CIRCA - ~1789 🇫🇷 - vertical tricolor of blue (hoist-side), white middle) & red (fly-side) equal bands
HISTORY: Officially adopted as the naval ensign in 1794 and retained under the 1st Republic, the Tricolore emerged during the
French Revolution; drawn from the colors of Paris ⛨ coat of arms & cockades which trace back centuries:
Blue🔍, as used in 10c solid French Blue standard (to which ⚜️ Fleur di Lis were added in the 12c) &
Red, used by Aquitaine c.602, made prominent by the 12c by the Oriflamme - medieval sacred battle standard of the King,
(pointed, red banner flown from a gilded lance - symbol of divine intervention on the battlefield from God & St Denis.)
[Called 1st the Romaine & then Montjoie, according to legend, Charlemagne carried it to the Holy Land in response to a
prophecy about a knight with a flaming golden lance which would drive out the Saracens.]
To which the Marquis de Lafayette added White, to represent the crown's 👑 authority being behind the cause (used by 10c
Brittany & Burgundy, plus as early as the 14c, white replaced blue behind the Fleur di Lis evolving into the royal standards of the Bourbon dynasty).
Briefly dropped in 1814, by kings & Vichy regime, the tricolore was restored following the 1830 Revolution (reaffirmed in 1848)
VEXILLOLOGY:* Linked to the republican motto "Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité" it embodies popular sovereignty aligned with
royal authority, the Parisian, blue & red, stood for the cities urban / working-class with white associated with the monarchy.
The BLUE Band was originally just the municipal color of Paris. Post 1848 the it was linked to the "liberty" of the motto
The WHITE Band evokes the ancient royal emblem of France, (linked to the fleur-de-lis ⚜️ on a white field under the Capetians and Bourbons,) it denotes purity & legitimacy, plus (post 1848) the motto's "equality"
The RED Band represents the blood 🩸 of Saint Denis; the city's patron saint, martyred by beheading; a symbol of soldierly sacrifice and (post 1848) the "fraternity" of the motto