Did you know? Serge le Lapin celebrates his 47th birthday - here's his story

Serge le Lapin has become the RATP's prevention mascot, not only by the doors of the metro trains, but also on some of the metro escalators. This year, the " rabbit of the metro " celebrates his 47th birthday! Here's a look back at the history of this mascot, who is now also featured on some of the clothing available from the Régie Autonome des Transports Parisiens' official store.

Many people don't know it, but the " metro rabbit " was created on February 15, 1977 by designer Anne Le Lagadec, then Creative Director at ECOM. Both a symbol of " fragility " and " gentleness ", according to Anne Le Lagadec, the rabbit is also an animal that " runs around care lessly". This little long-eared mammal was therefore chosen to " illustrate the prevention message about the risk of pinched fingers in metro doors, particularly for young people ", explains RATP.

Initially, the stickers featuring the little rabbit were not deployed on all lines. Line 1 was the first to see the appearance of the " metro rabbit ".

We had to wait more than 10 years, until 1986, for the first evolution of the " metro rabbit ", thanks to the now-famous Serge Maury. Gone were the red overalls, replaced by a " flashier " yellow outfit that dressed the rabbit from head to toe. However, the message remains unchanged: " Be careful! Don't put your hands on the doors: you might get pinched!

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At the same time, the " rabbit of the metro " gradually took on the first name of Monsieur Maury, to become, in the eyes of all users, the indispensable " Serge le Lapin ".

A new development in May 2014. At the request of RATP, which wished to modernize the environment in which the rabbit was staged, the 4uatre agency created a more contemporary rabbit with a more stylish outfit. This more modern Serge le Lapin, now wearing blue jeans, a yellow t-shirt and a pair of sneakers, was gradually rolled out in 2014 on the 24,000 doors of the metro and RER. The objective remains the same: "to make passengers aware of the right reflexes to adopt when opening doors ", says the Régie.

Finally, new Serge the Rabbit stickers appeared in the metro on February 15, 2017, this time with a different message: " Attention! Don't put your feet near the edge, you could get hurt badly ". These prevention stickers have thus been affixed to the 115 most"accident-prone" escalators in the RATP network.