Mona Lisa would not qualify for a passport today in France

France refused to accept smiles, even a slight, Mona Lisa-like smile, in passport photos, according to a ruling by a French appeals court on Thursday.

An unnamed French civil servant sued French authorities after his initial passport application was rejected for a smile in the passport picture. He lost the suit in 2014 when a French court ruled that he had a noticeable grin in the photo.

Both French courts made their decision based on regulations concerning passport photos, which provide that "the expression (of the applicant) should be neutral with the mouth closed" and "you must certainly not smile".

The plaintiff and his lawyer both insisted that the photo involved only a "smile with one's mouth shut while keeping a neutral expression", like the mildly amused look on the face of the Mona Lisa in the famous painting by Leonardo da Vinci. The world-famous painting resides in the Louvre Museum in Paris.

The regulations are of no legal value, defense lawyer Romain Boulet said before Thursday's ruling.

Furthermore, their argument emphasized that a smile would give hard-pressed France "a morale boost" and hoped the appeal court's approval would make the French people smile.

Unfortunately, their intentions failed to amuse French justice. Whether people are cheerful or morose, their passport photos must show only poker faces.