France has a new flag

Ten of Swords · 15-11-2021 10:46pm #1

The flag of France has today been changed. The Blue, White and Red has been replaced with...

Slightly different Blue, same White and Slightly different Red (similar, but not identical, to the pre-1976 version)

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-59283134

Old colors in the top left, new colors in the bottom right 😝

Manach · 15-11-2021 11:03pm

Pity it is not the Golden fleur-de-lis

banie01 · 15-11-2021 11:07pm

It's not new tho, it's a reversion by the Elysee to using the naval flag which has a darker blue, maybe even a navy blue 😉

Do find it odd that there was a shift in the blue for the "state" flag whilst the Navy carried on with theirs as is.

.42. · 15-11-2021 11:12pm

we should change ours to the green flag with gold harp

Ten of Swords · 15-11-2021 11:14pm

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118172532#Comment_118172532

Like the old Bosnian flag in the 90s?

kowloonkev · 16-11-2021 4:59am

I think they just dimmed the screen

Peregrinus · 16-11-2021 6:29am

This isn't a new flag - just a change in the shade of blue favoured by the current presidential administration. The flag is specified in the Constitution of the Republic as a tricolour of blue, white and red, but no particular shades are, or ever have been, specified in law. Whoever is manufacturing, or commissioning the manufacture of, flags can use whatever shades they think appropriate.

For the blue panel, navy blue was the most commonly-used shade for a long time. But some years back the French government began ordering flags that used a lighter shade ("azure") to match the blue used in the flag of Europe, since the two flags were often displayed together. Macron has reverted to the more traditional navy blue. But some French government agencies - notably, the French navy - never made the change to azure, and have been using navy blue all along.

The tricolour was, of course, adopted in the French revolution. Prior to that, the national flag was not, as Manach suggests, a golden fleur-de-lys. The royal banner was three golden fleurs-de-lys, but the national banner was a plain white banner. (The white part of the tricolour in fact derives from this.) The white flag was resumed in 1815 and used until 1830, when the tricolour was adopted again and has been in use ever since.

This seems odd, since the use of the white flag as a flag of truce was established in the middle ages. To be honest, I'm not quite sure what ships of the French navy did if they wanted to signal a desire for truce; they were already flying a white flag. But the white flag as a French national symbol is probably older than the flag of truce; it's thought to go back to the crusades, when French knights identified themselves with a white cross on their shields and/or helmets. Other nations had similar conventions - a black cross for Brittany, a green cross for Flanders, a red X-shaped cross for Burgundy, and so on. The white banner was simply a banner of the colour used to identify France.

Deregos. · 16-11-2021 6:35am

Great news if you're involved in the French flag manufacturing industry . . . Business had been quiet of late.

Pawwed Rig · 16-11-2021 6:39am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118172579#Comment_118172579

To the Leinster flag you mean?

ancapailldorcha · 16-11-2021 11:55am

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118172532#Comment_118172532

Good shout. I do love the fleur-de-lis. Much nicer than a standard tricolour.

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/118172579#Comment_118172579

I'd prefer the president's flag:

So much nicer than a tricolour IMO.

banie01 · 16-11-2021 12:03pm

Is there any call at all for the Oriflamme? If GB wants to keep sabre-rattling re: fishing and the French? Surely it's time for the French to release it?

I know we all joke about them being surrender-monkeys 😉 but truth is they are historically one of the most martially successful nations and running up the battle standard and sacred flag of the nation, will surely underscore any point they wish to make!

Tis far, far cooler than a tricolour too 😉

ancapailldorcha · 16-11-2021 12:16pm

France is historically the most successful nation militarily according to historian Niall Ferguson. They've won the most engagements and have on several occasions, namely under Louis XIV and Napoleon required several pan-European coalitions to be assembled in order to successfully oppose them. Contrary to the UK/US surrender monkeys stuff, the French have bested the Brits more often than not.

Riddle101 · 16-11-2021 2:13pm

I love how there are people who actually oppose the flag change on the grounds that they say the flag colour is "ugly". Imagine debating with people over the ugliness of a colour, which is just a dark shade of blue. Some people will complain about anything.