During the plague epidemic in 1643, the aldermen of Lyon made the vow to organize a procession at Fourvière to implore the Virgin Mary to save the city.

They carried a 7-pound (3.2 kg) wax candle and a gold crown on a silk cushion.

This gave the chocolatier Voisin, based in Lyon since 1897, the idea of using the shape of the cushion to create this confection in 1960.

The Boucaud family has a monopoly in marketing the coussins, which it makes in its network of retail stores across the Rhône-Alpes region and in Marseille.

In 2010, company manager Paul Boucaud said that Voisin manufactured 85 tonnes (94 tons) of coussins in Lyon annually and that production increased by 10% year on year.