New law to ban insulting Tricolor

INSULTING the Tricolore could soon become punishable by a maximum €3,000 fine and a compulsory citizenship course.

Justice Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie has called for a change in the law following a scandal over the publication of a photo of a man wiping his bottom with the flag.

It was submitted in a competition for a “politically incorrect” image run by the chain Fnac in Nice.

An “outrage” to national symbols, including the flag and the Marseillaise is already a (more severely punished) crime but only if done during a public protest.