to be erased. The man was one of the worst traitors in the history of monarchy.
DeleteWhile not a monarchy, I must say that I have some sympathy for the Confederates as of 1861. After all, this was the old and traditional Europe that I'm very fond of fighting and dieing on the battlefields versus today's commercial America. I've once read a (supposed) quote of General Jackson about the war and I am inclined to agree with him:
ReplyDelete" If the North triumphs, it is not alone the destruction of our property; it is the prelude to anarchy, infidelity, the ultimate loss of free and responsible government on this continent. It is the triumph of commerce, the banks and factories."
As for the flag removal - typical socialist activism. Just like Stalin had his former comrades edited from photos. I'd wish there was a counter movement against any down-with-this-or-that-mob but then again, people are too busy defending their latest electronic gadget on the Amazon review page.
Also, the Confederates embraced their Cavalier ancestors during the War Between the States. They saw themselves as the successors to the likes of Prince of Rupert of the Rhine. Who knows? An alternate timeline with an independent might see them drawing near to the British Commonwealth over time, and certainly the British Commonwealth would not have had to deal with a very powerful American Superpower.
DeleteYou cannot just erase history in such a way.
ReplyDeleteI stand corrected but we are taught a lot about how France helped us during that war and most Americans still think we did it all on our own. But many flags are being taken down and their is talk about digging up the graves of Dead Conf Generals and their spouses. Regardless of whether people think the flag has Racism linked to it or not this goes against freedom of expression and speech.
ReplyDeleteLook at it this way, when Haiti received their independence from France in 1804, they murdered and cut the heads of 45,000 white men, women, and children on the island. Today they blame the whites for being the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere. Where does racism stop? Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin which started the Civil War, took into account only one plantation owner. Were they all like him? I don't think so! Furthermore, the Southern States wanted to abolish slavery gradually because their economy depended on it. Lincoln wanted it immediately and the war broke out.
ReplyDelete