What do the colors of the France flag represnt?

Answer 1

the french flag is white blue White stands for peace and honesty; red symbolises hardiness, bravery, valour and strength; blue stands for vigilance, truth, loyalty, perseverance and justice.

Some sources claim that the three colours represent the three main estates of the original French aristocratic social and political system, .I'd. white for the clergy, red for the nobility and blue for the bourgeoisie.

Red and blue are also the traditional livery colours of France's capital city, Paris. King Louis XVI wore a red, white and blue badge when he addressed a revolutionary gathering in Paris. The white was added as it is the traditional colour for French royalty.

Answer 2

3 colors The blue bar in the French flag is said to represent caring for the poor, after a 4th century Roman soldier cut half of his blue coat and gave it to a beggar in Amiens (in modern-day France) who was freezing in the snow. The soldier later had a dream that Jesus was wearing half his blue cloak, and dedicated the rest of his life to the church. He's known as Saint Martin, or Martin of Tours, today. White is traditionally the color of the Virgin Mary, but more importantly for France it's also historically the color representing Joan of Arc. In the 15th century, her flag flew over the armies who ultimately drove the English from the Kingdom of France. French royalty later adopted this color as their own. Saint Denis, the patron saint of Paris, is represented by the color red. Saint Denis' flag during the Middle Ages was entirely red with a sun symbol at the top, and was once also the personal flag of Charlemagne. I think it is important to distinguish between the geographical entity known as France and the Kingdom of France. France was not a unified country for a very long time and was governed by many virtually autonomous rulers including the Dukes of Normandy. After 1066 when the Duke of Normandy became the King of England, his lands in (geographic) France and those of those allied to Normandy came under the influence therefore of the English crown. The English king also came to control much of the South of France through marriage when Eleanor of Aquitaine had married Henry II of England in the mid-12th century.The Kings of France fought continually to expand their influence and finally ousted (English) rule from all of mainland France (including of course Normandy and Aquitaine), the final outpost being Calais, which did not fall until 1558, over one hundred years after Joan of Arc. Kings of England of course accepted a gradual change to constitutional monarchy, which Kings of France did not learn, resulting in the violent revolution of 1789 with all the associated state organised terror (including the attempted genocide of the inhabitants of the Vendee). Maybe they might have done better under English rule (this is 'tongue in cheek' before I am inundated with mail from French nationalists)!

Answer 3

Colors on the French Flag

The French flag is the official French pavilion since 1794. It was drawn by Jacques Louis David, famous French painter, but it has its origins in July 1789. Shortly after the fall of the Bastille, the king visited the Paris town hall and was handed a blue and red cockade - the long-time colours of the town - which he put on his hat next to the white cockade (French kingdom emblem at the time), as a gesture towards the people of Paris. The "cockade story" was witnessed by Thomas Jefferson on the 17th of July 1789. The newly created cockade became rapidly popular. Lafayette claimed the idea, but the diary of a bookseller notes that three days before, on the 14th of July, "the three-coulour cockade begins to replace the green one"

(Since the reign of Henri IV, the red and blue could be found in the royal emblems, standing for the Kingdom of "Navarre".)

The blue and red colors in Paris' flag were standing for the patron saints of the town (Saint Martin, Saint Denis). The popular "Garde Nationale", heir of the "Garde française" (regiment meant to protect the King) already had the three colours blue, white and red on their uniforms. Members of the Garde Nationale took part - and even led - in the storming of La Bastille.

The white was associated at the time with the kingdom, or with France, more that with the kings, and indicated the dedication of the kingdom to the Virgin Mary ("voeu de Louis XIII", in 1638).

The three colours were used in different orders (blue-red-white for the scarf of public officials in 1790, white-red-blue in horizontal bands for the 'Fête de la Fédération' on the 14th of July 1790. In 1790 were also adopted new versions of ship's pavilions, despite some traditionalists arguing that because of the colours, it would resemble too much the Dutch flag.

The flag was adopted officially by the Convention as the national flag only in 1794 (15th of February).

The white flag replaced the three-color flag in 1814-1815, and from 1815 to 1830, during the two first periods when the monarchy was reinstated.

In 1830 the king Louis-Philippe came to power and reinstated the three-color flag.

After the overthrow of the Emperor Napoleon III, a royalist majority offered the throne to the Count of Chambord. He said he would accept the throne on the condition that the tricolour be replaced by the white flag. This proved impossible to accommodate and France remained a republic.

Answer 4

The colours of the town of Paris were blue and red and supposed to honour the town's patron saints (Saint Denis, Saint Martin)

White had been adopted by the latest kings as the colour of the kingdom, in devotion to the Virgin Mary and to place the kingdom under her protection.

At the beginning of the French Revolution the king came to the town hall and to show his willingness to listen to the crowds, placed the blue and red cocard of the town, next to his own white one onto his hat. It is said that Lafayette championned the idea and a newly created cocard met a great popular success. In 1794 the Convention (the national assembly at the time) asked the famous painter Jacques Louis David to draw the flag and made it the national one.

Answer 5

the French flag is the official French pavilion since 1794. It was drawn by Jacques Louis David, famous French painter, but it has its origins in July 1789. Shortly after the fall of the Bastille, the king visited the Paris town hall and was handed a blue and red cocard - the long-time colours of the town - which he put on his hat next to the white cocard (French kingdom emblem at the time), as a gesture towards the people of Paris. It is said that it was an idea of LAFAYETTE and that the newly created cocard became rapidly popular.
(Since the reign of Henri IV, the red and blue could be found in the royal emblems, standing for the Kingdom of "Navarre".)
The blue and red colours in Paris' flag were standing for the patron saints of the town (Saint Denis, Saint Martin). The popular "Garde Nationale", heir of the "Garde française" (regiment meant to protect the King) already had the three colours blue, white and red on their uniforms. Members of the Garde Nationale took part - and even led - the fall of the Bastille.
The white was associated at the time with the kingdom, or with France, (more that with the kings), and indicated the dedication of the kingdom to the Virgin Mary.

The white flag replaced the three-colour flag in 1814-1815, and from 1815 to 1830, during the two first periods when the monarchy was reinstated.
In 1830 the king Louis-Philippe came to power and reinstated the three-colour flag.
After the overthrow of the Emperor Napoleon III, a royalist majority offered the throne to the Count of Chambord. He said he would accept the throne on the condition that the tricolour be replaced by the white flag. This proved impossible to accommodate and France remained a republic.

Answer 6

There are many explanations of the meaning of the colors in the French flag. The official explanation says that white represents the king who ruled France before the revolution. The blue and red symbolize the city of Paris where supporters of the revolution wore red and blue ribbons on their hats.

Answer 7

The colours represent those of Paris (blue and red), combined with that of the Bourbon Dynasty (white), though they are usually associated with liberty, equality, and fraternity, the ideals of the French Revolution.

Answer 8

The white colour was used on the banner of Joan of Arc, and was adopted later by a French king to indicate his dedication to the Virgin Mary. In public opinion, white was the colour of the kingdom, much more than the personal colour of the king.

The white colour became associated with blue and red at the beginning of the French revolution, when the king visiting the Paris town hall, was handed a blue and red cocard - the long-time colours of the town - which he put on his hat next to the white cocard as a gesture towards the people of Paris.

The flag design was adopted officially by the Convention in 1794 (15th of February).

Answer 9

The blue and the red are the colors of the city of Paris.

They surround the white, which is the color of the monarchy.

Answer 10

The white could either represent the massive amounts of snow/ the arctic provinces, or it could just be aesthetically pleasing. The maple leaf (which was a symbol of Canada) is red.