France

The flag of France is a tricolour flag consisting of three vertical bands coloured from hoist side blue, white and red. During the French Revolution, the Paris militia wore a cockade of blue and red, which were the traditional colours of Paris. White was long considered to be the colour of France and was also the colour of the Bourbon family which ruled France from the 16th century through to the French Revolution. It is not known why the white of the Bourbon family was retained despite the ruling monarchy being overthrown during the French Revolution. These colours would go on to form the basis of the French flag instituted in 1790. Interestingly, the colours of the 1790 flag were reversed - the present day design of the flag was only adopted in 1794.

The flag of France is known to English speakers as the "Tricolour" or the "French Tricolour" and to French speakers as the "Le Drapeau Tricolore". The three colour flag design has been copied by numerous other countries in the design of their own national flags both across Europe and the rest of the world, particularly in Africa.

Numerous French flags on display