Bee Lore

Napoleon I’s Coat of Arms contained the eagle and bee, emblems of the First and later Second Empire.

Used as a symbol of immortality and resurrection, the bee was chosen so as to link the new dynasty to the very origins of France.

Golden bees (in fact, cicadas) were discovered in 1653 in Tournai in the tomb of Childeric I, founder in 457 of the Merovingian dynasty They were considered as the oldest emblem of the sovereigns of France.

It is interesting to note how the bee was one of the main symbols for Ancient Egyptian Pharohs, The Merovingian dynasty and Napoleon’s Coat of Arms.  No other symbol (not even the Reed or the Eagle) has survived consistently as a regal symbol for such a long time!

More detail on other symbols on Napoleon’s coat of Arms can be found at: http://www.napoleon.org/en/essential_napoleon/symbols/index.asp#abeilles

See also my earlier entry: https://beelore.com/2007/12/23/the-merovingian-bee/