The Vichy régime, which dropped the word "republic" in favour of "the French state", maintained the use of the "tricolore", but Philippe Pétain used as his personal standard a version of the flag with, in the white stripe, an axe made with a star-studded marshal's baton. This axe is called the "Francisque" in reference to the ancient Frankish throwing axe. During this same period, the Free French Forces used a "tricolore" with, in the white stripe, a red Cross of Lorraine.