The French flag has three stripes from top to bottom: one blue, one white, and one red. It is called the drapeau tricolore, or simply the tricolore.
Today, many people think these colors mean liberté, égalité, and fraternité. That is not true. The story begins during the French Revolution. The colors of Paris were put together with the white of the king.
Blue and red, the colors of Paris
In 1789, at the beginning of the Revolution, blue and red were already the colors of Paris.
In July 1789, a group of armed men in Paris wore a small blue and red sign. This sign was made with ribbons. People put it on clothing or on a hat.
After 14 July 1789, Lafayette became the head of the soldiers of Paris. This story is often told: he showed King Louis XVI a new sign. This sign had the blue and red of Paris, and white as well.
Not every detail is known. But the three colors quickly became a symbol of the Revolution.
Why add white?
White had long been the color of the kings of France. With the blue and red of Paris, you then had the colors of the king and the colors of the capital.
In 1789, France still had a king. The three colors can show that the king and the people are together.
In 1792, France no longer had a king. But blue, white, and red stayed.
From the small sign to the flag
At first, the three colors were on this small sign, not yet on the country's flag.
In 1790, France chose a blue, white, and red flag for its ships. It did not yet have the shape of today's flag.
In 1794, France chose a flag with three stripes from top to bottom. Blue is next to the pole. White is in the center. Red is on the outside.
That is the flag we know today.
The stripes go from top to bottom. That also helps you see the difference with the flag of the Netherlands. That flag has the same three colors, but its stripes go from left to right.
This flag has not always been the flag of France
After Napoleon, this flag disappeared for a time.
In 1814, the king came back. France used a white flag again. Blue, white, and red came back in 1830, during a new revolution in July.
In 1848, there was another revolution. Some people wanted a red flag. The government kept blue, white, and red.
So the flag changes with the history of France: with a king, without a king, or with an emperor.
What do the three colors mean today?
People sometimes say that blue, white, and red mean Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité. That is easy to remember, but it is not the true story.
Blue and red come from Paris. White comes from the kings. Over time, this flag becomes a symbol of France.
Today, the law says that the symbol of the country is "the tricolour flag, blue, white, red."
You see this flag on state buildings, during national holidays, and at sports matches. The three colors of the Revolution remain one of the best-known symbols of France.