Who is the woman featured so often on French stamps and coins? Why does she wear a funny hat? Is she a famous historic personnage?

The woman is called "Marianne". She was never a real person but she was created as a symbol of France, representing Freedom and Liberty. On her head, Marianne wears a special hat called a "Phrygian cap".

The "Phrygian cap" was a hat worn by freed slaves during the Roman era. It showed that they were now Roman citizens and, therefore, were free people. Thus, the cap became a symbol of freedom or liberty.

During the French Revolution in 1789, the figure of a woman dressed as a warrior wearing this "cap of Liberty" came to symbolise the idea that freedom was worth fighting for. People adopted the idea of wearing a special hat - the "Cap of Liberty"- to indicate their support for revolutionary ideals of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity (Brotherhood). The revolutionary Cap of Liberty was bright red.

It was during the French Revolution that the figure was named. People suggestedthat since the symbol represented the freedom of ordinary people, it should bear the most common name given to the women of the ordinary people - Marie-Anne. This later became "Marianne". During the nineteenth century, the symbol of Marianne became more and more popular to symbolise the Republic of France.

The pictures of Marianne wearing the Cap of Liberty have been, and still are, very popular on coins. Here she is on a French Euro coin.

Marianne is one of the most commonly used icons on French stamps. There are statues of Marianne on public buildings. There is a statue of Marianne in every Town Hall (Hôtel de Ville or Mairie) in Franc like the one opposite.

If you look carefully at the sculptures on the outside of the Arc De Triomphe you can see a victorious Marianne leading the French army. Here she is on the façade of the Arc de Triomphe

Marianne's features in this century have been modelled on women actors who are considered to be the most beautiful. Brigitte Bardot and Catheine Deneuve were two previous "Mariannes". As you can imagine, competition was always fierce to be recognised as the "face of France".

Since 2005, the decision was made to no longer use a real woman as a model for Marianne's features. Marianne is now a stylised figure with North African features to represent the ethnic cultures that exist in France.

Marianne appears as the central figure on the French government logo. How many other "Icons" can you spot on this?