France introduces law to protect tricolor

Courts will impose a €1,500 (£1,270) fine on anyone caught trying to "destroy, damage or use the flag in a degrading manner," according to the law published in the official gazette.

Publishing photographs of attacks on the flag, even if the attacks are carried out in a private place, will also be punished, it said.

The new law comes after an incident in March in which the backside wiping picture won a prize in a photo contest organised by a book and record shop in the city of Nice.

When it was later published in a free national newspaper it sparked outrage across France, with Michele Alliot-Marie, the Justice Minister, calling for criminal proceedings to be launched against what her spokesman called "this unacceptable act."

Insulting the French national anthem or the tricolor flag during a publicly organised event was previously punishable by up to six months' imprisonment and a fine of €7,500.

To count as an offence, the insult had to be committed during an event organised or regulated by the public authorities, which was not the case with the bottom photograph.