What to bring / 21.06.2023

What is the flag of france. The flag of France is the face of the state. Flag of French Guiana

History and meaning of the flag:

The flag of France (French drapeau tricolore or drapeau bleu-blanc-rouge, drapeau français, less often le tricolore, in military jargon - les couleurs) is the national emblem of France in accordance with the 2nd article of the French constitution of 1958. It consists of three vertical equal-sized stripes: blue - at the pole edge, white - in the middle, and red - at the free edge of the cloth. The ratio of the flag's width to its length is 2:3. Entered into use May 20, 1794.

Origin of flowers

The blue banner has been used since the time of Clovis I, the first Frankish king, and was associated with the color of the vestments of Saint Martin of Tours, the patron saint of France. According to legend, the saint shared his cloak (blue) with a beggar at Amiens, and Clovis, after the adoption of Christianity around 498, changed the white banner to blue in his honor.

White color in the period from 1638 to 1790. was the color of the royal flag and some naval banners. From 1814 to 1830, it was also the color of the colors of the royal army. The white color symbolizes France and everything that is connected with the divine order, with God (hence the choice of this color as the main emblem of the kingdom - according to the official doctrine, the power of the king was of divine origin).

During the reign of Hugh Capet and his descendants, the kings of France had a red oriflamme in honor of St. Dionysius, since he was the legendary founder of the abbey, which since the time of Dagobert I was especially revered.

Brief information about the country

France (fr. France, IPA (fr.): ), the official name of the French Republic (fr. République française, IPA (fr.): [ʁe.py.blik fʁɑ̃.sɛz]) is a state in Western Europe. The motto of the Republic is "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity", its principle is the rule of the people, by the people and for the people. The capital is the city of Paris. The name of the country comes from the ethnonym of the Germanic tribe of the Franks, despite the fact that the majority of the population of France is of mixed Gallo-Romance origin and speaks the language of the Romance group.

France is a nuclear power and one of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council. Since the 1950s, France has been one of the states participating in the creation of the European Union.

Population - 64.7 million people (January 2010), including about 90 percent - citizens of France. Believers are predominantly Catholic (80% of the number of believers or 43% of the total population), while 45% of the population declare that they do not belong to any religion. The legislature is a bicameral parliament (the Senate and the National Assembly). Administrative-territorial division: 27 regions (22 metropolises and 5 overseas regions), including 101 departments (96 in the metropolis and 5 overseas departments).

France country on world map

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The current coat of arms of France became a symbol of France after 1953, although it does not have any legal status as an official coat of arms.

The emblem consists of:

pelts with a lion's head and the monogram " RF" meaning Ré publiqueFrançaise (French Republic)

olive branches symbolizing peace

oak branch symbolizing wisdom

fascia, which is a symbol of justice

France Ancien , royal coat of arms until 1376

France Moderne, royal coat of arms 1376-1589

Royal Arms of the Kingdom of France, became the coat of arms of France under Henry IV Navarre1589-1789

Coat of arms of the First Empire under Napoleon I1804-1814

After the restoration of the royal house of Bourbon, the pre-revolutionary coat of arms of France was restored. 1814-1830

After the revolution of 1830, under the last king of France, Louis-Philippe I1830-1848

Coat of arms of the Second Empire under Napoleon III1852-1870

Unofficial coat of arms of the Third Republic1898-1953

A reader inexperienced in heraldry will probably be surprised a lot when he learns that modern France does not have its own national emblem at all. Do not find a shield with his image on the building of the French Embassy in Moscow, while this is a mandatory attribute of the embassies of other countries! This circumstance, of course, does not mean that one of the largest European powers does not have sovereignty. If you ask a Frenchman about the national symbol, then, after a little thought, he will remember Marianne, a symbolic female image personifying France. A similar image first appeared during the years of the French Revolution, and today it is often used instead of a stamp on various official documents. But still, it is more correct to call Marianne a national symbol, not a coat of arms. The French proudly renounced the heraldic coat of arms whenever monarchical rule was destroyed in the country and a republic was established. The change of the political system in the history of France took place more than once, therefore it is not difficult to understand why the people who honor revolutionary traditions and republican freedoms today do not express a desire to accept the official state emblem. However, it would be a mistake to think that French heraldry has remained only the property of the past. Along with various republican symbols, one can also see the so-called Great Coat of Arms of France, which combines the coats of arms of all French provinces and territories inherited from the distant Middle Ages. Ancient French symbols were greatly influenced by the Christian religion that dominated the country. It is known that at the end V centuries, three toads were depicted on the white banner of the founder of the Frankish state Clovis.

In 496, Clovis converted to Christianity and changed the white cloth to blue - the symbol of St. Martin, who was considered the patron saint of France. Bishop Martin of Tours, who lived in IV century and subsequently declared a saint, according to legend, once meeting a ragged beggar on the road, cut off with a sword and gave him half of his blue cloak. For a long time, the Franks had a banner in the form of a blue banner, reinforced with a red cord on a cross. In 800, Charlemagne proclaimed the Frankish Empire. His banner was a three-tailed red flag with the image of six blue-red-yellow roses. However, the Kingdom of France, which arose in 843 after the collapse of the empire, returned to the former blue flag. In the first quarter XII century under King Louis VI Tolstoy (according to other sources, this happened a little later, under King Louis VII or Philip II ) a lot of golden fleur-de-lis appeared on the blue flag, and it began to be officially called the "Banner of France". The shield with such an image on the azure field became at the beginning XIII century the first French coat of arms. We will only explain that the heraldic lily is a stylized image of a yellow iris flower, which symbolized the Blessed Virgin in the Middle Ages. Since the 10th century, lilies have been considered the emblem of the royal Capetian dynasty, which ruled France until 1328. At the end 14th century under Charles V or Charles VI (from the Valois dynasty) only three lilies remained on the blue flag, which, most likely, was associated with the dogma of the trinity of the Christian deity - the Trinity. At the first stage of the Hundred Years War, the French suffered several crushing defeats from England. In the battle of Poitiers in 1356, the color of the French knighthood, who fought under the blue flag, was destroyed and King John the Good was captured. In the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French army was again defeated, after which a significant part of the territory of France was captured by the British. Later, under the leadership of the peasant girl Joan of Arc, the French achieved a turning point in the war. The banner of the patriots was a white cloth with traditional lilies, on one side of which was depicted the French coat of arms, and on the other - God and two angels, the inscriptions "Jesus Christ" and "Mary ".

Supporters of Joan of Arc widely used white scarves, headbands, feathers, pennants as their hallmarks. The white color spoke of holiness and purity and was a symbol of the Blessed Virgin. During the liberation struggle, this color acquired the meaning of a symbol of national independence. However, after liberation France from foreigners, the blue flag with three golden lilies again became the flag of the French kings.But when the new Orleans dynasty of kings came to power in 1498, for which white was considered a family color, it acquired national significance.In 1589, the Bourbons came to the throne. dynasty of Henry of Navarre, in the French coat of arms, next to the traditional blue shield with lilies, a red Navarre shield with a chain appeared.Both shields, placed on the same mantle, crowned a knight's helmet with a crown, and all this was surrounded by the coats of arms of the twelve largest French provinces: Picardy, Normandy, Brittany, Lyonnais, Ile-de-France, Orleans, Guienne, Languedoc, Provence, Dauphine, Burgundy, and Champagne. Gradually, Lower Navarre turned into an ordinary French province, and only a crowned shield with lilies remained in the coat of arms of the country. He was surrounded by chains of the orders of the Holy Spirit and St. Michael, and supported by two angels. Sometimes the coat of arms was accompanied by the motto: "Saint Denis is with us!" the Bourbon family coat of arms was a blue shield with lilies, divided by a red diagonal.At the same time, the Bourbons legalized the former white flag as the state flag.At that time the coat of arms without a motto and mantle was placed in the center of the flag, and the cloth was dotted with golden lilies.The French Revolution swept away the monarchist symbols. In the days of July 1789, the insurgent Parisians sewed cockades corresponding to the colors of the Paris city banner.For some time, the monarchy was still preserved, and a white monarchist ribbon was added to the blue-red banner of Paris.The banners of the revolutionary national guard have since combined the three colors that laid the foundation for the modern French tricolor : in the blue and red rectangles located at the corners of the cloth, the sailing boats of the coat of arms of Paris, adopted in 1385, were depicted, as well as the new republican emblem of ancient Roman origin, the “lictor bundle” (the so-called ax and a bunch of rods, which was a symbol of the power of officials in Ancient Rome). In the white cross formed on the cloth by red and blue rectangles, lilies and the inscriptions were placed: "King. Law. Freedom. Fatherland." The announcer's bunch was the first emblem of the French Republic after the abolition of the former royal coat of arms. In 1804 Napoleon became emperor of France. At the same time, the flag of three vertical stripes with a blue stripe at the pole, introduced in May 1794 just two months before the defeat of the revolution, has not changed. However, the golden eagle with a beam of lightning in its paws against the background of a blue disk surrounded by a chain of the Order of the Legion of Honor established in 1802 became the state emblem. The disk was placed against the background of crossed scepters and a mantle with a crown dotted with bees (Napoleon's personal emblem). After the restoration of the Bourbon monarchy in 1814, the pre-revolutionary royal flag and coat of arms were restored. This emblem was slightly different from the old one: the shield became oval, the shield holders were removed. And again, the royal symbolism was swept away by the revolution of 1830. It was held under the republican tricolor flag, which again became official. Nevertheless, the monarchy in France was preserved, only the Bourbons were replaced by the Orleans dynasty related to them. Therefore, the family coat of arms of the Orleans became the new state emblem. However, a year later it was replaced by a blue shield with the text of the constitution of 1830. In 1832, republican uprisings broke out in Paris and two years later in Lyon. They marched under red banners. The people also raised the red banners in the revolution of 1848. The emblem of the Republic of 1848-1852 became a popular image among the people - the Gallic rooster, the carved figure of which adorned the staff of official flags from 1830.35 After the restoration of the monarchy, Napoleon was on the throne II , and this led to the return of the already forgotten Napoleonic coat of arms. The only difference was that the eagle was no longer depicted on the disk, but on the shield. Such a coat of arms lasted until the next fall of the monarchy. In 1871, the Paris Commune was proclaimed. For two months, a red banner fluttered over the capital of France. After the fall of the Commune, these flags were again replaced with tricolors. In the seventies, a new emblem of the French Republic also appeared: the golden letters of its name on a blue oval surrounded by a laurel wreath, the Legion of Honor, two national flags, an announcer's bunch and olive and oak branches. In the twenties of this century, the emblem was modified. Instead of an oval, a shield was adopted in the colors of the French flag, on which the same letters, an announcer's beam, olive and oak branches were placed. During the Second World War, Nazi Germany occupied France. In the southern part of the country, a puppet French state of Marshal A.F. Pétain was formed with its capital in the city of Vichy. Hitler's henchman chose an ax with two blades, the handle of which was a marshal's baton, as his emblem. The flag remained the same. To distinguish themselves from the Vi-Chists, the French patriots, united in the Free French movement (since 1942, Fighting France-), led by General de Gaulle, placed a red Lorraine cross in the center of the tricolor flag. Placed on the shield of the colors of the French flag, it was the emblem of the "Free France". After the liberation of France, the tricolor again became the state and national flag, and in 1953 a modified emblem of the 1929 model was officially approved. Therefore, along with the image of Marianne, the announcer's beam is considered a symbol of France , its republican system. Oak and olive branches on a blue oval are symbols of dignity and glory. The inscription in French reads - "Freedom. Brotherhood. Equality". Quite often, the symbolism of the colors of the French flag is associated with this motto: blue - freedom, white - equality, red - fraternity. The shield is surrounded by a chain of the Order of the Legion of Honor of the sample of 1871. The monogram of Latin letters in the center of the double wreath at the bottom of the chain is the initials of the name "French Republic". On the order itself, around the profile of Marianne, there is an inscription "French Republic. 1870". The last figure is the date of the final liquidation of the monarchy and the proclamation of the Third Republic in France. The gold and blue colors of the emblem indicate a certain continuity of national symbols - the royal, Napoleonic and republican periods.

The flag of France (French drapeau tricolore or drapeau bleu-blanc-rouge, drapeau français, less often le tricolore, in military jargon - les couleurs) is the national emblem of France in accordance with the 2nd article of the French constitution of 1958. It consists of three vertical stripes - blue, white and red - and has a proportion of 2 to 3. Entered into use May 20, 1794.

The blue banner has been used since the time of Clovis I , the first Frankish king, and was associated with the color of the vestments of St. Martin of Tours, the patron saint of France. According to legend, the saint shared his cloak (blue) with a beggar at Amiens, and Clovis, after the adoption of Christianity around 498, changed the white banner to blue in his honor.

During the reign of Hugh Capet and his descendants, the kings of France had red oriflamme in honor of St. Dionysius, since he was the legendary founder of the abbey, which since the time of Dagobert I was especially respected.

From the beginning of Henry's reign IV (1589-1610) Royal robes became white with red and blue embroidery on them. The French Guard adopted these three colors and began to use them in their uniforms and as the emblem of the regiment. They retained them even after the revolution, having already become the National Guard. Henry IV even recommended these three colors (blue, white, red) to ambassadors from the Republic of the United Provinces, which had become independent shortly before, and they followed the advice of the French king and made themselves a tricolor flag.

Flag of France during the period XII-XIII centuries

Flag of medieval France during the period XIV-XVI centuries

The flag used on merchant ships from 17th century before 1790

Flag of the royal family

Standard of Louis XIV

Flag of France used by the Bourbon kings

The modern national flag of France is a rectangular panel on which there are three stripes of blue, white and red in equal proportions, located from left to right. The proportions of the sides themselves are presented in a ratio of 2:3. It was this flag that was approved in 1794 and remains in this color to this day.

History of the origin of the French flag

Initially, the national flag of France was a blue banner as a symbol of the patron Saint Martin, and was used by the first king of the Franks when Christianity was adopted by the French. Until 496, Clovis I, in the person of France, owned a white banner, on which three golden toads were depicted, and over time they changed to three lilies.

Made history Charlemagne changed the blue banner to a three-tailed red cloth, on which six roses were depicted, having a blue-red-yellow color. However, such a flag was not used for long, and after the collapse of the French Empire they returned to the blue banner.

By order of the famous king Ludwig VI Tolstoy, who lived in the 12th century, golden lilies began to be used against a blue background, symbolizing the Blessed Virgin. It was this flag that became known as the “Sign of France”. Subsequently Charles V reduced the golden lilies to three, which symbolized the Holy Trinity.

Some historians believe that the change in banner is due to the desire of the French monarchs to separate themselves from the kings of England.

During the historic battle called Hundred Years War, the symbol of the French troops was a white rectangular cross depicted on a red or blue field. It was connected with the third crusade in 1189. Patriots began to use a white cloth with lilies applied to it. At the same time, a coat of arms was depicted on one side, and God and two angels on the other. Such a sign was signed with the inscription "Jesus Christ" and "Mary".

Subsequently, supporters of the famous revolutionary Joan of Arc white attributes began to be used, which were a kind of symbol of the Blessed Virgin. Among them were armbands, feathers and pennants.

When the Hundred Years War was over, the old version of the banner was legalized - blue with three golden lilies, and during the reign of the Orleans dynasty, it acquires national significance.

Under the Bourbons a blue shield with lilies is placed on the flag, which surrounds the chains of the orders of the Holy Spirit and Michael. The shield is held by two angels. Officially, the prohibition of the white banner took place on 04/15/1689. It was from this moment that merchant ships did not have the right to lift a white canvas, only military royal courts received such an advantage.

After the capture of the Bastille (1789), red and blue hibiscus were actively used, and it was decided to add white to the signs. So from 06/17/1789, the tricolor hibiscus, created by Lafayette, was assigned to the Paris Municipal Guard.

The first Republican flag was adopted 24.10.1790 of the year. It was a white canvas, where a rectangle was fixed vertically on top, consisting of three significant colors, symbolizing freedom. Subsequently, the specified flag was slightly modified, but the former essence remained the same.

During the reign Napoleon the first unification of the military canvases available at that time took place. In 1804, a white square was fixed in the center of the canvas, which had blue and red triangles alternating at the corners. All significant gold inscriptions were located in the center and were "eagles" like the vexillums of the Roman Empire. It was by the decision of Bonaparte that the flag began to wear a modern look.

During the French Revolution, the colors of the flag are given the tricolor, meaning "Freedom! Equality! Brotherhood!"

What is the symbolic meaning of the colors on the flag?

Red color is a symbol of the fire of the hearth, the flame of French hearts and admiration for St. Dionysius, who founded the legendary abbey.

White color considered a symbol of God and his divine order. To a greater extent, it symbolizes the national heroine of France, Joan of Arc, who opposed the common man to royal rule.

Blue color- the symbol of Saint Martin of Tours, who is the patron saint of Paris. According to legend, it was this man who took off his blue cloak from his shoulder and handed it to the beggar so that he would not freeze from the cold.

Coat of arms of France and its modification

Along with the flag, the French coat of arms, which is a national symbol but has no legal status, is of paramount importance.

The last variation of the coat of arms was created in the 50s of the last century. The inconsistency of the French spirit did not allow to give the coat of arms an official status. Everything is due to the fact that over the course of several civil revolutions, supporters of the monarchy tried to establish their own power over the French people, as a result of which national symbols changed repeatedly. Among them are Marianne, the Phrygian cap, the Rooster and the Marseillaise.

The adopted last unofficial coat of arms is the ninth in a row. The first was a shield, on a blue background of which were depicted many heraldic lilies - yellow iris flowers in honor of the Blessed Virgin. It was he who formed the basis of subsequent coats of arms, which the new ruling dynasty adopted individually for itself, changing their symbolism.

Today, the coat of arms of France is an image of a pelt with a lion's head engraved with the letters "RF" - the accepted abbreviation for the French Republic. The pelta itself is enclosed in olive and oak branches, symbolizing great wisdom, while its base is the fascia that wraps the ax. This symbol symbolizes justice and unity.

Flag and coat of arms of France – VIDEO

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Architecture - all this shakes the imagination of foreigners. The state symbols of the French also deserve attention - it hides a lot of information about this original country. What can the flag of the French or their coat of arms tell?

The official look of the cloth

Many people know what the flag of France looks like, because souvenirs with such symbols are popular even outside the country. The cloth is a rectangle, the width of which is related to the length as two to three. There are three on it. The first on the left is made in blue, in the center is white, and the right edge is red. This version of the national flag was approved back in the eighteenth century, in 1794, and to this day it has remained unchanged.

Origin story

The way the flag of France looks like has been determined by many historical events. Initially, the banner of the Gauls was a blue banner, designed to symbolize St. Martin. It was used by the first French Christian king, Clovis the First. Until 496 the banner was white and depicted three golden frogs. When Charlemagne ascended the throne, the three-tailed red banner with roses became the state standard. There were six of them, and they were made in blue-red-yellow. After the collapse, the country returned to the former, blue banner. In the twelfth century, King Ludwig the Sixth the Fat added golden lilies to the fabric. They symbolized the Blessed Virgin. used the image of three lilies to thus refer to the Holy Trinity. During the time, the French wanted to distinguish themselves from the British and used as a symbol a white cloth with lilies, on which there was also a coat of arms, God and two angels. Supporters of Joan of Arc also used white. After the end of the war, the blue flag returned to use. At the end of the eighteenth century, after the capture of the Bastille, red and blue tones were combined with white. This is how tricolor banners first appeared. Soon the first republican flag was adopted, In the days of Napoleon, a white element in the center had golden inscriptions, reminiscent of After the French Revolution, the stripes of the flag meant freedom, equality and fraternity as the main ideals.In any case, the version of how the flag of France looks like has already taken on a modern look.

What do the colors of the flag mean?

Those interested in the country of the Gauls and its culture should not only know what flag France has, but also understand its symbolism. Red denotes the hearth, the warmth of French hearts, and also reminds of St. Dionysius. The idea of \u200b\u200bdivine order and the memory of the national heroine of France, Joan of Arc, is associated with white. The blue color is a symbol of Saint Martin of Tours, who patronizes Paris. There is a legend according to which he gave a blue cloak to a beggar who was freezing from the cold. Knowing what the flag of France looks like and why, one can get an idea of the customs of this country and its history.

Coat of arms of France

Tourists always know what the flag of France looks like. Photos and images of it can be found without any problems. But the coat of arms can be seen less often, despite the fact that it is no less important. On its modern version, you can see a pelt with a lion's head, on which the letters RF are engraved, this is the short name of the French Republic. The drawing is surrounded by oak and olive branches, which symbolize wisdom. The base is a fascia and an axe, which indicate unity and justice.

FRANCE FLAG: history of origin and formation

The history of the flag of France began in 496, when the Frankish king Clovis I converted to Christianity and changed his white cloth to blue - the symbol of St. Martin, who was considered the patron saint of France. Bishop Martin of Tours, who lived in the 4th century and was subsequently declared a saint, according to legend, once meeting a ragged beggar on the road, cut off with a sword and gave him half of his blue cloak. For a long time, the Franks had a banner in the form of a blue banner, reinforced with a red cord on a cross.

The kingdom of the Franks reached its greatest prosperity during the reign in 800, when Charlemagne from the Carolingian dynasty proclaimed Frankish Empire . His banner was a three-tailed red flag with the image of six blue-red-yellow roses. However, which arose under the Treaty of Verdun in 843 after the collapse of the empire West Frankish kingdom occupied approximately the territory of modern France) returned to its former blue flag . In the X century, the country began to be called France.

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In the first quarter of the 12th century, under King Louis VI Tolstoy, many golden fleurs-de-lis appeared on the blue flag, and it began to be officially called "Banner of France" . A shield with such an image on an azure field became the first French coat of arms at the beginning of the 13th century. Heraldic lily is a stylized image of a yellow iris flower, which symbolized the Blessed Virgin in the Middle Ages. Lilies have been considered sacred flowers since the 10th century.

In the XIV century under Charles V or Charles VI (from the Valois dynasty) on only three lilies left on the blue flag , which, most likely, was associated with the dogma of the trinity of the Christian deity - the Trinity.

During the first phase of the Hundred Years War the French suffered several crushing defeats from England, in addition, the situation in the country was complicated by famine and an epidemic of plague. At the battle of Poitiers in 1356, the fighter was destroyed under the blue flag the flower of French chivalry and captured by King John the Good. In the Battle of Agincourt in 1415, the French army was again defeated, after which a significant part of the territory of France was captured by the British. Later, under the leadership of the peasant girl Joan of Arc, the French achieved a turning point in the war. The flag of the patriots was a white flag with traditional lilies , on one side of which the French coat of arms was depicted, and on the other - God and two angels, the inscriptions "Jesus Christ" and "Mary".

Supporters of Joan of Arc widely used white scarves, headbands, feathers, pennants as their hallmarks. The white color spoke of holiness and purity and was a symbol of the Blessed Virgin. During the liberation struggle, this color acquired the meaning of a symbol of national independence. After the liberation of France from foreigners the flag of the French kings again became a blue cloth with three golden lilies. But when in 1498 the new Orleans dynasty of kings came to power, for which white was considered a family color, it acquired national significance.

In 1589 the Bourbons came to the throne. Under the founder of the dynasty, Henry of Navarre, a red Navarre shield with a chain appeared in the French coat of arms next to the traditional blue shield with lilies. Both shields, placed on the same mantle, were crowned with a knight's helmet with a crown, and all this was surrounded by the coats of arms of the twelve largest French provinces. Gradually, Lower Navarre turned into an ordinary French province, and only a crowned shield with lilies remained in the coat of arms of the country. He was surrounded by chains of the orders of the Holy Spirit and St. Michael, and supported by two angels. Sometimes the coat of arms was accompanied by the motto: "Saint Denis is with us!" The Bourbon family crest was a blue shield with lilies, divided by a red diagonal. However, the Bourbons legalized former white flag as state flag . In the center of the flag there was then a coat of arms without a motto and a mantle, and the cloth was dotted with golden lilies.

On July 17, 1789, 3 days after the taking of the Bastille, King Louis XVI, having arrived from Versailles in Paris, attached to his hat next to a white cockade (a colored bow that was sewn on a hat) the red and blue cockade of the people's militia of Paris given by the new mayor of Paris Bailly . At the same time, the king expressed the wish that from now on these colors symbolize the union of all the French. On banners of the revolutionary national guard Since then, three colors have been combined, which marked the beginning modern french tricolor . Its colors are explained by some as the three words of the national motto: "Liberty, Equality, Fraternity". Others attribute the blue color to the banner of the Christian preacher Saint Martin, the white color to the banner of Joan of Arc (according to another version, the white color is associated with the color of the Bourbon dynasty), and the red color to the famous Oriflamme - the battle banner of the times of Charlemagne before the defeat at Agincourt.

Official flag of the French Republic - a blue-white-red horizontal tricolor with two braids was approved on October 4, 1789, the arrangement of colors was not legally fixed, so there were a variety of options.

On October 24, 1790, the National Assembly by decree approved the red-white-blue tricolor. The stripes on it were already vertical. stern ensign (for military and merchant ships) - a white cloth with a red-white-blue tricolor circled in a red-blue frame, at the top of the pole. These flags were flown by the Royal Navy from 24 October 1790 to 21 September 1792, and by the Republican Navy until May 1794.

On February 15, 1794, Jean Bon Saint Andre, a member of the Civil Salvation Committee, ordered the ships of the ocean squadron to raise as stern ensign blue-white-red ensign (shortly before that, he proposed changing the arrangement of the stripes, arguing that it was unworthy to nail the red field of the flag to the pole, symbolizing the blood of patriots). On May 20, 1794, a modern sample of the tricolor was approved as the national flag of France .

In 1804 Napoleon Bonaparte became Emperor of France. Wherein flag with three vertical stripes with a blue stripe at the pole, introduced in May 1794 just two months before the defeat of the revolution, has not changed.

In 1812 Napoleon announced national flag blue-white-red with horizontal stripes . After 2 years, he was exiled to Elba, the restoration of the monarchy took place in the country, Louis XVII ascended the throne, who announced French flag white Bourbon flag . In 1815, Napoleon seized power again, and again - though only for 100 days - soared over his regiments blue-white-red flag . Soon Napoleon was sent into exile on the island of St. Helena, and Louis XVIII again returned to France white Bourbon flag .

In 1830, under pressure from the July Revolution, the "citizen king" Louis Philippe approved blue-white-red tricolor . This is how the flag of France remains to this day ...

In 1832, republican uprisings broke out in Paris and two years later in Lyon. They passed under red banners . The red banners were also raised by the people in the February Revolution of 1848. The emblem of the 2nd Republic of 1848 -1852 became a popular image among the people - gallic rooster , the carving of which has adorned the poles of official flags since 1830. After the restoration of the monarchy, Napoleon II ended up on the throne, and this led to the return of the already forgotten Napoleonic coat of arms, which lasted until the next fall of the monarchy.

During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. Emperor Napoleon III was overthrown and the 3rd Republic proclaimed. And rose again over Paris red banner of the revolution , and only after the defeat of the Paris Commune in May 1871. has been approved blue-white-red tricolor with vertical stripes.

In the seventies, a new emblem of the French Republic also appeared: the golden letters of its name on a blue oval surrounded by a laurel wreath, the Order of the Legion of Honor, two national flags , announcer's beam and branches of olive and oak. In the twenties of this century, the emblem was modified. Instead of an oval, a shield of flowers was adopted french flag , on which the same letters were placed, an announcer's beam, olive and oak branches.

More about the flag of France:

In January 1936, the Popular Front was created on the basis of the united front (the French Communist Party). The governments of the Popular Front banned fascist organizations and took measures to improve the condition of the working people. In 1938 the Popular Front collapsed. During World War II, France was occupied by German and Italian troops. The organizers of the Resistance Movement were the French Communist Party and the Free French movement (since 1942 - Fighting France) led by Charles de Gaulle.

In the southern part of the country, a puppet French state of Marshal A.F. Petén with its capital in Vichy. Hitler's henchman chose an ax with two blades, the handle of which was a marshal's baton, as his emblem. The flag remained the same. To distinguish themselves from the Vichy, the French patriots, united in the Free French movement led by General de Gaulle, were placed in the center tricolor flag red lorraine cross . Placed on a shield in the colors of the French flag, it was the emblem of the Free French.

By the end of 1944, France (as a result of the actions of the troops of the anti-Hitler coalition and the Resistance Movement.) was liberated. Tricolor again became the state and national flag , and in 1953 a modified emblem of the 1929 model was officially approved. Therefore, along with the image of Marianne, the announcer's beam is considered a symbol of France, its republican system. Oak and olive branches on a blue oval are symbols of dignity and glory. The inscription in French reads - "Freedom. Fraternity. Equality."

Quite often, the symbolism of flowers is associated with this motto. french flag : blue - freedom, white - equality, red - brotherhood. The shield is surrounded by a chain of the Order of the Legion of Honor, model 1871. The monogram of Latin letters in the center of the double wreath at the bottom of the chain is the initials of the name "French Republic". On the order itself, around the profile of Marianne, the inscription "French Republic. 1870" is placed. The last figure is the date of the final liquidation of the monarchy and the proclamation of the Third Republic in France. The golden and blue colors of the emblem indicate a certain continuity of national symbols - the royal, Napoleonic and republican periods.

Currently the national flag of the French Republic It is a rectangular panel, which consists of three vertical strips of the same size. The pole has a blue stripe, followed by a white one, and then a red one. The sides are related to each other on a scale of two to three.