The French Revolution was a decisive factor for the maturation and especially for the expression of an original identity for Reunion island. It offered the opportunity for a thorough reflexion conceming a certain number of points, such as : What is a colony entailed to expect from its home country and what does the latter owe it in return ? How and to what extent can the colony merge with the National unity ? Would it not be advisable for the « local ity » to interpret and to adjust the model offered by the home country, even to propose a countermodel ? All the history of Reunion island during the revolutionnary period centres on these fundamental problems. Thus arose a sort of cristallization of an insular identity, combining inextricably a loyalty to France to the point of legitimist ecstasy and, on the other hand, a fierce desire that the right to be different, and even unique, be acknowledged. This complex and ambiguous attitude is still fundamentally present today.