Branded With Fleur De Lis A Symbolic Link To Slavery - The Code Noir Or The Black Code

Fleur-de-lis or fleur de lys, literally means 'lily flower' in English. In French culture, it is one-of-a-kind French brand image full of heritage... more

by Nicole Jean-Louis

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Price

Not Specified

Dimensions

24.000 x 18.000 x 0.090 inches

Title

Branded With Fleur De Lis A Symbolic Link To Slavery - The Code Noir Or The Black Code

Artist

Nicole Jean-Louis

Medium

Painting - Oil On Canvas

Description

Fleur-de-lis or fleur de lys, literally means 'lily flower' in English. In French culture, it is one-of-a-kind French brand image full of heritage and style. Others claim it symbolizes and iris, or a frog.

'Fleur de lis' appears in numerous European coats of arms and flags for centuries. It is associated with French monarchy. The French monarchy adopted the Fleur-de-lis for their royal coat of arms as a symbol of purity, French royalty. It is widely used as a decorative subject matter by artists, tattoos and jewelry designers; it is used as ornamental theme in architectural embellishment, in home decor, and attire.

In USA, this emblem stems from the French colonization of the Americas. 'Fleur de lis' was found on early North American flags to designate French settlement areas. A number of cities in the USA have adopted the 'fleur de lys' for their flags and city symbols. Among them are St Louis, Louisville, Detroit, Mobile Alabama, Missouri, Lafayette, Baton Rouge, and New Orleans where it is an official symbol as of today.

The 'fleur de lis' is the main element in the logo of most Scouting organizations. It represents a major theme in Scouting: the outdoors and the wilderness. The logo for the Boy Scout in Haiti is a red 'fleur de lis' with a green palm tree symmetrically placed in the middle of the image.

Many have talk about the stylish, artistic part of the 'Fleur de Lis'
; however, let's open a brief synopsis between 'fleur de lis' and slavery.

Jean Baptist Colbert (B1619 - D1683) was a French politician, a Minister of Finances of France from 1665-1683, under the rule of French King Louis XIV. Jean Baptist Colbert issued more than 150 edicts (laws) to regulate the guilds; the guilds are associations of artisans and merchants based on their trades. One of the edicts that he prepared is called the 'Code Noir' or the 'Black Code' in English. This edict concerns the Negro slaves; it regulates the slave trade and institution in the colonies. French King Louis XIV ratified the 'Code Noir' (Black Code) in March 1685. Saint Domingue (Haiti's name before the independence) sovereign council adopted the Code in 1687. Saint Domingue has been described as one of the most cruelly efficient colonies of the era. By 1790 Saint Domingue had greatly overshadowed Santo Domingo (Haiti's Spanish neighbor), in terms of wealth and population. Saint Domingue was describes as the richest colony in the West Indies, if not the richest colony in the history of the world. The immense profits from sugar, coffee, indigo, cotton, tobacco industries were made possible by the French King Louis XIV endorsement of the 'Code Noir' (Black Code).

That 'Black Code' established rigid rules on slave's treatment and permissible freedom in all French colonies; it forbade the exercise of any religion other than Roman Catholicism; and all slaves must be baptized and instructed in the Roman Catholic religion. This process should be implemented within days of the Negro's arrival to the French colonies. As a method of maintaining control, the 'Code Noir' gives plantation owner extreme disciplinary power over their slaves which are considered at the same level as their domestic animals.

The Code Noir has sixty articles. According to the article XXXVIII (Article 38) of the Code Noir: "The fugitive slave who has been on the run for one month from the day his master reported him to the police, shall have his ears cut off and shall be branded with a 'fleur de lis' on one shoulder. If he commits the same infraction for another month, again counting from the day he is reported, he shall have one of his legs cut off and be branded with a 'fleur de lis' on the other shoulder. The third time, he shall be put to death".

My painting shows a captured runaway slave, shackled, chained to an oak tree; massive gashes can be seen on his legs after being chased by the dogs; both of his ears are amputated and placed on a rock; this happened after being branded or tattooed with a hot iron 'fleur de lis' stamp on the shoulder. This dirty, inhumane punishment was performed by an experienced black overseer under the watchful eye of a white overseer.

In slavery, 'Fleur de lis' is a symbol of possession; it is a symbol of ownership or claim of property of the slave's body. As a man, to be branded with a 'fleur de lis' is an infamy; in other word, if you are branded with the fleur-de-lis you are publicly, infamously known as a runaway.

'Fleur de Lis', with all its purity and renowned decorative subject matter, has also a symbolic link to slavery.

The Black Code (1685-1848) that started in Versailles in March 1685 had remained in force for 163 years. It ended in Paris on April 27, 1848, with the abolition of slavery in all the French colonies. No social study books talk about the Code Noir, the Black Code; I wonder if one ever heard about the Code Noir. Every human being living in the XXI century (the Common Era) should read the Code Noir. Tyler Stovall, a respected American history professor, specialized in modern France, race, labor, and class issues, described the Code Noir as "one of the most extensive official documents on race, slavery, and freedom ever drawn up in Europe."

A French Minister of Justice, a black woman named Christiane Taubira-Delannon born February 2, 1952, in Cayenne, French Guiana, became the driving force behind a May 21, 2001 law. The law is known as Taubira's Law, in French 'La loi Taubira'

According to the Article 1 of the Taubira's law, both the "Transatlantic and Indian Ocean Negro Slave Trade on one hand, and Slavery on the other hand, that were practiced in the 15th Century in the Americas, in the Caribbean, and in Europe against African, Native American Indian, and Malagasy people, should constitute crimes against humanity."

The inclusion of Malagasy people is very important. Malagasy people are from an island named Madagascar. This island country is located in the Indian Ocean, off the coast of Southeast Africa. This is the fourth largest island in the world. This island gained its independence from France in1960. In 1897, the island of Madagascar was absorbed into the French Colonial Empire. Malagasy slaves were once taken to Brazil, and the U.S. Today, descendants of those slaves, which numbers can not be accounted for, are probably unaware of their heritage, wherever they are.

According to Article 2, 3, 4 of the Taubira's law, school history curriculum should include courses on Negro slave trade and slavery; there should be the acknowledgement of the transatlantic and Indian Ocean Negro slave trades as crimes against humanity. There should be the establishment of a Slavery Remembrance Day on the international level to commemorate the abolition of slavery and ensure that the remembrance of this crime against humanity should live forever in the memories of all people.

International day for Remembrance of the slave Trade and its Abolition was first celebrated, yearly, in a number of countries, as Global Slavery Remembrance Day, GSRD:
August 23, 1998, Haiti first celebrates GSRD. This date, August 23, is very significant for Haitian, as it commemorates the first slaves uprising in Saint Domingue (Colonial name of Haiti). This uprising took place in the night of August 22-23, 1791 on the French plantations. This bloody slave revolt sparks the Haitian Revolution 1791-1803, resulting in Haiti being the first independent Black Republic, on January 1, 1804, and the beginning of the destruction of the trade slave and the end of slavery.

August 23, 1999, Goree Island, near Dakar, Senegal, first celebrates GSRD. Goree is an island near Senegal where the Atlantic Slave Trade was very active for 312 years, from 1536-1848. In 1746, the French had built a house called 'La Maison des Esclaves', the 'Slave House'. This house was under the French control. This is the center from which Africans where taken from the motherland, Africa, to the Caribbean and the Americas. In 1978, Goree was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

May 10, 2001, after the French Parliament voted the Taubira's Law, former President Jacques Chirac chose to celebrate GSRD.

August 23, 2008, UNESCO invites all the Member States to join in the celebration of GSRD.

August 23 is also the United Nations date of GSRD observance.

March 25, 2009, is the United States date to celebrate GSRD.

Forthcoming generations should never forget these crimes against humanity which are the Transatlantic and Indian Ocean Negro Slave Trade and Slavery.

References: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

: Webster University

Uploaded

March 28th, 2014