Flag_of_france

Flag of France

Name	Drapeau tricolore
Use	National flag.
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	15 February 1794
Design	A vertical tricolour of blue, white, and red.
Use	National ensign.
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	17 May 1853
Design	As above, but with bars in proportion 30:33:37. (See French ensigns.)

The national flag of France (known in French as drapeau tricolore, drapeau bleu-blanc-rouge, drapeau français, never, le tricolore and, in military parlance, les couleurs) is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured blue (hoist side), white, and red.

It is known to English speakers as the French tricolour or the tricolour.

Design

The colours adopted by Valéry Giscard d\'Estaing, which replaced a darker version of the flag, are

Currently, the flag is 50% wider than its height (i.e. in the proportion 2:3) and, except in the navy, has stripes of equal width. Initially, the three stripes of the flag were not equally wide, being in the proportions 30 (blue), 33 (white) and 37 (red). The theory behind this was that if they were equal then the white stripe, being brighter, would appear disproportionately wider to the human eye. Under Napoleon I, the proportions were changed to make the stripes\' width equal, but by a regulation dated 17 May 1853, the navy went back to using the 30:33:37 proportions, which it continues to use.

Symbolism

The French national flag, the tricolore, consists of three vertical bands of equal width, displaying the national colours of France: blue, white and red. The blue band is nearest the flag-staff, the white in the middle, and the red on the outside. The flag-staff is surmounted by a fer-de-lance (lancehead) and on all military flags appears the motto: République Française: Honneur et Patrie (French Republic: Honour and Fatherland). The Blue of the flag represents the great power or influence France has over other countries; the white, for purity and peace; the red, for the bloodshed that must be lost in honor of their own country.

History

Middle ages

Oriflamme banner

During the early Middle Ages, the oriflamme, the flag of Saint-Denis, was used - red, with two, three or five spikes. Originally, it was the personal flag of Charlemagne, given to him by the Pope in the ninth century. Over time, it became the royal banner under the Carolingians and the Capetians. It was stored in Saint-Denis abbey, where it was taken when war broke out. French kings went forth into battle preceded either by Saint Martin’s red cape, which was supposed to protect the monarch, or by the red banner of Saint Denis.

The three colours first appeared together tied as ribbons, on the pontifical banner that Pope Leo III offered to Emperor Charlemagne in 796, the blue being the colour of the Church, the white that of virgins, and the red homage paid to Christian martyrs.

Later during the Middle Ages, these colours came to be associated with the reigning house of France. In 1328, the coat-of-arms of the House of Valois was blue with gold fleurs-de-lis bordered in red. From this time on, the kings of France were represented in vignettes and manuscripts wearing a red gown under a blue coat decorated with gold fleurs-de-lis. It should be noted that, in liturgical symbolism, gold is the equivalent of white. Many other examples could be given of the association of the three colours - blue, white and red - with the French kings and their households.

During the hundred years war, England was recognised by a red cross, Burgundy, a red saltire, and France, a white cross. This cross could figure either on a blue or a red field. The blue field eventually became the common standard for French armies. The French regiments were later assigned the white cross as standard, with their proper colours in the cantons.

From the white flag to the drapeau tricolore

From the accession of the Bourbons on the throne of France, the naval ensign of the navy became a plain white flag, being the symbol of purity and of royal authority. The merchant navy was assigned "the old flag of the nation of France", the white cross on a blue field.

The drapeau tricolor became popular at the Revolution, the blue and the red being the colours of Paris with the white of France, these three colours being also the traditional colours of the French Monarchy. At the beginning it was not clear if the stripes would be horizontal or vertical, and tended to be horizontal at the beginning. The final design was adopted in 1794, with vertical stripes to prevent confusion with the dutch flag.

After the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy following the defeat of Napoleon in 1815, the flag - with its revolutionary connotations - was replaced by the royal white standard which had been in use before the Revolution. However, following the July Revolution of 1830, the new "Citizen-King," Louis-Philippe, restored the tricolour.

The tricolour remained the national flag under the Second Republic and Second Empire. Following the overthrow of Napoleon III, voters elected a royalist majority to the National Assembly of the new Third Republic. This parliament then offered the throne to the Bourbon pretender, Henri, comte de Chambord. However, he insisted that he would accept the throne on the condition that the tricolour be replaced by the white flag. As the tricolour had become a cherished national symbol, this proved impossible to accommodate. Plans to restore the monarchy were ultimately dropped, and France has remained a republic, with the tricolour flag, ever since.

The Vichy régime, which dropped the word "republic" in favour of "the French state", maintained the use of the tricolour but also used as a presidential standard a version of the tricolour defaced with a fasces and stars. During this same period, Free French Forces used a tricolour defaced with a red Cross of Lorraine.

Notes

See also

• French ensigns
• French colonial flags
• Marianne

External links

• France at Flags of the World
• Cyber-flag (French site)

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