More Than One French Flag – Which Image to Use

One way to enhance stories is to add images.  If you are writing about France, one of the most popular images is the French flag.  But are you using the correct flag?  If you were writing a story about the American Revolution, you would not use our modern 50 star flag as an image, you most likely would use the famous “Betsy Ross” 13 star flag that looks like this:

 The French flag has also had its own evolution over time.  If you are adding an image to a story about France, you might want to know which flag was used during  the time period.  Here is a list of time periods and the corresponding French flag.  For over 200 years during the monarchy, up until 1789, a variety of flags were used.  Most had a fleur-de-lis symbol with either a blue or white background like these:

 

Starting on Jul 13, 1789, during the revolt, the Paris militia used the color of red and blue which traditionally were associated with Paris.  It looked something like this:

Later in 1789 and early 1790, several changes were made. One lasted less than 24 hours, so I won’t list every version.  But soon, at the suggestion of Lafayette, the color white was added.  Lafayette wanted colors that could be used as a nation, as opposed to regional colors or in this example, the two colors identified with only Paris.  In October 1790, the simple flag design of three stripes of color was approved by the new government was the official flag until 1794.  The colors were reversed and it looked like this:

 

 

Even though this was the official French flag, other flags were more popular during the time period of 1790-1794.  Royalists used an all white flag, representing purity and the Revolutionists used an all red flag, symbolizing defiance.  If your family supported the monarchy (white) or supported Napoleon (red) the flag images look like this:

 

 

In 1794, at Napoleon’s urging, the flag colors were reversed so they are in the same order that is used today, with blue to the pole side, white in the middle and red to the outside.  Also the stripes were made to be of equal width, which was not always the case.  The acceptance of tri-color design indicated movement of the French people towards moderation. 

 

When Napoleon was defeated in 1815, the white flag was returned as a symbol of the monarchy.  In 1830, the traditional blue, white and red flag was returned as one of France’s induring symbols.  Here is a famous painting titled "Scenes of July 1830" by Leon Cogneit that shows this transformation.

 

By the 1880’s the tricolored became a proud tradition and is still used today.  Curiously, there is one variation, mostly used by the French Marines where the flag stripes are not equal.  The percentages from blue to red are: 30;33;37.  The red stripe on the outer end of the flag is larger so it can be seen at distance.  It looks like this.

 

 
Except for the brief period of time after Napoleon’s 1815 defeat, the French flag of blue, white and red has been a proud symbol of France for 200 years.  One of many Napoleon's legacies, it is easily identifiable and is a wonderful image to add to your stories about France.