Grand Sceau de France

French reading practice with side-by-side translation

 Reading comprehension: See the links at the bottom for lessons related to the phrases in italics.

Le Grand Sceau de France The Great Seal of France
Signe d’autorité, le premier Grand Sceau de France date du Moyen Âge. Le sceau utilisé de nos jours, défini et frappé en 1848 (IIe République), met en vedette la Liberté, sous forme d’une femme assise, qui tient un faisceau de licteur d’une main et dans l’autre, un gouvernail orné d’un coq gaulois, la patte posée sur un globe.
Translation

A sign of authority, the first Great Seal of France dated back to the Middle Ages. Today’s seal, [which was] designed and struck in 1848 (during the Second Republic), features Libery as a seated woman, holding a Lictor’s fasces in one hand and in the other, a rudder decorated wih a Gallic rooster, [with its] claw set upon a globe.

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Il y a également une urne, qui rappelle le suffrage universal avec les lettres SU, et des attributs des beaux arts et de l’agriculture à ses pieds.
Translation

There’s also an urn with a reminder of universal suffrage in the form of the letters "SU," and symbols of fine arts and agriculture at her feet.

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Sur la face est gravé « République française, démocratique, une et indivisible » et au dos « Au nom du peuple français » et « égalité, fraternité ». (La devise française est complète si l’on compte l’image de la Liberté sur l’autre côté.)
Translation

On the face is engraved "French Republic, democratic, united, and indivisible" and on the back "In the name of French people" and "equality, fraternity." (The French motto is complete if you count the image of Liberty on the other side.)

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Ce sceau est repris par les IIIe, IVe et Ve Républiques ; c’est-à-dire que le sceau actuel est le même que celui de 1848.
Translation

This seal was taken up by the Third, Fourth, and Fifth Republics; that is to say that the current seal is the same as the one from 1848.

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De nos jours, l’usage de ce sceau officiel est limité aux occasions solennelles telles que la signature de la constitution et des lois constitutionnelles.
Translation

Nowadays, the official seal’s usage is limited to solemn occasions like the signing of the constitution and its laws.

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Grand Sceau de France
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Fierté française

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Great Seal of France

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