“In honour of the flag.”Centrality and ambivalences in the attachment to the flag(s) in military training

The flag occupies a central place in military training. From the barracks banner to the daily raising of the flag, the tricolour is omnipresent, to the point that it seems illusory to draw up a complete inventory of its presence, whether material or discursive. Based on ethnographic data collected between 2009 and 2016 in two barracks where future paratroopers are trained, the article examines the modalities and problems of the institutional pedagogy of the flag and questions its appropriation by the recruits. In doing so, it hopes to contribute to revealing the heuristic potential of a study of the discourses and practices of the flag, in particular to reflect on the modes and scales of identification at work in the contemporary military world.