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This article examines fraternal emotion as seen through the phenomenon of the embrace. This phenomenon has received little attention from historians, despite its frequent appearance in newspapers and pictures from 1790-1799. This article aims to show that the fraternal embrace played a major role in the emotional regime of the Revolution, and was vital to the expression of political unity. The community of feeling implied by the fraternal embrace makes it an essential mode of expression of Revolutionary commitment. By an analysis of newspaper articles, memoirs, political accounts and various images, including Jacques-Louis David’s Leonidas and The Tennis Court Oath, this article seeks to highlight the powerful yet volatile nature of the fraternal embrace, and its role in expressing a Revolutionary passion for the ideal of fraternity.