In early January, France intervened militarily in Mali after another insurgent attack in the country’s Northern regions. Mali’s ex-colonial power, however, claimed that she would not intervene directly or alone until December 2013. Even more surprising was that Captain Sanogo, who had orchestrated the coup and opposed any form of external interference ever since, immediately approved operation Serval. The intervention, which followed a formal request by the Malian interim government, was massively approved by French opinion. In the following months, dominant images of the conflict showed Malian people waving French flags, cheering and welcoming troops. / This article purports to account for this shift by looking at how operation Serval has been justified and legitimized in both France and Mali. It builds on the premises that legitimacy is a social process and the result of intense political work. The article pays attention to the legal arguments, high-rank political discourses, communication strategies, media production and popular representations that have contributed to consensus-building around the French intervention in Mali. The article explores the effects of the intervention on Malian politics, i.e. the renewal (or not) of the ruling class and the empowerment of certain political, professional and social actors over others. /