The flag of France is a vertical blue-white-red tricolour. It emerged from the French Revolution and took its definitive modern arrangement in 1794, with blue next to the flagstaff, white in the centre and red at the fly.
What does the French flag look like?
The French national flag consists of three vertical bands: blue, white and red. It is commonly known as the Tricolore. The arrangement distinguishes it from older horizontal red-white-blue flags such as that of the Netherlands.
Where did the colors come from?
The Élysée explains that the tricolour developed during the Revolution from the combination of white, historically associated with the monarchy, and blue and red, the traditional colors of Paris. Before appearing as a national flag, the three colors were used together in the revolutionary cockade.
History of the French flag
In 1790 the Constituent Assembly ordered a vertical tricolour for French naval use, initially with a different order and unequal bands. On February 15, 1794, the National Convention established the arrangement recognisable today: blue at the hoist, white in the centre and red at the fly. The tricolour disappeared during the Bourbon Restoration from 1814 to 1830, then returned during the July Revolution and has remained France’s principal national emblem through later republics.
France flag facts
- Common name: Tricolore
- Colors: blue, white and red
- Design: three vertical bands
- Definitive arrangement established: February 15, 1794
- Origin: French Revolution
Source
Primary reference: Élysée — Le drapeau français.
