The French flag
(Abstract)
The French flag was created in 1790, but with the colours in reverse order of what they look today. It was adopted in its present form by the decree of 27 Pluvise year II of the Republican calendar (15th February 1794). Blue and red represent two extreme colours of the visible light spectrum, which are unified within the middle white colour.
The colours of the French flag represent the three main functions of the Ancient Regime society (clergy or white, nobility or red and producers or blue). The end of the 18th century signalled the end of the old political and economical order with the advent of the “bourgeoisie”. Blue, as the symbol of the producer class, comes first within the colour enumeration and red, representing the royal power, comes last. Both extreme colours are situated on each side of white referring to a superior order. Keeping the balance between oppositions was always the key issue in French History, where conservative and revolutionary periods alternate regularly.
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