If there were only a few in the first days of the movement, the yellow caps now color dozens of blockades in France.
Symbol of the agricultural union Rural Coordination, this accessory - often flocked with the initials CR - has spread among the demonstrators, and recalls the red caps in 2013, or the Yellow Vests in 2018.
Born in the Gers in 1991, Rural Coordination defends a “nourishing and remunerative” vision of agriculture, and intends to protect a profession whose precariousness it denounces.
It is the second agricultural union in France, after the FNSEA.
Also read: A “siege of Paris” from Monday: the battle plan of angry farmers
President of the Charente Rural Coordination, Franck Olivier notes from Le Parisien that he sees more and more yellow caps on the blockages: “It’s in our image: simple, practical, good-natured.
At the moment, we are out of stock, we had 4,000 to distribute.
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For him, the fact that more and more demonstrators - with or without banners - are wearing yellow caps bodes well for the rest of the movement: “It's a chain reaction, we are recognized.
What matters is that we come out a winner.
It is time to put away our banners and come together to defend our values in Paris.
» The Rural Coordination procession should arrive Tuesday morning at the gates of the Capital.
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“A sign of rallying and belonging”
Sociologist specializing in movements and social vulnerability, Maxime Piccolo explains that the yellow cap serves, as in most mobilizations, to unify angry farmers around demands: “It is a sign of rallying and belonging for the mobilized individuals.
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Also read Blockade of Paris by farmers: should we fear a food shortage?
For the moment, the symbol is not associated with the entire movement, but more with Rural Coordination.
However, notes the researcher, “It echoes the Yellow Vests and the Red Hats, there is a strong symbolic connection which could scare the government.”
Even if he doubts that “the ex-Yellow Vests will rally around the yellow caps and mobilize with them”.