Bitard
{{Short description|French symbol}}
The Bitard is a fabulous animal. It is the symbol of the {{Lang|fr|Ordre du Vénéré Bitard (Loué Soit-Il !)}} or Order of the Venerated Bitard (May He be Blessed!), a student association of University of Poitiers (France) created in the 1920s. The members themselves are also called Bitards and in some occasions they wear a cape colored according to their rank in the Order, along with a faluche, the traditional French Student cap. The Bitards' faluche has the particularity of being decorated with a chevron and having its own code for the signification of insignias. The folklore of the Order refers to François Rabelais as the word {{Lang|fr|bitard}} appears twice in hunting outcomes in Pantagruel.{{Cite journal|language=French|title=La chasse au Bitard des étudiants poitevins: Panurge bachelier |first1=C |last1=Escarmant |first2=JL |last2=Le Quellec |journal=Études rabelaisiennes |year=2006 |url=http://rupestre.on-rev.com/page0/page3/assets/EtudesRabel_2006.pdf |format=PDF}}
Each year, the Order organizes a one-week festival, called the {{Lang|fr|69e Semaine estudiantine}} (69th Students' Week). Various festive activities happen during this week, including a procession,{{Cite video|url=http://www.ina.fr/economie-et-societe/education-et-enseignement/video/RXF05005382/l-ordre-du-bitard-a-poitiers.fr.html |title=L'ordre du bitard à Poitiers |date=1968 |publisher=Institut national de l'audiovisuel |language=French}} drinking events and a Bitard hunting. There is also a fresco depicting the hunting of the Bitard on an interior wall of the Roche-d'Argent university restaurant (located in downtown Poitiers, near the Saint-Jean baptistery). A concrete statue of a phallus, called "quéquette" or "blanche verge et les sept mains", erected by the Order of the Bitard in 1976 on the Poitiers campus, is a folk symbol for Poitiers students. The sculpture accidentally destroyed, during construction, in October 2015, was rebuilt, in April 2016.[http://www.centre-presse.fr/article-454666-les-bitards-entre-deuxieme-sec-et-nouvelle-quequette.html Les Bitards entre "deuxième sec" et "nouvelle quéquette"], Centre Presse, 25 avril 2016