Various Traditions
Chasseurs do not say rouge (red) but bleu-cerise (cherry blue), except when speaking of the color of the lips of a beloved, the red in the Legion of Honour's insignia (including its fourragère which is called la rouge), and the red of the French flag. This stems from the days when Napoleon III tried to impose the wearing of the scarlet pantalons garance. The mountain troops objected, and no longer use the word 'red' as a result.
The chasseurs have a few other typicalities in what they say:
- not jaune (yellow), but jonquille (daffodil);
- not uniforme (uniform), but tenue (outfit, or dress);
- not la musique (the music), but la fanfare (the band);
- the band does not joue (play), but ça sonne (it sounds);
- not tambour (drum), but caisse claire (snare drum);
- and not caserne (barracks), but quartier (neighborhood, barracks, or quarters).
The Chasseurs are said to have green blood, after the pun: "Le sang vert, c'est pour la France/Le sang versé pour la France" (Green blood is for France/Blood shed for France).
Read more about this topic: Chasseurs Alpins
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