In October 1789, Louis XVI held a banquet at the Palace of Versailles for the officers of the Flanders Regiment, who had come to protect the royal family. During the banquet, the officers wore white cockades bearing the Bourbon royal emblem to show their loyalty to the king. This became the spark that set off the October Days.
Blue and red were the colors of Paris's coat of arms. Soon after the Bastille was stormed on July 14, 1789, Bailly became mayor of Paris and Lafayette commander of the National Guard. On July 17, at Lafayette's suggestion, the National Guard adopted the red, white, and blue cockade. That same day, Mayor Bailly presented Louis XVI with a tricolor emblem at Paris City Hall, representing the National Guard's loyalty to the king. It was the first time the French had used a tricolor cockade.
On the seal of the French First Republic was a bare-breasted "Statue of Liberty," wearing a Phrygian Little Red Riding Hood cap and holding a spear. Above the cap stood a crowing Gallic rooster.
When ordinary people first saw the Statue of Liberty, they affectionately called her Marianne. A tricolor ribbon was wound around her neck, symbolizing the French First Republic's confidence, strength, equality, freedom, and prosperity.
Other than the Black Swan Necklace, Georgiana the fairy wore no necklaces, yet now there was a tricolor ribbon around her neck. Together with the white gown identical to Madame Récamier's, she looked almost no different from a Frenchwoman.
But she did not feel like the Statue of Liberty. Instead, she felt like a swan with a tether around its neck.
"Some say your flaw lies in the wildness of your youth; some say your charm lies in the romance of your youth. Both charm and flaw earn a measure