Flag of France
The national flag of France (French: drapeau français) is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue (hoist side), white, and red. It is known to English speakers as the Tricolour (French: Tricolore), although the flag of Ireland and others are also known as such. The design was adopted after the French Revolution, where the revolutionaries were influenced by the horizontally striped red-white-blue flag of the Netherlands.[2][3] While not the first tricolour, it became one of the most influential flags in history. The tricolour scheme was later adopted by many other nations in Europe and elsewhere, and, according to the Encyclopædia Britannica has historically stood "in symbolic opposition to the autocratic and clericalist royal standards of the past".
Before the tricolour was adopted the royal government used many flags, the best known being a blue shield and gold fleurs-de-lis (the Royal Arms of France) on a white background, or state flag. Early in the French Revolution, the Paris militia, which played a prominent role in the storming of the Bastille, wore a cockade of blue and red,[4] the city's traditional colours. According to French general Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, white was the "ancient French colour" and was added to the militia cockade to form a tricolour, or national, cockade of France.[5]
This cockade became part of the uniform of the National Guard, which succeeded the militia and was commanded by Lafayette.[6] The colours and design of the cockade are the basis of the Tricolour flag, adopted in 1790,[7] originally with the red nearest to the flagpole and the blue farthest from it. A modified design by Jacques-Louis David was adopted in 1794. The royal white flag was used during the Bourbon Restoration from 1815 to 1830; the tricolour was brought back after the July Revolution and has been used since then, except for an interruption for a few days in 1848.[8] Since 1976, there have been two versions of the flag in varying levels of use by the state: the original (identifiable by its use of navy blue) and one with a lighter shade of blue. Since July 2020, France has used the older variant by default, including at the Élysée Palace.[9][10]
Flag of France under the Capetian dynasty since the twelfth century
![The Royal Banner of France[25] or "Bourbon Flag". The House of Bourbon ruled France from 1589 to 1792 and again from 1815 to 1848.](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/82/Royal_flag_of_France.svg/130px-Royal_flag_of_France.svg.png)
Variant royal standard of France (1643 design)
The French soldiers started to use white crosses, during the Hundred Years' War, to distinguish themselves from the English soldiers wearing red crosses.
The pre-revolutionary regimental flags inspired the flag of Quebec (here, the Compagnies Franches de la Marine).
The present ensign of France introduced on 17 May 1853
Most French colonies either used the regular tricolour or a regional flag without the French flag. There were some exceptions:
The Acadian flag used in Canada is based on the tricolour flag of France, but this flag was never used during French rule of Acadia. It was adopted in 1884. Acadians live mainly in New Brunswick, Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia.
The current flag of Quebec. The use of blue and white is a characteristic of pre-revolutionary flags.
Many provinces and territories in Canada have French-speaking communities with flags represents:
Many areas in North America have substantial French-speaking and ancestral communities:
New Hebrides used several flags incorporating both the British Union Flag and the French flag.
In the Shanghai International Settlement, the flag of Shanghai Municipal Council has a shield incorporating the French tricolour.
Two territories of Vietnam used flags based on the tricolour flag of France.
Multiple French flags as commonly flown from public buildings
