BORIS HORVAT/AFP/Getty Images A yellow vest demonstrator faces riot police officers in Marseille, France, on Saturday, January 5, 2019. In photos: Protests in France

BORIS HORVAT/AFP/Getty Images A yellow vest demonstrator faces riot police officers in Marseille, France, on Saturday, January 5, 2019.

An estimated 50,000 people demonstrated across France on Saturday, January 5, In the first major gilet jaunes, or "yellow vest," protests of the new year. Saturday marked the eighth consecutive week of protests throughout France.

The protests -- named after the yellow high-visibility jackets French motorists must carry in their vehicles -- started November 17, 2018 in reaction to an eco-tax on gas but have since morphed into disparate demonstrations against President Emmanuel Macron.