France, Kingdom, from the Arms of Dominions series (N181) issued by Wm. S. Kimball & Co. 1888

This small chromolithograph of the Kingdom of France was part of a series of collectible cards produced by the Wm. S. Kimball & Co., a late 19th-century tobacco company. These cards, like the tobacco products they accompanied, were a means of establishing a particular vision of national identity and global power. The card features a coat of arms, laden with symbols of monarchy: the crown, fleur-de-lis, and chivalric orders, which are visual shorthand for France’s royalist history. As the United States grappled with its own identity in the wake of the Civil War, such cards served as tiny billboards, reflecting a fascination with the symbols and narratives of European power and nationhood. However, these symbols also belie the complex realities of class and power. While they evoke a sense of national pride and historical continuity, they also point to the often exclusionary nature of national identity, reminding us to look critically at the stories we tell ourselves about who we are.