Court rules that even enigmatic Mona Lisa smile, with lips together and corners of mouth turned up, is not permitted

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

If you are having your passport photo taken in France, do not – under any circumstances – crack a smile.

In a ruling that threatens to cement a national reputation for cheerlessness, a French court has decided to uphold a ban on smiling in pictures taken for passports or identity papers.

A French civil servant had asked the country’s administrative appeals court to approve people smiling in passport photos to dispel “national depression” and give the country a “morale boost”. He also suggested happier-looking passport pictures would send a positive image of France to the rest of the world.

The court, however, was not amused.

It declared that French passport photographs must conform to the decree of 5 February 2009, which states that a person’s look and expression must be “fixed on the lens. The expression should be neutral with the mouth closed”. This was further clarified by an official diktat of 13 January 2010, which hammered home the message: “You must certainly not smile.”



The unnamed French official was prompted to act after his own passport photo broke the stringent rules. He claimed that he was not, in fact, smiling but had a neutral face with the corners of his mouth turned up.

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A lawyer representing the official told the court: “If they stopped asking the French to be miserable on their IDs, they’d give the morale of the nation a little lift.” He argued that, like the enigmatic smile of the celebrated Mona Lisa, people could theoretically look happy while keeping their lips together and their expression neutral.

In a letter to news agency Agence France-Presse, the official wrote: “Is it responsible, in a depressed France, for the authorities [to] reproach French people for smiling? Except perhaps they want them to continue pulling a sulky face on their identity papers, and thus plunging the country’s morale even further.”

In an initial ruling, the Paris court decided against smiles in December 2014. The decision was upheld on Thursday.

“The day started with a smile, and will finish with one whatever happens: a big, frank, expressive smile,” the anonymous plaintiff told journalists outside the court.

“For the last few days, French people have contacted me and expressed their support. There’s an army in the shadows and they will be an army of smiles at my side.”