The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron announced Monday December 16 that he would declare national mourning after the passage of a cyclone which devastated Mayotte.
This is the first time since 2020 that such a decree will be issued.
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France soon in national mourning. This is what Emmanuel Macron announced (new window) in a post on X Monday evening, after chairing the interministerial crisis unit linked to the passage of a cyclone which devastated Mayotte (new window). “Faced with this tragedy which upsets each of us, I will declare national mourning”indicated the head of state. This will be a first since 2020.
Only the President of the Republic – or the interim president if applicable – can decree a day of national mourning. The content of this day remains quite sober. “There are few legal provisions on how these days should be held, but flags are flown at half-mast on public buildings and edifices”explains the vie-publique site (new window). The precise modalities are defined by the Prime Minister (new window). A minute of silence can also be organized.
An honor to deceased presidents, but not only
Declaring national mourning is a fairly recent measure in the history of the country. Before the Fifth Republic, only the floods which caused hundreds of deaths in France in 1930 had been followed by a day of national mourning. Since 1958, tradition has dictated that such a decree be issued a few days after the death of a French head of state. General de Gaulle (November 12, 1970), Georges Pompidou (April 6, 1974) and François Mitterrand (January 11, 1996) were thus honored during a day of national mourning.
It was only in 2001 that the system expanded. Three days after the September 11 attacks in the United States, Jacques Chirac declared national mourning (September 14, 2001), like all the countries of the European Union. This is the only day on which France observed national mourning for people who died outside its territory.
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National mourning can also be declared for three days. This was the case by François Hollande, shortly after the attacks of November 13, 2015 in Paris and Saint-Denis (November 15, 16 and 17, 2015), and that of Nice eight months later (July 16, 17 and 18, 2016). ). Shortly before, the attack on Charlie Hebdo was also followed by a day of national mourning (January 8, 2015). Emmanuel Macron has already declared national mourning twice, in honor of Jacques Chirac (September 30, 2019) and Valéry Giscard d'Estaing (December 9, 2020).
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