Red Hibiscus Society
 Recreation of the Society's seal | |
| Motto | "For God and Empire" (Gaullican: Pour dieu et royaume) |
|---|---|
| Formation | 1923 |
| Founder | unknown |
| Founded at | Jameston, Colony of Saint-Brendan |
| Dissolved | 12 November 1933 |
| Legal status | Banned by military authority |
| Purpose | Establishment of a Functionalist society |
| Headquarters | Crossroads Park, Carrefour, Jameston |
Region | Carucere |
| Methods | From democratic initiatives to acts of political violence |
Membership (1926) | Around 2,000 |
Official language | Gaullican |
President | Louis Barnave (first) Georges Virgile Poulet (last) |
Key people | Barnave, Foureau, Poulet |
The Red Hibiscus Society (Gaullican: Société de l'hibiscus rouge), officially known as the Jameston Fraternal Society, was a National Functionalist political club and paramilitary force that existed on the Theme of Sainte-Brendan in the Viceroyalty of the New Aurean, during the 1920s and 1930s. The club was founded by members of a Catholic trade union to advocate for the establishment of a functionalist society. Although it lasted for less than a decade, the club had grown to be incredibly influential in the colony. The Society's popular name originates from the flower garden in front of the society's meeting place in Jameston.
The Society was founded sometime in 1923 by members of a Catholic trade union. Louis Barnave quickly emerged as a major figure within the club, and led its rapid growth in popularity with the white and creole middle class in the colony. Officially a social club, it was a major political organization that advocated for the complete reorganization of Carucerean society along functionalist lines. At its height in the late-1920s, it effectively functioned as a state within a state and its membership included the majority of the colony's middle class. It opposed the existing governing administration of the Theme, which remained staunchly conservative monarchist, and Carucerean liberals and progressives. By the late 1920s, the Society was often responsible for silencing critics, breaking up demonstrations and murdering opponents. Following the outbreak of the Great War, the Society's armed wing was reformed into the Special Reserve Police and tasked with keeping order and suppressing opponents to the war.
The Society was banned after the colony was occupied by Grand Alliance forces in 1933, after which many of its prominent members were arrested. After the colony's incorporation into the Arucian Federation, many of its members were at blacklisted from the civil service and political offices until 1940 after officials realized that it meant excluding much of Carucerean society. Many of its members would later join the conservative National Party of Carucere and form part of the opposition to the Democratic Party. Jean Preval served as a member of the Special Reserve Police in the later years of the Great War, although he denied killing anyone or participating in the Society's political activities.