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The current emblem of France has been a symbol of France since 1953, although it does not have any legal status as an official coat of arms. It is printed on the cover of French passports and was adopted originally by the French Foreign Ministry as a symbol for use by diplomatic and consular missions during 1912. It is considered an emblem rather than a coat of arms, since it does not respect heraldic rules.
The emblem consists of a wide shield with, on the one end a lion-head and on the other an eagle-head, bearing a monogram "RF" standing for Republique Francaise (French Republic). A laurel branch symbolizes victory of the Republic, the oak branch symbolizes perennity or wisdom, and the fasces is a symbol associated with justice (the bundle of rods and an axe, carried by Roman lictors).