Médaille en bronze frappée en 1973 à l’occasion du XXème anniversaire de l’Association de Pharmacie Rurale, fondée en 1953. Sculpteur : RABATET, Robert. Fabricant : Maison Alphonse Augis. Poids : 140g. Dimensions : 68mm.
The caduceus is defined as a "staff entwined by two serpents and surmounted by wings, attribute of Hermes, god of trade and health". This caduceus, known as the Mercury caduceus, although very old, is the symbol of the American health service. Indeed, the emblem was reserved solely for the military service, before being used by the medical professions.
The pharmaceutical caduceus, as we know it today, is different from that of Mercury. It is composed of the cup of Hygie, the Greek goddess of health, and the serpent of Epidaurus, which wraps itself around the cup to drink the nourishing liquid offered by the goddess. Although there are a multitude of caducei, the latter was first seen in Padua in 1222 on the banner of the city's apothecaries.
The caduceus of Mercury was seen shortly after the French Revolution, during the Directoire period, between 1795 and 1799. Then, it was used as a badge for the military health service. The officers were given uniforms with buttons showing the emblem. This was a period when the health professions didn’t have a uniform and were therefore looking for an attribute to improve their visibility. We find this same caduceus, in 1820, on the tokens of the Société des Pharmacies de Paris, for the first time. This is a learned society that was recognised as essential at the end of the 19th century and that we have known since 1979 as the Académie nationale de Pharmacie.
However, at the beginning of the last century, there was still no regulation in France regarding the medical use of the symbol. It was not until Vichy, a time that had a strong impact on the medical field during a time when the French government took charge of the pharmaceutical industrialisation of medicines, through the development of laboratories, that this emblem was made official for pharmacies. In 1942, the Secretary of State for Health, Louis Aublant, officially designated the caduceus of the Epidaurus snake and the cup of Hygie as the official insignia for pharmacies in 1942. Moreover, this measure confirmed the disappearance of a very old profession, that of herbalists, whose monopoly on the sale of plant products was taken over by pharmacies.
This search for a symbol exclusive to a profession differs from one country to another. In England, in the 17th century, and in the United States, as early as 1789, a common symbol to distinguish pharmacists of the time was already in use until the first part of the 20th century. This was the Show Globe, a large transparent vase hanging near pharmacies and containing a coloured liquid. However, in Germany, it is the cup of Hygie and the serpent of Epidaurus that was in use, inserted on a large red 'A' (in relation to the first letter of Apotheker). The regulations precede the French model by about ten years, the German symbol being adopted in 1934.
Vichy was not the only period in the 20th century to politically mark the history of the caduceus. The 1960s were also decisive for the new symbol of pharmacies. In 1963, the Conseil National de l'Ordre des Pharmaciens (CNOP) (National order for pharmacists) published a bulletin in which it discussed the premises of pharmacies. Among the twelve articles issued by the order, three concern the front of the pharmacies, including the emblem of the pharmacy, which can now be identified with the caduceus. The bulletin states that all pharmacy fronts must bear the green cross with the caduceus, in the form decided in 1942. Nevertheless, this first attempt to standardise the pharmacy emblem was annulled a few years later by the Conseil d’État (Council of State), which stated that the CNOP had no right to enforce such a measure. Moreover, the registration of a common trademark is seen as a means of advertising, which the Conseil d'Etat seeks to avoid.
The political debate between the Conseil National de l'Ordre des Pharmaciens and the Conseil d'Etat continued in the 1970s and 1980s. In 1974, a decree was issued by the Ministry of Health, whose seat was then occupied by Simone Veil. This was refused once again by the Council of State. In 1977, the renewal of the deposit of the caduceus was successful. Seven years later, in 1984, the green cross was also adopted as a collective mark for the pharmacy. The advertising aspect that had caused debate a few years earlier did not occur here.
Since then, the symbol has undergone further development. A similar caduceus can be found on the cars of nurses or private doctors, a practice that is not widespread among pharmacists. The caduceus is becoming increasingly rare on the front of pharmacies, and the green cross, which is still the most common symbol on the front, has been joined by blue and green or simply blue crosses.
Read more in the dictionary : Officiers de santé
Read the paper in french : Caducée
References :
Jean-Pierre Bayard, Le symbolisme du caducée, éditions de la Maisnie, 1978.
Eugène-Humbert Guitard (fondateur), Revue d’histoire de la pharmacie (n°296), édition Société d’histoire de la pharmacie, 1993.
To quote this paper : Matéo Pilon, "The caduceus", in Hervé Guillemain (ed.), DicoPolHiS, Le Mans Université, 2024.
