French colonial flags
Encyclopedia
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.
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.
s 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 version 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.
Colony
In politics and history, a colony is a territory under the immediate political control of a state. For colonies in antiquity, city-states would often found their own colonies. Some colonies were historically countries, while others were territories without definite statehood from their inception....
, protectorates and mandates of the French Colonial Empire
French colonial empire
The French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...
used distinctive colonial flags. These most commonly had a French Tricolour
Flag of France
The national flag of France is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured royal blue , white, and red...
in the canton.
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
French ensigns
A French ensign is the flag flown at sea to identify a vessel as French. Several such ensigns have existed over the years as well as terrestrial flags based on the ensign motif.-Current 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 defacementDefacement (flag)
Defacement is a term used in heraldry and vexillology to refer to the addition of a symbol or charge to another flag. For example, the Australian flag is the British Blue Ensign defaced with the Southern Cross in the fly and the Commonwealth Star in the lower hoist quarter, beneath the Union...
s of the British ensigns
British ensigns
This article concerns the ensigns flown by vessels and aircraft of the United Kingdom and its overseas territories, and by certain nations of the Commonwealth....
, 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
League of Nations mandate
A League of Nations mandate was a legal status for certain territories transferred from the control of one country to another following World War I, or the legal instruments that contained the internationally agreed-upon terms for administering the territory on behalf of the League...
of Syria
Syria
Syria , officially the Syrian Arab Republic , is a country in Western Asia, bordering Lebanon and the Mediterranean Sea to the West, Turkey to the north, Iraq to the east, Jordan to the south, and Israel to the southwest....
as having the tricolour with unequal stripes, as in the French ensign, but it is likely that these version 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
- LaosLaosLaos Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ Sathalanalat Paxathipatai Paxaxon Lao, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic, is a landlocked country in Southeast Asia, bordered by Burma and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the south and Thailand to the west...
: Laos was part of French IndochinaFrench IndochinaFrench Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
from 1893. The tricolour was added to the flag of the Luang Prabang kingdom, which was red with a white image of a three headed elephantElephantElephants are large land mammals in two extant genera of the family Elephantidae: Elephas and Loxodonta, with the third genus Mammuthus extinct...
on a stand with a parasol. - MoroccoMoroccoMorocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
: The ProtectorateProtectorateIn history, the term protectorate has two different meanings. In its earliest inception, which has been adopted by modern international law, it is an autonomous territory that is protected diplomatically or militarily against third parties by a stronger state or entity...
of Morocco from 1919 to 1953, used the national flagFlag of MoroccoThe flag of Morocco is made of a red field with a black-bordered green pentagram.Red has considerable historic significance in Morocco, proclaiming the descent of the royal Alaouite family from the Prophet Muhammad via Fatima, the wife of Ali, the fourth Muslim Caliph. Red is also the color that...
with a tricolour in the canton as a civil ensign. - TunisiaTunisiaTunisia , officially the Tunisian RepublicThe long name of Tunisia in other languages used in the country is: , is the northernmost country in Africa. It is a Maghreb country and is bordered by Algeria to the west, Libya to the southeast, and the Mediterranean Sea to the north and east. Its area...
: From 1881–1956, Tunisia was a French protectorate. It has been reported that the tricolour was added to the Tunisian flagFlag of TunisiaThe flag of Tunisia, adopted as national flag in 1959, was in origin the naval ensign of the kingdom of Tunis, adopted either in 1831 or 1835 by Al-Husayn II ibn Mahmud...
for use as a civil ensign, as in Morocco, but it seems that such a flag was never official. - Wallis and FutunaWallis and FutunaWallis and Futuna, officially the Territory of the Wallis and Futuna Islands , is a Polynesian French island territory in the South Pacific between Tuvalu to the northwest, Rotuma of Fiji to the west, the main part of Fiji to the southwest, Tonga to the southeast,...
: The unofficial, but commonly used flag of Wallis and FutunaFlag of Wallis and FutunaThe official flag of Wallis and Futuna is the French national flag, as it is a French territory.The unofficial flag of Wallis and Futuna features a red saltire on a white square, which in turn is placed on a red field...
is red with four white triangles arranged in a square and the tricolour in the canton with a white fimbriation.
Blue field
- DamascusDamascusDamascus , commonly known in Syria as Al Sham , and as the City of Jasmine , is the capital and the second largest city of Syria after Aleppo, both are part of the country's 14 governorates. In addition to being one of the oldest continuously inhabited cities in the world, Damascus is a major...
: 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. - SyriaFrench Mandate of SyriaOfficially the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire...
(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-generalGovernor-GeneralA Governor-General, is a vice-regal person of a monarch in an independent realm or a major colonial circonscription. Depending on the political arrangement of the territory, a Governor General can be a governor of high rank, or a principal governor ranking above "ordinary" governors.- Current uses...
'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
- AleppoAleppoAleppo is the largest city in Syria and the capital of Aleppo Governorate, the most populous Syrian governorate. With an official population of 2,301,570 , expanding to over 2.5 million in the metropolitan area, it is also one of the largest cities in the Levant...
: 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. - LatakiaLatakiaLatakia, or Latakiyah , is the principal port city of Syria, as well as the capital of the Latakia Governorate. In addition to serving as a port, the city is a manufacturing center for surrounding agricultural towns and villages...
: 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 RevolutionFrench RevolutionThe French Revolution , sometimes distinguished as the 'Great French Revolution' , was a period of radical social and political upheaval in France and Europe. The absolute monarchy that had ruled France for centuries collapsed in three years...
had a white field with a tricolour in the canton, although the order of the colours has since been reversed.
Green field
- TogoFrench TogolandFrench Togoland was a France Mandate territory in West Africa, which later became the Togolese Republic.-Mandate territory:...
: 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
- Annam: The Province of Annam, part of the Union of French IndochinaFrench IndochinaFrench Indochina was part of the French colonial empire in southeast Asia. A federation of the three Vietnamese regions, Tonkin , Annam , and Cochinchina , as well as Cambodia, was formed in 1887....
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 DruzeJabal el Druze (state)Jabal al-Druze was an autonomous state in the French Mandate of Syria from 1921 to 1936, designed to function as a government for the local Druze population under French oversight.-Nomenclature:...
. 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. - SyriaFrench Mandate of SyriaOfficially the French Mandate for Syria and the Lebanon was a League of Nations mandate founded after the First World War and the partitioning of the Ottoman Empire...
: 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.
Modified Tricolours
- LebanonLebanonLebanon , officially the Republic of LebanonRepublic of Lebanon is the most common term used by Lebanese government agencies. The term Lebanese Republic, a literal translation of the official Arabic and French names that is not used in today's world. Arabic is the most common language spoken among...
: The French MandateFrench Mandate of LebanonThe state of Greater Lebanon, the predecessor of modern Lebanon, was created in 1920 as part of the French scheme of dividing the French Mandate of Syria into six states....
of Greater Lebanon (1920-43) used as a flag the French tricolourFlag of FranceThe national flag of France is a tricolour featuring three vertical bands coloured royal blue , white, and red...
with a green cedar in the middle stripe. See picture in "Flag of Lebanon - History"
Other designs
- French PolynesiaFrench PolynesiaFrench Polynesia is an overseas country of the French Republic . It is made up of several groups of Polynesian islands, the most famous island being Tahiti in the Society Islands group, which is also the most populous island and the seat of the capital of the territory...
: The flag of French PolynesiaFlag of French PolynesiaThe flag of French Polynesia was adopted in 1984. The red and white colours have been adopted from historic Tahitian flags. An outrigger is depicted in the central disc over a stylised emblem of sun and sea; this is very similar to other flags in this area, for example the flag of Kiribati...
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.
See also
- French colonial empiresFrench colonial empiresThe French colonial empire was the set of territories outside Europe that were under French rule primarily from the 17th century to the late 1960s. In the 19th and 20th centuries, the colonial empire of France was the second-largest in the world behind the British Empire. The French colonial empire...
- List of flags
- List of French possessions and colonies