The following steps were taken by the French revolutionaries to create a sense of collective identity among the French people:

• The ideas of the fatherland (la patrie) and the citizens (le citoyen) were introduced.
• A new French flag, the tricolor, was chosen to replace the earlier royal standard.
• The Estates General was renamed as the National Assembly.
• New hymns were composed, oaths were taken and martyrs commemorated, all in the name of the nation.
• A centralized administrative system was established.
• Uniform laws for all citizens were formulated.
• Internal custom duties and dues were abolished.
• A uniform system of weights and measures was adopted.
• French, as it was written and spoken in Paris, became the common language of the nation. Regional dialects were discouraged.
• It was decided that the French nation would liberate the peoples of Europe from despotism, and help other peoples to become nations.