If you are looking to buy flags online, you will find yourself faced with a massive task ahead. Flags from all around the world are available at a mere click of the mouse. If you are starting out, perhaps, you might want to consider collecting firsts. If this interests you, consider the flag of France. It was the first vertical tricolor flag to represent a country.
What is a Vertical Tricolor Flag?
A tricolor flag is one consisting of 3 colors. In the case of France, this is red, white and blue, the same colors identified with the United States. Yet, these three colors are arranged in stripes in a vertical, as opposed to horizontal fashion. The stripes are, from left (hoist) to right (fly): blue, white and red.
Earlier Flags
If you intend to buy flags online, you will see that the first French flags were not the vertical tricolor. Two other flags have associations with France. The major two are:
1. The Fleur de Lis (493) – blue background with 3 yellow iris and a star in each quadrant
2. Flag of Louis XI (1479) A scarlet flag bearing a white cross
History
The French tricolor dates back to the French Revolution of 1789. The credited creator is the French General Marquis de Lafayette (1757-1834).He is said to have combined the blue and red colors of the arms of the city of Paris with white – the color symbolizing the Royal French Family of Bourbon. Although, the original intent was to show the reconciliation of the two facets: Paris and the Bourbons then under the unfortunate King Louis XVI, it quickly became a representation of the revolutionary faction, the revolutionaries also sporting blue, red, and white cockades. Louis was to lose his head, but the flag remained.
As was the case with many flags of a country, it initially flew only over the French naval forces – although the colors appeared in reverse with the red nearest the hoist, followed by the white and the blue at the fly. It was, therefore, a jack and ensign until February 15, 1794 when the French Assembly formally adopted the red, white and blue as the official flag.
Its use, however, was interrupted twice. When the Royal House of Bourbon reclaimed the throne during the Restoration of 1814, the white flag of the Bourbon’s once again flew over France. A brief interruption of Bourbon rule saw the Revolutionary fly during Napoleon’s 100 days in 1815, but the Bourbon’s regained power and the white royalist flag flew once again until the Revolution of 1830 saw the restoration of the tricolor as the national flag once again. It has flown ever since.
The French flag is one with its own unique story. Its tale is one woven inextricably into the fabric of the country it represents. If you intend to buy flags online, consider the tricolor as one worth adding to your collection.
