Pocket guide to the Yellow Jackets

The center of Lyon on Saturday saw an outbreak of Yellow Jacket on Yellow Jacket violence.

In video footage shot from above, two groups of Yellow Jackets — one believed to be anti-capitalist and anti-fascist, the other to be ultra-right nationalists — swarmed toward each other like angry bees from rival hives.

Both sides wore the high-viz uniform of the rebellion that has shaken France since mid-November. From a distance, it was impossible to say which group was which. Even some of those involved seemed unsure which side they were on.

The incident — not the first of its kind — highlighted the tribal divisions and tensions within the Yellow Jackets movement. Those involved have a loose coalition of grievances: anti-tax but pro-higher welfare payments; pro-public services but anti-state. That has been the rebellion’s strength and its weakness but as the fight in Lyon shows, the tribal divisions within the movement are becoming more apparent.

Here's a guide to the different species and sub-species of Yellow Jackets.