Abstract
Taking note of the height of floods has always been an important social activity. Often, the event is marked only in the memory or consciousness of people, as in the famous Zouave on the Pont de l’Alma in Paris. However, the measured recording of flood height has long been a historical phenomenon. Without a doubt, the cultural significance of these marks depends on local historical, hydrological and cultural circumstances. In this article, we are particularly interested in flood markers in France in the modern period (since the nineteenth century). These have generally been intended to serve as a way of reminding people of the possibility of flooding, in order to make them aware of the risk. In France, municipalities have been under a legal obligation since 2003 to inventory and maintain old flood markers and to requisition new ones. This article proposes both a critical typology of these markers, old and new, and a critical discussion of their usefulness to raise awareness of flood risk. Is the flood marker a «miracle cure» in flood risk information? The article is based on examples drawn mainly from metropolitan France, and offers suggestions for improving flood-risk information.