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French colonial flags

January 12, 2023

This article is about historical flags that were used across the French Empire and the overseas territories. For information about flags of France and Overseas France, see List of French flags.

Some of the colonies, protectorates and mandates of the French Colonial Empire used distinctive colonial flags. These most commonly had a French Tricolour in the canton.

French Empire
Empire français
Flags were used to represent various territories and colonies across the Empire

As well as the flags of individual colonies, the governors-general of French colonies flew a square flag with a blue field and the French ensign in the canton. This flag was flown beneath the national ensign. Colonial governors used a rectangular swallow-tailed version of this flag.

Colonial flags with a tricolour canton

The flags with the French flag in the canton, which on many occasions were already existing flags without the tricolour, resembled the British colonial flags, which originated as defacements of the British ensigns, which have the British Union Jack in the canton, and a red, white or blue fly. Naval sources show flags such as those used in the French Mandate of Syria as having the tricolour with unequal stripes, as in the French ensign, but it is likely that these versions of the flags were used at sea, and on land the tricolour had the standard equal stripes.

While for the sake of simplicity French colonial ensign are on this page classified by appearance, this should not be taken to imply common origins or the existence of undefaced ensigns used by the French government unless otherwise noted.

Red field

  • Laos, French Indochina: Laos was part of French Indochina from 1893. The tricolour was added to the flag of the Kingdom of Luang Prabang, which was red with a white image of a three headed elephant on a stand with a parasol.
  • Morocco: The Protectorate of Morocco from 1919 to 1953, used the national flag with a tricolour in the canton as a civil ensign.
  • Tunisia: From 1881–1956, Tunisia was a French protectorate. It has been reported that the tricolour was added to the Tunisian flag for use as a civil ensign, as in Morocco, but it seems that such a flag was never official.
  • Wallis and Futuna: The unofficial, but commonly used flag of Wallis and Futuna is red with four white triangles arranged in a square and the tricolour in the canton with a white fimbriation.

Blue field

  • Damascus: This part of the French Mandate of Syria from 1922–25 used a blue flag with a white disk in the centre and the tricolour in the canton.
  • Syria (1920): The French Mandate of Syria may have originally used a sky blue flag with a white crescent and star and French tricolour in the canton.
  • In 1939, the governor-general's flag, was a square blue flag with a French ensign in the canton. With a swallow-tail, this flag was the colonial governors' flag.

White field

 
Flag of the Alawite State / Sanjak of Latakia
  • Aleppo: This part of the French Mandate of Syria from 1920–25 used a white flag with tricolour in the canton and three yellow five-pointed stars in a triangle in the fly.
  • Latakia: This part of the French Mandate of Syria used a white flag, ratio 2:3, with the tricolour in the canton taking up 1/9 of the area of the flag, red triangles in the other three corners, and a golden sunburst in the centre of the flag.
  • The first banner of the French Revolution had a white field with a tricolour in the canton, although the order of the colours has since been reversed.

Green field

  • Togo: The flag used in 1957–8 had two white five-pointed stars in the green field, one at the lower left-hand corner, the other in the upper right-hand corner.

Yellow field

 
Protectorate flag of Annam
  • Annam, part of the Union of French Indochina from 1886 until 1954, used a flag with a plain yellow background, in two shapes one with the ratio 2:3 and the other 1:1 (square).

Multicolour field

  • Jebel Druze. From 1924 until 1936, this part of the French Mandate of Syria had a flag with a white vertical strip beneath the tricolour in the canton, with the rest of the flag made up of green, red, yellow, blue and white horizontal stripes.
  • Syria: In 1922, the French Mandate was made a federation, with a federal flag made up of green-white-green horizontal stripes and the tricolour in the canton. This flag was also used when Aleppo and Damascus merged.

Colonial flags with other designs

 
Flag of French Lebanon

Modified tricolours

Other designs

  • French Polynesia: The flag of French Polynesia has the horizontal stripes, red-white-red. The white stripe is twice the height of each red stripe, and contains an emblem consisting of a boat, the sun, and waves.

Galleries

Historical flags

Flags with French history

Current official and unofficial flags of French overseas regions, collectivities, and territories

Current subnational flags of overseas collectivities and territories

Other official flags

See also

References

  • F.E. Hulme, The Flags of the World: Their History, Blazonry, and Associations, From the Banner of the Crusader to the Burgee of the Yachtsman; Flags National, Colonial, Personal; The Ensigns of Mighty Empires; the Symbols of Lost Causes (Colonial Edition), Frederick Wayne and Co., London, pp. 152, (1895).
  • W.J. Gordon, Flags of the World Past and Present: Their Story and Associations, Frederick Wayne and Co., Ltd., London, pp. 265, (1929).
  • B. McCandless, and G. Grosvenor, "Our Flag Number", The National Geographic Magazine, National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., Vol. XXXII, No. 4, pp. 420, October, (1917).
  • G. Grosvenor, and W.J. Showalter, "Flags of the World", The National Geographic Magazine, National Geographic Society, Washington, D.C., Vol. LXVI, No. 3, pp. 338–396, September, (1934).
  • Flags of All Nations Volume I. National Flags and Ensigns (B.R.20(1) 1955), Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, (1955).
  • Flags of All Nations Volume II. Standards of Rulers, Sovereigns and Heads of State; Flags of Heads of Ministries, and of Naval, Military, and Air Force Officers (B.R.20(2) 1958), Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, (1958).
  • Flags of All Nations Change Five (BR20), Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London, (1989), Revision (1999).
  • W. Smith, Flags Through the Ages and Across the World, McGraw-Hill Book Co., Ltd., Maidenhead, England, pp. 361, (1975).
  • J.W. Norie, and J.S. Hobbs, Three Hundred and Six Illustrations of the Maritime Flags of All Nations; Arranged Geographically, with Enlarged Standards: Together with Regulations and Instructions Relating to British Flags &c., Printed for, and Published by C. Wilson, At the Navigation Warehouse and Naval Academy, No. 157, Leadenhall Street, Near Cornhill,(Facsimile reprint of 1848 original), (1987).
  • Ottfried Neubecker, Flaggenbuch (Flg.B.). Bearbeitet und herausgegeben vom Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine. Abgesclossen am 1. December 1939, (Historical Facsimile edition containing all national and international flags 1939-1945), pp. 193, (1992).
  1. ^ "Drapeaux d'Origine & d'Inspiration Françaises (DO&IF): Afrique".

January 12, 2023
french, colonial, flags, this, article, about, historical, flags, that, were, used, across, french, empire, overseas, territories, information, about, flags, france, overseas, france, list, french, flags, some, colonies, protectorates, mandates, french, coloni. This article is about historical flags that were used across the French Empire and the overseas territories For information about flags of France and Overseas France see List of French flags Some of the colonies protectorates and mandates of the French Colonial Empire used distinctive colonial flags These most commonly had a French Tricolour in the canton French EmpireEmpire francaisLeft Royal Standard of France before 1792 Right Flag of the French EmpireFlags were used to represent various territories and colonies across the EmpireAs well as the flags of individual colonies the governors general of French colonies flew a square flag with a blue field and the French ensign in the canton This flag was flown beneath the national ensign Colonial governors used a rectangular swallow tailed version of this flag Contents 1 Colonial flags with a tricolour canton 1 1 Red field 1 2 Blue field 1 3 White field 1 4 Green field 1 5 Yellow field 1 6 Multicolour field 2 Colonial flags with other designs 2 1 Modified tricolours 2 2 Other designs 3 Galleries 3 1 Historical flags 3 2 Flags with French history 3 3 Current official and unofficial flags of French overseas regions collectivities and territories 3 4 Current subnational flags of overseas collectivities and territories 3 5 Other official flags 4 See also 5 ReferencesColonial flags with a tricolour canton EditThe flags with the French flag in the canton which on many occasions were already existing flags without the tricolour resembled the British colonial flags which originated as defacements of the British ensigns which have the British Union Jack in the canton and a red white or blue fly Naval sources show flags such as those used in the French Mandate of Syria as having the tricolour with unequal stripes as in the French ensign but it is likely that these versions of the flags were used at sea and on land the tricolour had the standard equal stripes While for the sake of simplicity French colonial ensign are on this page classified by appearance this should not be taken to imply common origins or the existence of undefaced ensigns used by the French government unless otherwise noted Red field Edit Laos French Indochina Laos was part of French Indochina from 1893 The tricolour was added to the flag of the Kingdom of Luang Prabang which was red with a white image of a three headed elephant on a stand with a parasol Morocco The Protectorate of Morocco from 1919 to 1953 used the national flag with a tricolour in the canton as a civil ensign Tunisia From 1881 1956 Tunisia was a French protectorate It has been reported that the tricolour was added to the Tunisian flag for use as a civil ensign as in Morocco but it seems that such a flag was never official Wallis and Futuna The unofficial but commonly used flag of Wallis and Futuna is red with four white triangles arranged in a square and the tricolour in the canton with a white fimbriation Blue field Edit Damascus This part of the French Mandate of Syria from 1922 25 used a blue flag with a white disk in the centre and the tricolour in the canton Syria 1920 The French Mandate of Syria may have originally used a sky blue flag with a white crescent and star and French tricolour in the canton In 1939 the governor general s flag was a square blue flag with a French ensign in the canton With a swallow tail this flag was the colonial governors flag White field Edit Flag of the Alawite State Sanjak of Latakia Aleppo This part of the French Mandate of Syria from 1920 25 used a white flag with tricolour in the canton and three yellow five pointed stars in a triangle in the fly Latakia This part of the French Mandate of Syria used a white flag ratio 2 3 with the tricolour in the canton taking up 1 9 of the area of the flag red triangles in the other three corners and a golden sunburst in the centre of the flag The first banner of the French Revolution had a white field with a tricolour in the canton although the order of the colours has since been reversed Green field Edit Togo The flag used in 1957 8 had two white five pointed stars in the green field one at the lower left hand corner the other in the upper right hand corner Yellow field Edit Protectorate flag of Annam Annam part of the Union of French Indochina from 1886 until 1954 used a flag with a plain yellow background in two shapes one with the ratio 2 3 and the other 1 1 square Multicolour field Edit Jebel Druze From 1924 until 1936 this part of the French Mandate of Syria had a flag with a white vertical strip beneath the tricolour in the canton with the rest of the flag made up of green red yellow blue and white horizontal stripes Syria In 1922 the French Mandate was made a federation with a federal flag made up of green white green horizontal stripes and the tricolour in the canton This flag was also used when Aleppo and Damascus merged Colonial flags with other designs Edit Flag of French Lebanon Modified tricolours Edit Lebanon The French Mandate of Greater Lebanon 1920 43 used as a flag the French tricolour with a green cedar in the middle stripe See picture in Flag of Lebanon History Other designs Edit French Polynesia The flag of French Polynesia has the horizontal stripes red white red The white stripe is twice the height of each red stripe and contains an emblem consisting of a boat the sun and waves Galleries EditHistorical flags Edit Flag of Annam part of French Indochina 1923 1945 Flag of Laos part of French Indochina 1893 1953 Flag of Cambodia part of French Indochina 1863 1948 Flag of the Imamate of Futa Jallon 1896 1912 Flag of the Autonomous Republic of Togo 1957 1958 Flag of the French Senegal 1958 1959 Flag of Gabon 1959 1960 Flag of the Upper Volta 1959 1984 Flag used by some military units in the French protectorate of Tunisia 1881 1956 Flag of the French Mandate of Syria organized into five states Sanjak of Damascus Sanjak of Aleppo Alawite State Sanjak of Latakia the Jebel Druze Greater Lebanon 1920 1922 Flag of the Syrian Federation 1922 1924 and later State of Syria 1924 1930 Flag of the State of Alawites later Sanjak of Latakia in the French Mandate of Syria 1920 1936 Flag of the State of Aleppo in the French Mandate of Syria 1920 1924 Flag of the State of Damascus in the French Mandate of Syria 1920 1924 Flag of Jabal ad Druze in the French Mandate of Syria 1924 1936 Flag of Madagascar in the French Protectorate 1885 1895 French Merchant Flag in the French Morocco 1919 1956 Flag of Vanuatu under the Anglo French Joint Naval Commission 1887 1906 Flag of Tahiti under the Protectorate of France 1842 1880 Flag of the State of Greater Lebanon during the French mandate 1920 1946 Flag of the Tai Don people 1944 1953 Flag of the Montagnard country of South Indochina 1946 1950 Flag of the Tai Autonomous Territory 1946 1950 Flag of the Sip Song Chau Tai 1950 1955 Flag of the Tay people 1947 1954 Flag of the Nung Autonomous Territory 1947 1954 Flag of the Muong Autonomous Region 1948 1954 Flag of the French Protectorate of Wallis and Futuna Uvea 1860 1886 Flag of the French Colony of French Sudan 1892 1959 Proposed Flag of the French Congo 1959 Flag of the French protectorate of Saar 1947 1956 Flag of the French protectorate of Rurutu in French Polynesia 1889 1900 Flag of a French Governor Flag of French protectorate of Rimatara part of French Polynesia 1891 1900 Flag of French Protectorate of Raiatea part of French Polynesia 1880 1897 Algerian ensign under the French rule 1848 1910 1 Flag of French Governor General Pelissier 1848 1854 Car s flag of Governor General of Algeria Jacques Soustelle 1955 1956 Flag of Ain Sefra and the vehicle flag of General Laperrine French Algeria Flag of French Protectorate of Wallis and Futuna 1886 1887 Flag of French Protectorate of Wallis and Futuna 1887 1910 Flag of French Protectorate of Wallis and Futuna 1910 1958 Flag of French Protectorate of Wallis and Futuna 1958 1985 Flag of the French Society of Sea Works 1896 1935 French Society of Strasbourg to Rhine Navigation Flag of the Administrator of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands 1958 2005 Flags with French history Edit Flag of Acadia Flag of the Franco Americans Flag of the Franco Albertan Flag of the Franco Newfoundlander Flag of the Acadians in New England Flag of the Acadiana Flag of the Franco Columbian Flag of the Franco Manitobains Flag of the Franco Ontarians Flag of Franco Tenois Flag of the Franco Yukonnais Flag of Fransaskois Flag of Franco Nunavois Flag of the Rassemblement Wallonie France Flag of the Autonomous Albanian Republic of Korce Flag of Free France Personal standard of Marshal Philippe Petain as Chief of State of Vichy France Flag of Pied noir 2008 Unofficial flag of French of Algeria Pied Noir Flag of Louisiana in 1861 Flag of Free Republic of Vercors Armband used by the Forces francaises de l Interieur Flag of French Maquis of Sylla Flag of state of Minnesota with the French motto L Etoile du Nord Flag of Alliance Francaise de Chicago students Flag of the City of Detroit Flag of Baton Rouge Louisiana Flag of Republic of Independent Guyana 1886 1887 Louisville Kentucky s flag 1949 2003 Current official and unofficial flags of French overseas regions collectivities and territories Edit Official flag of Clipperton Island Unofficial flag of French Guiana Official flag of French Polynesia Flag of the Administrator of the French Southern and Antarctic Lands 2005 present Unofficial flag of Guadeloupe locally used Unofficial flag of Guadeloupe locally used black variant Territorial collectivity flag of Martinique Unofficial nationalist flag of Martinique Taekwondo flag of Martinique Unofficial flag of Mayotte Second official flag of New Caledonia Unofficial flag of Reunion Unofficial flag of Saint Barthelemy Unofficial flag of Saint Martin Unofficial flag of Saint Pierre and Miquelon Semi official flag of Wallis and FutunaCurrent subnational flags of overseas collectivities and territories Edit Flag of Alo Flag of Sigave Flag of the Uvea Flag of the Austral Islands Flag of the Gambier Islands Flag of the Marquesas Islands Flag of the Leeward Islands Flag of the Tuamotu Archipelago Flag of Rapa French Polynesia nowadays Other official flags Edit Jack of the Minister of Overseas France Ensign using by the French aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle R91 Jack of the President and the Prime Minister Jack of the Minister of Defence Jack of the chief of staff of the Armies Jack of the chief of staff of the Navy Jack of an admiral Jack of a Vice amiral d escadre Jack of a vice amiral Jack of a contre amiral Jack of a capitaine de vaisseau commanding a division Jack of a capitaine de vaisseau commanding a unit harbour commanding officer in NATO operations the Starboard is used senior merchant navy Captain if no French warship is present Ensign of French s Customs vessels Flag of the Societe Nationale de Sauvetage en MerSee also EditFrench colonial empires List of French flags List of French possessions and coloniesReferences EditThis article includes a list of references related reading or external links but its sources remain unclear because it lacks inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations May 2016 Learn how and when to remove this template message F E Hulme The Flags of the World Their History Blazonry and Associations From the Banner of the Crusader to the Burgee of the Yachtsman Flags National Colonial Personal The Ensigns of Mighty Empires the Symbols of Lost Causes Colonial Edition Frederick Wayne and Co London pp 152 1895 W J Gordon Flags of the World Past and Present Their Story and Associations Frederick Wayne and Co Ltd London pp 265 1929 B McCandless and G Grosvenor Our Flag Number The National Geographic Magazine National Geographic Society Washington D C Vol XXXII No 4 pp 420 October 1917 G Grosvenor and W J Showalter Flags of the World The National Geographic Magazine National Geographic Society Washington D C Vol LXVI No 3 pp 338 396 September 1934 Flags of All Nations Volume I National Flags and Ensigns B R 20 1 1955 Her Majesty s Stationery Office London 1955 Flags of All Nations Volume II Standards of Rulers Sovereigns and Heads of State Flags of Heads of Ministries and of Naval Military and Air Force Officers B R 20 2 1958 Her Majesty s Stationery Office London 1958 Flags of All Nations Change Five BR20 Her Majesty s Stationery Office London 1989 Revision 1999 W Smith Flags Through the Ages and Across the World McGraw Hill Book Co Ltd Maidenhead England pp 361 1975 J W Norie and J S Hobbs Three Hundred and Six Illustrations of the Maritime Flags of All Nations Arranged Geographically with Enlarged Standards Together with Regulations and Instructions Relating to British Flags amp c Printed for and Published by C Wilson At the Navigation Warehouse and Naval Academy No 157 Leadenhall Street Near Cornhill Facsimile reprint of 1848 original 1987 Ottfried Neubecker Flaggenbuch Flg B Bearbeitet und herausgegeben vom Oberkommando der Kriegsmarine Abgesclossen am 1 December 1939 Historical Facsimile edition containing all national and international flags 1939 1945 pp 193 1992 Drapeaux d Origine amp d Inspiration Francaises DO amp IF Afrique Portals France Canada Africa Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title French colonial flags amp oldid 1114476715, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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