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Why Is France’s Communist Party Dropping the Hammer and Sickle as Their Symbol?

Feb. 10, 2013 8:05pm Erica Ritz

Frances Communist Party Drops the Hammer and Sickle in Favor of Five Pointed Star

A man flashes the victory sign as he listens to the final speech of the ‘Fete de l’Humanité’, a political event organized by French communist party (PCF) on September 18, 2011 in La Courneuve, outside Paris. (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)

Communists in France have decided to drop the hammer and sickle from their membership cards in favor of a symbol they believe will have a greater appeal for new generations, according to French media. The well-known emblem will reportedly be replaced with a five-pointed star representing the European Left, a loose coalition of far-left parties.

But as the International Herald Tribune (the global edition of the New York Times) writes, the leadership may have “sparked a revolution among the comrades” with the change.

They explain:

What was billed by the party leadership as a forward-looking move was denounced by others as revisionist backsliding and part of a conspiracy to abandon the movement to the embrace of social democracy.

Emmanuel Dang Tran, secretary of the party’s Paris section, told France Info radio that members were shocked at the abandoning of “what represents, for the working class of this country, a historic element in resistance against the politics of capitalism.”

An anonymous commenter on the radio’s website suggested wryly: “It’s natural that they’ve abandoned their tools. There’s no work anymore!”

[...]

[Tran] said the leadership was trying to create a social democracy…alongside “Greens, socialists, Trotskyists and I don’t know who else.”

But the party’s national secretary Pierre Laurent, while respectful of the symbol’s history, thinks it’s no longer representative of the majority of party members.

“It’s an established and revered symbol that continues to be used in all our demonstrations,” he told LCI radio. “But it does not illustrate the reality of who we are today; it isn’t so relevant to a new generation of communists.”

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Comments (58)

deadend
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 3:09pm
the biggest mistake we made was when we defeeted communist was we did not teach the evil that is communism.Just teaching the facts of 200 million dead last century.

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Malrick
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 9:54am
Maybe it was too hard to draw for all the art school dropouts.

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slickmeister
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 9:32am
Seems to me the new symbol should be the windmill propeller and the solar panel.

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SCARY313568
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 9:01am
A profile of Obummer the destroyer would be perfect.

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RIGS
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 8:15am
They gave it to OBAMA and DEMOCRAT PARTY what do you think MARXIST SOCIALISM theory is..

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bikerdogred1
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 8:09am
You can bring a frog to the water but you can not make them drink it.

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sheik
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 7:28am
For the same reason Shrillary wants to be called a “progressive”. Just don’t call them commie rats.

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americansfightingforcommonsense
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 7:08am
Radical POSE for the radical MEANS. They will try to rebrand their radical ways so that they can fulfill their radical goal. But, they will still destroy America and all that is good in the world if we stand back and let them. We must stand for reason and love for our fellow man. Capitalism is the only “economic” savior of mankind. True FREE MARKET principles must be set in motion in order to save us.

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media-bias-steals-elections
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 4:23am
So communists demonstrate their wisdom by arguing over a trademark? If that does not explain why you should not listen to them, nothing will?

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Ragnars Repos
Posted on February 11, 2013 at 12:20am
Sunlight destroys vampires.

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msjoe43
Posted on February 10, 2013 at 10:24pm
Other communist symbols

The following graphic elements, while not necessarily communist in nature, are often incorporated into the flags, seals and propaganda of communist countries and movements.
Crossed proletarian implements, including picks, hoes, scythes, and in the case of the Workers’ Party of Korea, a brush to represent the intelligentsia. The ubiquitous hammer and sickle also belong in this category.
Rising sun, exemplified on the crests of the Soviet Union, Socialist Republic of Croatia and Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic as well as Communist Romania.
Cogwheels, exemplified on the crest of Afghanistan, Angola and the People’s Republic of China.
Wreaths of wheat, cotton, corn or other crops, present on the crests of almost every historical communist state.
Rifle, such as the AK-47 on the flag of Mozambique and Mosin-Nagant on Albanian lek.
Red banners with yellow lettering, exemplified on the crests of Vietnam and China.
Red or yellow stars, perhaps the most common communist symbol behind the hammer and sickle.
Open books, exemplified on the state crests of Mozambique, Angola and Afghanistan, and also on the party crests of Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Communist Party of Ukraine.
Factories or industrial equipment, exemplified on the crests of North Korea, Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Democratic Kampuchea and Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.
Natural landscapes, exemplified on the crests of SR Macedonia

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- msjoe43
  Posted on February 10, 2013 at 10:26pm
  Torches, exemplified on the emblem of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
  Sword and shield, exemplified on the KGB emblem, and the Mother Motherland.
  Cross and sickle are the symbols of the Christian communism
  
  Notable examples of communist states that use no overtly communist imagery on their flags, crests or other graphic representations are Cuba, and the former People’s Republic of Poland.
  
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msjoe43
Posted on February 10, 2013 at 10:22pm
Red star

Description
The five-pointed red star is a symbol of communism as well as broader socialism in general. It is sometimes understood to represent the five fingers of the worker’s hand, which run the five continents; or it is understood to symbolize the five entities “classes” of socialist society: workers, farmers, intellectuals, soldiers, and youth.

History
The red star was one of the emblems, symbols, and signals representing the Soviet Union under the rule and guidance of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, along with the hammer and sickle.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Communist_symbolism

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Mannamomof4
Posted on February 10, 2013 at 9:58pm
Maybe they were inspired by one of the flags created by the Texas students who are learning under CSCOPE!

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marine249
Posted on February 10, 2013 at 9:55pm
Maybe they though the old sick hammer and sickle ment work.
With the new commies over there as well as the ones we have,
thinks the 5 star stands for a free ride in the wagon.

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