Oak leaf wreath encircles Mariane's head left, wearing a Phrygian cap, surrounded by the inscription "French Republic".

Marianne is a national symbol of the French Republic, an allegory of liberty and reason, and a portrayal of the Goddess of Liberty. It is a significant Republican symbol, opposed to monarchy, and an icon of freedom and democracy against all forms of dictatorship. Her profile stands out on the official government logo of the country, is engraved on French euro coins and appears on French postage stamps; it also was featured on the former franc currency.

The Phrygian cap is a soft conical cap with the top pulled forward, associated in antiquity with several peoples in Eastern Europe and Anatolia, including Phrygia, Dacia, and the Balkans. In early modern Europe it came to signify freedom and the pursuit of liberty through a confusion with the pileus, the felt cap of manumitted (emancipated) slaves of ancient Rome. Accordingly, the Phrygian cap sometimes is called a liberty cap.

Rooster divides denomination, inscription above. Date below and between engraver general's privy mark (torch, Henry Patey) and mintmark of the Paris Mint (Cornucopia).

Liberté, égalité, fraternité, French for "liberty, equality, fraternity", is the national motto of France. Although it finds its origins in the French Revolution, it was then only one motto among others and was not institutionalized until the Third Republic at the end of the 19th century. Debates concerning the compatibility and order of the three terms began at the same time as the Revolution.