Europe

Flag of France

France is one of the world's most visited countries, attracting around 90 million tourists annually, and a founding member of the European Union and a permanent member of the UN Security Council. It has been a major cultural, philosophical, and political force in Western civilisation for centuries. Paris, the capital, is globally associated with art, fashion, gastronomy, the Eiffel Tower, and some of the world's greatest museums.

CapitalParis
RegionEurope
Current flag since1830
Main coloursBlue, White, Red
Populationabout 68 million
Areaabout 551,000 km²
Flags in history11

Population and area are rounded.

What the flag of France means

The tricolour came out of the French Revolution: blue and red were the colours of Paris, and white was long associated with the monarchy. It became the national flag in 1794. The restored Bourbon kings replaced it with a white flag, but it returned for good after the July Revolution of 1830. The shade of blue has varied over the years, and the darker navy blue was brought back at the Élysée Palace in 2020.

How to recognise it

Vertical blue-white-red. Italy is vertical green-white-red. Ireland is green-white-orange.

Did you know?

France is the most visited country in the world, welcoming about 90 million tourists per year.

Easily confused with

France's flag is often mixed up with these. Learn to tell them apart:

Italy

Ireland

Netherlands

Flag history of France

Every flag that has flown over France, from today back through time.

1830–present

France (tricolore)

Louis-Philippe, the "citizen-king", restored the blue-white-red tricolore in 1830, and it has flown through every French republic and regime since. A slightly darker navy shade was quietly reintroduced in 2020.

1814–1830

Bourbon Restoration

When the Bourbons returned after Napoleon's fall, the tricolore and its revolutionary associations were dropped for the plain white royalist flag. The July Revolution of 1830 swept it away for good.

1794–1814

First Republic & Napoleon

In 1794 the tricolore was fixed as three equal vertical bands of blue, white, and red — the exact design still used today. It flew over the First Republic and Napoleon's First Empire.

1790–1794

Revolution (early tricolore)

The first revolutionary flag placed blue at the hoist and red at the fly — the reverse of the modern order — before the bands were swapped to their familiar arrangement in 1794.

1589–1790

Kingdom of France (Bourbon)

The white royal standard strewn with golden fleurs-de-lis was the emblem of the Ancien Régime monarchy. White was the dynastic color of the House of Bourbon until the Revolution.

1794–1796

Anglo-Corsican Kingdom

A brief Corsican kingdom under British protection during the French Revolutionary Wars.

1755–1769

Corsican Republic

Pasquale Paoli's enlightened Corsican republic — with one of the first democratic constitutions — before France bought and conquered the island.

959–1766

Duchy of Lorraine

A long-independent duchy between France and the German lands, passed to France only in 1766.

939–1547

Duchy of Brittany

An independent Celtic duchy with its own language and parliament, joined to the French crown by royal marriage in the 16th century.

1736

Kingdom of Corsica

The improbable few-month kingdom of Theodor von Neuhoff, a German adventurer crowned king by Corsican rebels against Genoa.

1050–1620

Viscounty of Béarn

An independent Pyrenean state — the homeland of King Henry IV — that kept its own laws and parliament until merged into France.

Related historical states

Empires, kingdoms and republics that once covered part of France.

987–1792

Kingdom of France

The white field strewn with golden fleurs-de-lis was the banner of the Bourbon monarchy. White, not a tricolor, symbolized the king before the Revolution.

1736

Kingdom of Corsica (1736)

The white Moor's-head flag of the brief kingdom created when German adventurer Theodore von Neuhoff was crowned King of Corsica for a few months in 1736.

1794–1796

Anglo-Corsican Kingdom

Combined the British Union Jack with the Corsican Moor's head during the brief union under George III in the French Revolutionary Wars.

1837–1842

Kingdom of Bora Bora

Red-and-white stripes with a canton of white stars, flown by the 19th-century Polynesian island kingdom before French annexation.

1388–1860

County of Nice

A red eagle perched on three green hills on white — the arms of Nice during its centuries under the House of Savoy, before France annexed it in 1860.

1880–1888

Kingdom of Raiatea

A red-and-white striped flag with a small French tricolor canton, from the Leeward Islands kingdom that resisted French annexation for years.

1819–1881

Kingdom of Tubuai

A white field with a red cross and four blue stars, the historic flag of a kingdom in the Austral Islands of the South Pacific.

1867–1887

Kingdom of Rapa Iti

A remote Polynesian island kingdom whose flag carried a blue star beneath a crown with a French canton, before France absorbed it.

1832–1844

Kingdom of Mangareva

The Gambier Islands kingdom flew a banded flag with corner stars, attributed to the French explorer Dumont d'Urville, before becoming a French protectorate.

1846–1895

Kingdom of Huahine

A Society Islands kingdom that resisted France longer than its neighbours; its red-and-white flag with a French canton reflected an uneasy protectorate before annexation.

1788–1880

Kingdom of Tahiti

The Pōmare dynasty's red-white-red flag flew over the Society Islands kingdom until France annexed Tahiti in 1880, ending nearly a century of independent Polynesian rule.

1032–1477

Duchy of Burgundy

The Valois dukes of Burgundy built one of the richest states in late-medieval Europe, rivaling the French crown, until Duke Charles the Bold fell at the Battle of Nancy in 1477.

939–1547

Duchy of Brittany

The independent Breton duchy on France's Atlantic peninsula; its modern black-and-white 'Gwenn ha du' flag recalls the duchy absorbed into France through royal marriage in 1532.

959–1766

Duchy of Lorraine

A gold flag with a red diagonal band and three white eaglets; the duchy on the German frontier passed to France only after its last duke became Holy Roman Emperor.

1274–1791

Comtat Venaissin

A papal enclave around Avignon ruled directly by the Popes for over five centuries — even surrounding the Avignon papacy — until France annexed it during the Revolution.

972–1481

County of Provence

The gold-and-red striped banner of the medieval county, ruled by the House of Barcelona and then Anjou, before it was bequeathed to the French crown in 1481.

1011–1607

County of Foix

A Pyrenean county whose arms joined the gold-and-red pales of Foix with the cows of Béarn; its counts became kings of Navarre, and one, Henry, became King of France.

Territories & dependencies

Overseas collectivity

French Polynesia

An autonomous collectivity of 121 Pacific islands including Tahiti. It has its own official territorial flag — a red-white-red design with an outrigger canoe and sun.

Sui generis collectivity

New Caledonia

A Pacific territory voting on independence in three referendums (2018–2021), all narrowly rejecting it. The indigenous Kanak (FLNKS) flag is flown alongside the French tricolor — the only French territory with such a recognised co-flag.

Overseas collectivity

Saint Pierre and Miquelon

A tiny archipelago off Newfoundland, the last remnant of French North America. Its widely flown local flag bears a ship and three regional emblems.

Overseas department & region

Martinique

A Caribbean island and full department of France. In 2023 it adopted an official red-green-black flag with a hummingbird, replacing the colonial snake banner.

Overseas collectivity

Saint Martin

The French northern half of the island shared with Dutch Sint Maarten. Its local flag depicts the island's coastline and landmarks.

Overseas department & region

Guadeloupe

A Caribbean department of France. It officially flies only the French tricolor; the local sun-and-fleur-de-lis designs are unofficial.

Overseas department & region

Réunion

An Indian Ocean department east of Madagascar, fully part of France and the EU. It officially flies only the French tricolor.

Overseas department & region

Mayotte

An Indian Ocean department that chose to stay French when the rest of the Comoros became independent. It officially flies only the tricolor.

Overseas department & region

French Guiana

France's only mainland territory in South America, home to the Guiana Space Centre. It officially flies only the tricolor (a regional flag exists but is unofficial).

Overseas collectivity