Luxembourg Flag: Meaning, Colors, History & Facts
Luxembourg’s national flag is a horizontal tricolour of red, white and sky blue. Its colors come from centuries-old Luxembourg heraldry and the modern flag is protected by the 1972 national-emblems law.
What does the Luxembourg flag look like?
The flag consists of three equal horizontal stripes: red at the top, white in the middle and sky blue at the bottom.
Why is it confused with the Netherlands?
The Dutch flag uses the same color order, but the Netherlands uses a much darker blue. Luxembourg’s official blue is a bright sky blue.
What are Luxembourg’s official colors?
Government material specifies Pantone 032 C for red and Pantone 299 C for blue.
Compare Luxembourg and Netherlands flags →
Where do the colors come from?
Luxembourg government history links the national red, white and blue to the heraldic colors of the medieval counts of Luxembourg, whose arms showed a red lion on blue-and-white stripes.
What is the Red Lion flag?
The Red Lion is based on Luxembourg’s historic coat of arms. The government has reaffirmed the red-white-sky-blue tricolour as the national flag while also permitting Red Lion use within the Grand Duchy.
When was the tricolour legally protected?
The flag and state coat of arms are protected by the Law of June 23, 1972 on National Emblems.
How did the flag develop?
Luxembourg’s colors have medieval heraldic roots, while the horizontal tricolour emerged gradually in the nineteenth century as modern national flags became standardized.
Read the Luxembourg flag history →
How can you identify it?
Check the bottom stripe: if it is light sky blue rather than dark blue, the flag is Luxembourg’s rather than the Netherlands’.
Luxembourg flag facts
| Colors | Red, white, sky blue |
|---|---|
| Official red | Pantone 032 C |
| Official blue | Pantone 299 C |
| National-emblems law | 1972 |
| Related emblem | Red Lion |
