In 1989, the Flame of Liberty (Flamme de la Liberté) was presented to the city of Paris by the International Herald Tribune in celebration of the newspaper’s 100th anniversary of publishing an English daily in Paris. The monument — a full-sized, gold-leaf replica of the torch from the Statue of Liberty — also honored the restoration work that had recently been completed on the Statue of Liberty in New York.
The plaque on the flame reads:
“The Flame of Liberty. An exact replica of the Statue of Liberty’s flame offered to the people of France by donors throughout the world as a symbol of the Franco-American friendship. On the occasion of the centennial of the International Herald Tribune. Paris 1887–1987.”
The Flame of Liberty is located on Place de l’Alma in the 16th arrondissement. It became a citizen-driven memorial for Diana, Princess of Wales after her death in the tunnel under Pont de l’Alma in 1997. In 2019, the site was officially named Place Diana.
Photos by Dewey Rodefer.
