French Republican Date Today
Today's date in the French Revolutionary calendar of 1793–1805 — 12 months of three ten-day décades, named after seasons and fruits, ending with five or six holiday days.
Gregorian → French Republican
Pick any date to see its Revolutionary calendar equivalent.
The French Republican calendar
The French Republican calendar, sometimes called the Revolutionary calendar, was used in France from 1793 to 1805 — a radical experiment in de-Christianizing the calendar and aligning it with reason and agriculture.
The year began at the autumnal equinox (22 September), the symbolic first day of the Republic. Instead of 7-day weeks, the Revolutionaries introduced décades — ten-day weeks. Each month had exactly three décades, giving 30 days per month and 12 months per year.
The 12 months, named for nature
Poet Fabre d'Églantine designed the evocative month names, each matching a feature of the French countryside:
| Season | Month | Meaning | Approx. Gregorian |
|---|---|---|---|
| Autumn | Vendémiaire | grape harvest | 22 Sep – 21 Oct |
| Brumaire | mist | 22 Oct – 20 Nov | |
| Frimaire | frost | 21 Nov – 20 Dec | |
| Winter | Nivôse | snow | 21 Dec – 19 Jan |
| Pluviôse | rain | 20 Jan – 18 Feb | |
| Ventôse | wind | 19 Feb – 20 Mar | |
| Spring | Germinal | germination | 21 Mar – 19 Apr |
| Floréal | flowers | 20 Apr – 19 May | |
| Prairial | meadows | 20 May – 18 Jun | |
| Summer | Messidor | harvest | 19 Jun – 18 Jul |
| Thermidor | heat | 19 Jul – 17 Aug | |
| Fructidor | fruits | 18 Aug – 16 Sep |
The remaining 5 (or 6 in leap years) days at the end of Fructidor were called the Sansculottides — holidays named after revolutionary virtues like Genius, Labor, and Virtue.
Why Napoleon abolished it
The calendar lasted just 12 years, 2 months, and 27 days. Napoleon Bonaparte formally abolished it on 1 January 1806, reverting to Gregorian. The ten-day week had proved unpopular — workers disliked having fewer rest days — and the calendar had isolated France from international trade and diplomacy.
Ten-day weeks and the death of Sunday
The most radical feature of the Revolutionary calendar was abolishing the seven-day week. In its place came the décade — a ten-day period ending with a single rest day (décadi). Each day of the décade had its own name: Primidi, Duodi, Tridi, Quartidi, Quintidi, Sextidi, Septidi, Octidi, Nonidi, Décadi.
This meant workers got one rest day in ten, not one in seven — a harder rhythm than the old Christian week. Combined with the abolition of religious holidays, the new calendar was deeply unpopular with ordinary people. Napoleon cited worker discontent as a practical reason for abolishing it when he came to power.
A festival for every day
In place of the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, revolutionary poet Fabre d'Églantine devised a rural calendar dedicating each day to a plant, animal, or agricultural tool. Thus 1 Vendémiaire honors the grape; 1 Brumaire the apple; 1 Frimaire the turnip; and so on. This was a deliberately anti-clerical gesture, replacing religious veneration with celebration of the material world and peasant labor.
The Sansculottides
At the end of Fructidor, before the new year began at the autumnal equinox, came five holiday days (six in leap years). These were named after revolutionary civic virtues:
- Jour de la Vertu — Virtue Day
- Jour du Génie — Genius Day
- Jour du Travail — Labor Day
- Jour de l'Opinion — Opinion Day
- Jour des Récompenses — Rewards Day
- Jour de la Révolution — Revolution Day (leap year only)
Why it only lasted 12 years
The calendar was adopted 24 October 1793 (retroactive to the autumnal equinox of 1792) and abolished 1 January 1806 by Napoleon. Its demise was driven by:
- Practical problems — ten-day weeks interrupted social rhythms; the workday was harder.
- Religious resistance — the Concordat of 1801 restored Catholicism in France and made religious holidays important again.
- International isolation — France alone used the calendar, making correspondence and trade awkward.
- Napoleonic pragmatism — Napoleon preferred things that worked to things that were ideologically pure.
Later brief revivals
The calendar was briefly reintroduced during the Paris Commune of 1871, which declared its decrees according to Republican dates during its 72-day rule in May–June 1871. That's the only serious post-Napoleonic use.