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Parti Communiste Français (Political party, France)

PCF

Flag of the PCF, two versions - Images by Tomislav Todorović, 25 April 2017

Presentation of the PCF
Flag of the PCF
- Older flags of the PCF
- PCF-related flag
Gauche Unitaire (2009-2015)

See also:

France

Presentation of the PCF

The Parti Communiste Français (PCF - French Communist Party; Wikipedia, English and French editions) was founded in 1920 in Tours by those members of the French Section of the Workers' International (SFIO) who supported the idea of joining the Communist International. The new party was originally named the French Section of the Communist International (Section française de l'Internationale communiste - SFIC) and the present name was adopted after the Communist International was disbanded in 1943.

Its important role in the Resistance during the Second World War brought it the nickname "party of the 75,000 executed people" (le parti des 75 000 fusillés). After the first post-war elections, it was in the government from January to May 1947, when it was forced into the opposition in order to secure Marshall Plan aid from the United States.
The party has remained in the opposition since then, except in 1981-1984 and 1997-2002, when it was the part of governments led by the Parti Socialiste. Since 2009, it is the part of the Front de Gauche (Left Front), an electoral coalition which it founded with the Parti de Gauche and several other leftist parties.

Tomislav Todorović, 26 August 2012

Flag of PCF

A new flag (photo, photo, photo [2014], photo [2015], photos [2016], photo, photo, photo), which has appeared several years ago, bears the large hammer and sickle, shaped almost identically as on the earlier flag, but with the sickle handle slightly separated from the blade, as if they were painted with two distinctive brush strokes. The party name is inscribed beneath the hammer and sickle, in the same typeface as on the flag charged with the inscriptions only, and there is also the abbreviation "PCF", in different typeface and much larger size, placed above the hammer head. All charges are gold, on red field.

Another party flag (photo, Paris, 1 April 2007; photo, Paris, 4 September 2010; photo, Nice, 23 September 2010; photo, photo, Bourges, 12 October 2010, together with flags of the Parti de Gauche; photo, Marseille, 28 October 2010).
The flag might be described as the "banner of the logo", because its design is identical with that of the logo: large initials "PCF" in white, with the full name of the party inscribed beneath them in yellow, all on ared field.
The logo is still shown at the party website pages header, so the flag with that design is probably still in use.

Tomislav Todorović, 25 April 2017

Older flags of PCF

Older flag of PCF and enlarged detail of the bottom of the flag - Images by Tomislav Todorović, 26 August 2012

The previous party flag was red, with the hammer and sickle and the party name, arranged along the bottom edge, all in gold (photo). The sickle has a very distinctive form, as if it was painted with a brush whose bristles were split into two
The flag is also shown on a photo shot in Paris, 1 April 2007. A photo of current flag was made on the same occasion (see above), which might suggest that the flag change was either under way or already finished not long ago.

An even older flag still in use was photographed in Paris, 18 March 2012 (photo).
The flag is red, with a five-pointed star above the hammer and sickle in center, surrounded with the party name inscribed above and words "Section de Gisors" (Gisors Section) inscribed beneath, all in gold. The shape of the charges and typeface employed look rather old-fashioned, which is better visible in larger-sized versions of the same photo; the flag looks rather well preserved, though.

Tomislav Todorović, 26 August 2012

PCF-related flag

PCF-related flag - Image by Tomislav Todorović, 26 August 2012

A flag in rainbow colors was used in Paris, 1 April 2007, together with the national flag and the previous party flag (photo, photo, photo, photo).
The colors are arranged in the following pattern: yellow, orange, red, green, blue, violet. This is clearly neither the Gay Pride / rainbow flag nor the Italian-style peace flag, both of which are used in France and sometimes appear together with the flags of the PCF.

The fact that the flag is related to the PCF is evident from the promotion material used in the campaign of Marie-George Buffet, national secretary of the party 2001-2010 and the presidential candidate in the 2007 elections (sticker , photographed in Paris, 18 April 2007; poster, photographed 20 April 2007; billboard, photographed in Paris, 18 June 2007). All these items show, as a common element of the design, a colored bar which only differs from the flag pattern in employing two shades of green and blue colors, which makes a total of eight colors. The flag design is obviously a simpler variant of this pattern, or the said bar is a more complex variant of the flag design, depending on which was created earlier.

Tomislav Todorović, 26 August 2012

Gauche Unitaire

Flag of GU - Image by Tomislav Todorović, 26 August 2012

Gauche Unitaire (Unitarian Left) was founded on 14 March 2009 by former members of the Nouveau Parti Anticapitaliste (NPA - New Anticapitalist Party, which had been founded previous month) who disagreed with its refusal to join the Front de Gauche (Left Front), the coalition of leftist parties led by the Parti Communiste Français and the Parti de Gauche, which the new party joined after its founding.
GU eventually merged into the PCF on 8 September 2015 (joint press release).

The party flag (photo, Paris, 15 January 2012; photo, Paris, 19 March 2012; photo, Lyon, 14 April 2012) was red, charged with the party logo in white.
The logo consists of three five-pointed stars with curved rays, vaguely resembling three human figures, each star in a different size, and the party name inscribed in two rows beneath them.

Tomislav Todorović, 26 August 2012