Why was Napoleon obsessed with bees? It was like his personal little symbol

Why was Napoleon obsessed with bees? It was like his personal little symbol.

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It looks cool and symbolized work ethic, also it was a reference to the first merovingian kings of the franks, who used the bees as a symbol as well, in order to legitimate his rule and show that he took acount of all of France's history

That's awesome. Based Nappy. Do you have some more less known fact about him?

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Because Nappy wuz not only Romanz but also Frankz n shieeet

he was a busy bee

The Merovingian dynasty had Bees as one of its most prominent symbols, napoleon needed/wanted to associate himself with a historically ""french"" bloodline and since Charlemagne and his bloodline seemed cliché why not take the family heritage of the one that they replaced.

Because fleur-de-lys was to be replaced

Because his key to success was just to bee himself

>Why was Napoleon obsessed with bees?
>>/facebook/

Keked

They are awesome and they make honey.
Occassionally they revolt and a worker bee becomes the queen.
What's not to like?

He was beeing funny.

I always hear Napoleon was short. Is this true?

He liked the wutang clan

Why is the red bigger than the blue?

check em

Those aren't bees but cigales (cicadas in english?) otherwise they are right it is a merovingian symbol discovered 150 years earlier in the grave of Childéric the first (frankish king) he was burried with golden cicada jewelry all over the place, apparently its symbol of immortality/resurrection, like the metamorphosis of the cigale from eggs burried in the soil (the grave) to a flying insect (the after death) it's speculated to have its root in the far-East, China more precisely because there is a tradition of putting cicadas on top of the mouth of the deaths as you guessed it, a resurection symbol.
There's a specie of cicada (the magicicada septendecim) that stays burried in the ground for 17 years before elvoving into a nymph.
Napoléon chose it for the reason explained earlier that you would expect from him, to connect himself to previous Frankish dynasty to legitimate his reign, it did the same with the Imperial eagle taken from the Roman Empire.
Im not sur if the work ethic connotation is effective when we know it isn't bees though..

The bee symbolizes persistence

Holy shit that's a gay ring and rings are pretty gay already.

Wasn't Charlemange obsessed with bees? I'm actually reading a book on bee/beekeeping history and for the longest time in northern europe when a beekeeper died they would literally send the family to his hives to tell the bees he had passed so they wouldn't fly away

cicadas dont look like that at all though

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If rings are pretty gay already then it's hardly noteworthy that the ring is gay.

Bees beat lilies,
at least that's the explanation I've heard

Optical trick makes it appear of equal length when looking at it from very far IIRC

I believe he meant that one ring is particularly gay, henceforth it is noteworthy for it far exceeding the usual expectation of rings

I mean afterall you are right, I was always thought that the merovingian symbol were 100% cicadas because of the grave/resurrection thingy which honestly make sense. I did further reading and in fact historians question it, saying it could also be the linked to Artemis bee symbol (longevity and queen/king whorship symbol)
Napoléon probably went with the bees for all the reason we've said, and If 200 years alter people found out Merovingians used cicadas it wouldn't change much of the meaning since beside the longer curved wings it looks the same.

IDK how relevant this is, but the bee also has a long and prominent place in the occult, where it has been a symbol for "seekers of the truth" since at least the middle ages.

Bees are absolutely incredible. One bee can return to the hive, dance, and every bee around him can know exactly what direction, how far, and what type of flower he just visited.

Not only that, but every bee can plot a route to all of those flowers absolutely minimizing the flight distance, in their little bee brains.

They're fascinating creatures, and quite necessary for life.

I dont BEElieve you

I think you may be on to something.

THE SYMBOLS OF EMPIRE
The eagle and bee, emblems of the First and later Second Empire, have become so familiar that it is easy to forget their origin and meaning.

Symbol of immortality and resurrection, the bee was chosen so as to link the new dynasty to the very origins of France. Golden bees (in fact, cicadas) were discovered in 1653 in Tournai in the tomb of Childeric I, founder in 457 of the Merovingian dynasty and father of Clovis. They were considered as the oldest emblem of the sovereigns of France.

The chain of the Légion d’honneur

Created on 29 Floréal, An X (19 May, 1802) as a decoration for military and civil services, the Légion d’honneur took its name from ancient Rome. The chain of the Légion d’honneur, reserved for the emperor, princes of the imperial family and grand dignitaries, is composed of a gold chain made of 16 trophies linked by eagles with the ribbon and cross of the order at their necks. This chain is bordered on either side by a small chain alternating stars and bees. The central motif, the Napoleonic N, is encircled by a laurel wreath and supports the cross of the Légion d’honneur, a five-pointed pommel-pointed star, in white enamel. In the centre is the laurel-crowned profile of the emperor, the whole surmounted by the imperial crown.

The Crown and the Imperial Mantle
The escutcheon stands out from the imperial cape which is similar to that used by the peers of France. Scarlet velvet spread with bees, and bordered with grape clusters, gold fringes, the cape is lined with ermine and is held in place by the crown made of eagles with raised wings alternating with arcs, the whole topped with a globe bearing a cross.

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