Frontispiece of the broadside ‘Astronomical System of the French
Revolution’, a lithograph attributed to ‘Moullin, Engineer,
Geographer’, from the early months of the Revolution, during the
establishment of a constitutional monarchy. The central circle, marked
THE NATION, THE LAW, THE KING, corresponds to the sun. Its outer edge
is defined by EQUALITY, UNION, LIBERTY, FORCE. Sunlight radiates
towards the circle with DEMOCRACY at the top, MONARCHY at the bottom
and (in between) a motto: the Constitution, the Whole Constitution and
Nothing but the Constitution. The outermost sphere contains the
extremes: ANARCHY, BRIGANDS and DESPOTISM, ARISTOCRACY. The printed
EXPLANATION OF THE EMBLEM notes that the Sun draws its power and
brightness from the Nation and its laws, dissipates the clouds (of
political gloom) and brings about the triumph of the Democratic and
Monarchic Constitution under the banner of its foundations of
equality, union, liberty and force.
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