FRANCE

The colors of the French flag come from different symbols.

- Blue is the color of Saint Martin, a rich Gallo-Roman officer who ripped his blue cloak with his sword to give one half of it to a poor who was begging him in the snow. This is the symbol of care, of the duty that the rich had to help the poor.

- White is the color of the Virgin Mary, to whom the Kingdom of France was consecrated by Louis XIII in the XVIIth century; it is also the color of Joan of Arc, under whose banner the English were finally driven out of the Kingdom (XVth century). It became logically the color of Royalty. The King's vessels carried plain white flags at sea.

- Red is the color of Saint Denis, the saint patron of Paris. The original oriflamme (war banner) of the Kings was the red oriflamme of Saint Denis.