France

Timeline

1. 1790

   First tricolour naval flag adopted

   France adopted a tricolour naval jack and ensign with red, white, and blue in a different arrangement from today’s flag.

   crwflags.com

2. 1794

   Current stripe order adopted

   The National Convention adopted the blue-white-red tricolour, with equal vertical stripes, as the national flag.

   gouv.fr · crwflags.com · wikipedia.org

3. 1812

   Tricolour design standardized

   The tricolour’s design was definitively standardized, after several geometric versions had been used.

   crwflags.com

4. 1814

   to 1830
   

   White flag replaced the tricolour

   The Bourbon Restoration replaced the tricolour with a plain white flag, which remained the national flag until 1830.

   elysee.fr · crwflags.com · wikipedia.org

5. 1830

   Tricolour restored

   After the July Revolution, Louis-Philippe restored the blue-white-red flag as France’s national flag.

   elysee.fr · wikipedia.org

6. 1848
   

   Brief blue-red-white variant

   For a few days, the Second Republic used a blue-red-white tricolour before returning to the blue-white-red order.

   wikipedia.org · crwflags.com

7. 1946

   Constitution defined the flag

   The Constitution designated the blue-white-red tricolour, with three equal vertical bands, as the national emblem.

   elysee.fr

8. 1958

   Flag reaffirmed in Constitution

   Article 2 of the Fifth Republic’s Constitution reaffirmed the blue-white-red tricolour as the national emblem.

   elysee.fr