Gauloises (, "Gaulish" [feminine plural] in French; cigarette is a feminine noun in French) is a brand of cigarette of French origin. It is produced by the company Imperial Tobacco following its acquisition of Altadis in January 2008 in most countries, but produced and sold by Reemtsma in Germany. Until 2017 the cigarette was manufactured at a plant in Riom, Puy-de-Dôme, in France, but they are now manufactured in Poland. History Gauloises was launched by SEITA in 1910. Traditional Gauloises were short, wide, unfiltered and made with dark tobaccos from Syria and Turkey which produced a strong and distinctive aroma. The brand is most famous for its cigarettes' strength, especially in its original unfiltered version. Forty years later, filtered Gauloises cigarettes debuted. In 1984, the Gauloises brand was expanded to include a light, American-type tobacco with a filter. The original non-filter, Gauloises Caporal, have been discontinued and replaced with Gauloises Brunes, which are also filterless but less strong. Gauloises Brunes have low tar and nicotine levels, because of European tobacco laws, but the tobacco is still dark and strong-tasting. Since 2018, Gauloises cigarettes have been produced in Poland after the last manufacturing plant in Riom, Puy-de-Dôme closed its doors in the end of 2017. Between the World Wars the smoking of Gauloises in France was considered patriotic and an affiliation with French "heartland" values. The brand was associated with the cigarette-smoking poilu (a slang term for the French infantryman in the trenches) and the resistance fighters during the Vichy Regime. Their slogan was "Liberté toujours ("Freedom forever"). In 1939–1940 some packets of cigarettes were given a distinctive "troop brand". In March 1954 SEITA launched the "Gauloise Disque Bleu" brand, with CEO Pierre Grimanelli proud of the new packaging that would, he argued, increase sales. The brand was also linked to high-status and inspirational figures representing the worlds of art (e.g. Pablo Picasso) and the intellectual elite (e.g. Jean-Paul Sartre, Albert Camus and Jean Baudrillard). In popular music, for example French pianist and composer Maurice Ravel, American singer Jim Morrison and British music icon John Lennon. American artist Robert Motherwell used Gauloises packets and cartons in many collages, including an extensive series with the packets surrounded by bright red acrylic paint, often with incised lines in the painted areas. In the introduction to his 2015 book Robert Motherwell: The Making of an American Giant, gallery owner Bernard Jacobson says, "Motherwell smoked