by Matt Bender

Created on: November 14, 2009

The tricolor, as the French national flag is often called, was created in 1790 by the Marquis de Lafayette, a French aristocrat and military leader. Known for his service to the United States during the American Revolution, Lafayette created the basic layout of the current French flag. Originally, the flag was made up three equally-sized stripes colored red, white, and blue from the hoist-the end of the flag connected to the pole-to the outward most edge. In 1794, the colors were reversed to its current order of blue, white, and red from the hoist to the opposite edge.

After Napoleon's defeat at Waterloo, the flag was phased out and replaced with the royal white flag with fleur-de-lis, but was brought back into service in 1830. The flag has been in use ever since, and has proudly represented the French people for nearly two centuries.

Blue and red were the colors of Paris for nearly two centuries before the creation of the tricolor, and were appropriately incorporated into the French national flag. Blue represents the blue cloak which St. Martin of Tours-one of the patron saints of France-tore in half for a poor man on the side of the road. Blue symbolizes both the cloak, and the caring for less fortunate that the cloak's owner displayed. The red band signifies Saint Denis, the patron saint of Paris. Additionally, many French war banners were traditionally red, so the tricolor incorporated this tradition into the national flag as well.

The central white band refers to both Joan of Arc-a second patron saint of France-and the Virgin Mary. Additionally, white was used by the House of Bourbon, and by the French monarchy as a symbol of royalty; white flags were flown on the king's ships. In addition to royalty, the color represents innocence and purity.

There are several other interesting facts about the French national flag; at one point in the flag's history, the flag's three color bands were not equally spaced. The blue section of the flag made up just less than a third of the flag, the white contributed exactly one third, and the red made up slightly more than a third. Although this feature was intended to make the bands appear equal to the human eye, it was phased out and replaced with the current flag. However, the unequal sizing was reinstituted in the French navy in 1853.

Finally, because of its representation of a revolutionary movement, the French flag is said to have influenced the design for the flags of Mexico, Chad, Romania, and Italy.

All of these facts contribute to rich history of the French flag the world sees today.

Learn more about this author, Matt Bender.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.