The lion symbolizes the heroic French resistance during the Siege of Belfort, a 103-day Prussian assault from December 1870 to February 1871.

The city was successfully defended against 40,000 Prussians by merely 17,000 men (of whom only 3,500 were from the military) led by Colonel Denfert-Rochereau, with the fortress holding out until the Armistice of Versailles obligated French forces to abandon it.

Bartholdi's first preparatory model depicted the lion facing defiantly east towards Prussia, but he was then asked to calm its expression to avoid a diplomatic fallout with the German Empire.

In response he reversed the statue to face west with its rear to Prussia, but added an arrow beneath its front paw that points back towards the German border.

[1] Smaller editions of the statue stand in the center of Place Denfert-Rochereau in Paris and also in Dorchester Square in Downtown Montreal.