French Foreign Legion: Arms Contexts

Jim McDougall · 14th September 2025, 08:00 PM

Thank you Ed, and actually this topic area covers wide scope colonially, and historically over a long period extending past our chronological parameters, so this is indeed a fascinating example of how wide these traditions and edged weapons spread.

I had never heard of this knife until now, and seems to have been created c. 1929 by a family in France drawing on traditions from Melanesia. This is a great example of how colonialism, in this case of France, diffused cultural elements so widely. The colonial activity of France in Algeria carried into the 60s, and apparently these knives were popularly used by Algerian rebels notoriously.
While much later than the periods we are focused on, the traditions of the knives as used in native tribal manner simply conveyed to more modern examples of older types of knives.

The folding knife element of course brings to mind the navaja, which though typically regarded as Spanish, had prevalent examples that were French as well.

14th September 2025, 08:00 PM	#8
Jim McDougall Arms Historian Join Date: Dec 2004 Location: Route 66 Posts: 10,579	Thank you Ed, and actually this topic area covers wide scope colonially, and historically over a long period extending past our chronological parameters, so this is indeed a fascinating example of how wide these traditions and edged weapons spread. I had never heard of this knife until now, and seems to have been created c. 1929 by a family in France drawing on traditions from Melanesia. This is a great example of how colonialism, in this case of France, diffused cultural elements so widely. The colonial activity of France in Algeria carried into the 60s, and apparently these knives were popularly used by Algerian rebels notoriously. While much later than the periods we are focused on, the traditions of the knives as used in native tribal manner simply conveyed to more modern examples of older types of knives. The folding knife element of course brings to mind the navaja, which though typically regarded as Spanish, had prevalent examples that were French as well.