15 Defining Photos From the Student Protests in France
Painted signs and trash bins have become a visual lexicon of resistance as protesters call for educational reform and an immediate end to police violence.
Young protesters stand on the Monument to the Republic with a blue smoke flare and placards reading "Levez Vous" ("Rise Up") during demonstrations at Place de la République in Paris. (photo Laurent Demartini / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)
Students in France are approaching their third week of protests over a host of ills in the country's education system, spanning dilapidated infrastructure, teacher shortages, underfunding, and overburdened schedules. What began as a protest at one underdeveloped high school in Paris last month has surged into nationwide strikes including students, staff, parents, and activists, with more than 6,000 arrested, the overwhelming majority of whom are minors, according to France's interior ministry.
As the French government begins considering negotiations with students, police have brutalized and injured demonstrators at many protests. Saint-Denis Mayor Bally Bagayoko was tear-gassed while blockading students from riot police, a 15-year-old's hand was blown off by a police stun grenade (a weapon that has since been suspended by the interior ministry), and over 215 teenagers and 85 school staff have been injured since the protests began, according to French Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu.
A sign shaped like a red fist at a blockade of the Paris-Panthéon-Assas University building during a student demonstration in Paris (photo Simon Wohlfahrt / AFP via Getty Images)
Activists hoisting painted cardboard signs alongside the French flag have become common sights across the nation, creating a visual lexicon of resistance. Much like water jugs became a symbol of student solidarity with Gaza in colleges across the United States, flaming trash cans have become strategic and emblematic blockades to school entrances across France, from the nation's smallest suburbs to the heart of Paris.
See some of the most striking photographs from the historic demonstrations, alongside protest art and placards calling for urgent education reform and an immediate end to police violence.
A protester holds a placard reading “The revolution begins with our courage” in front of the July Column, a monument commemorating the Revolution of 1830, during a demonstration of high-school students at Place de la Bastille in Paris on October 8, 2026. (photo by Kenzo TRIBOUILLARD / AFP via Getty Images)A sign reads, "An eye, teeth, a hand, what comes next?" in a jab at violent police tactics during a march by secondary school students and their supporters from Republic to Nation Square on October 6, 2026, in Paris. (photo Guy Smallman/Getty Images)Trash cans, used to block school entrances across France, have become their own symbol of resistance. (photo Simon Wohlfahrt / AFP via Getty Images)One Paris-Panthéon-Assas student's placard reimagines the classic traffic-crossing signage seen outside schools in France to denounce the forceful policing of student protests. (photo Daniel Perron / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)A student holding a sign that translates to "Smile, you're being gassed," a reference to police officers firing tear gas to disperse protesters (photo Basile Dubouis / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)Barbapapa, a beloved French children's book character, makes an appearance on a protest sign along with the phrase "c'est la Barbamerde,” a cheeky play on the French expression "c'est la merde" ("we're screwed"). (photo Pat Batard / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)High school students hold a sign depicting far-right French National Assembly member Marine Le Pen as the devil during a protest in Toulouse, in southwestern France. (photo Pat Batard / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)"L'amour sans bavure" translates idiomatically to "love without police force." The sign was seen during student marches to Place de la Bastille in Paris. (photo Benoît Durand / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images) In Paris, a placard in the shape of a pack of cigarettes reads "Marlbaré," a play on Marlboro and the expression "mal barré" ("off to a bad start"), and the phrase "fascism kills." (photo Kenzo Tribouillard / AFP via Getty Images)A sign reads "Less repression, more education" during a demonstration over learning conditions in Bordeaux on October 6, 2026. (photo Philippe Lopez / AFP via Getty Images)A protester holds a placard reading "Be young and shut up" with a silhouette of French President Emmanuel Macron covering the mouth of a young person. The slogan was taken from a poster of the May 1968 protests in France. (photo Laurent Demartini / Hans Lucas / AFP via Getty Images)A protester holds a placard reading "High school students who have been maimed, blinded, drowned, or lost their teeth" (photo Alain Jocard / AFP via Getty Images)People gather in the center of the Place de la République at the start of a nationwide day of actions called by high-school students and joined by unions and teachers on October 6, 2026. (photo Geoffroy van der Hasselt / AFP via Getty Images)
