Mayor of Nice: flagpoles with the French flag in 89 schools

On Friday, 28 August 2026, the Mayor of Nice Éric Ciotti announced that from the start of the new school year until the autumn holidays flagpoles with the French tricolour will be installed in the yards of all 89 primary schools in the city, and he also proposed introducing a weekly flag-raising ceremony with the performance of the «Marseillaise».

Flagpole in every schoolyard

«From the start of this school year and until the autumn holidays we will install the tricolour in the yard of every school», Ciotti said at a press conference. In his words, «our children must internalise these values» — respect for national symbols, the mayor believes, is important to instil from an early age. He also said that he intends to coordinate the implementation of the measure with the rector of the Nice Academy, school management and parents.

The ministry rejected the anthem ceremony

The weekly raising of the flag with the «Marseillaise» was rejected by France’s minister of national education Édouard Zheffre: the framework of school policy is set by the state, not by municipalities. «In the words “national education” there is the word “national” — that means that the framework is set by national education», the minister said, calling pedagogical decisions outside the competence of mayors (franceinfo).

What next

The municipality itself intends to install the flagpoles by the start of the school year — this is within its competence as the owner of the school buildings. The fate of the ceremony with the anthem remains with the ministry. The measure is being introduced against the background of the start of the school year — it was previously announced when families will be paid the back-to-school allowance.

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