# Why are so many national flags three-coloured? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 2, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767 "2004-12-02T21:21:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![snorlax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@snorlax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snorlax)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/1 "2004-12-02T21:21:58Z")
I gather France was first to have a flag with three stripes of up to three different colours but how and when did it become a convention that other countries picked up? I found a website which explains in fractured English that it signifies that the country has had a revolution, but didn’t see that backed up anywhere else. At any rate I can think of at least two examples (Canada and Belgium) where this isn’t the case. ---
**Author:** ![Cunctator](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/43a26b/32.png) [@Cunctator](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cunctator)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/2 "2004-12-02T21:52:10Z")
Surely the Canadian flag has only two colours - red and white? The Australian flag has three colours (red, white and blue). However, the Commonwealth of Australia was created by an Act of the British Parliament, not by a revolution. ---
**Author:** ![spingears](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@spingears](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/spingears)\ **Post date:** [December 2, 2004, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/3 "2004-12-02T21:56:06Z")
> [@snorlax](#): > > I gather France was first to have a flag with three stripes of up to three different colours but how and when did it become a convention that other countries picked up? Surely it must be the choice of the National Assembly or what ever the governing body of the country in question decides or commissions. Did you think it was the UN or something? ---
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/4 "2004-12-03T00:51:23Z")
I imagine that 19th-century democratic or republican movements which drew inspiration from the French Revolution very consciously imitated the French tricolour. This is certainly the standard explanation for the design of the Irish flag. The US revolution could equally serve as an inspirational model, of course, but since the US flag is full of symbolism specific to the US, it’s not so easy to imitate. Nevertheless a number of countries in Central and South America have adopted flags inspired by the US flag, Cuba being one. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/5 "2004-12-03T01:12:01Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > The US revolution could equally serve as an inspirational model, of course, but since the US flag is full of symbolism specific to the US. However, the overall design is still derivative from the British red and white ensigns (a blue-dominant “union” at the upper hoist corner of a white/red field). Three colors are also good for keeping the patterns relatively simple while allowing more permutations than bicolors but still better contrast than more rainbowy banners. ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/6 "2004-12-03T01:25:18Z")
If you want to know the story behind just about every national flag, you could try the [Flags of the World](http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/). It’s pretty comprehensive. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 1:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/7 "2004-12-03T01:48:48Z")
I think it is a matter of new nations imitating the established ones. Also, former colonies sometimes tend to have flags resembling their colonizers. _cough_ USA _cough_ Australia _cough_ ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 6:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/8 "2004-12-03T06:53:01Z")
> [@UDS](#): > > Nevertheless a number of countries in Central and South America have adopted flags inspired by the US flag, Cuba being one. Maybe Chile - is there another is the hemisphere? That’s the only one that comes to mind. Malaysia and Liberia do have flags directly inspired by the US design. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 7:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/9 "2004-12-03T07:21:54Z")
I’d say that it’s the proper compromise between simplicity and detail. There’s not much you can do with two colors, and four is getting a bit complicated. That said, doesn’t the Australian flag have four? I seem to remember a black field with the Southern Cross on it in white, and a small copy of the Union Jack (red, white and blue) in the corner. Or is the field blue? Or am I just totally misremembering? ---
**Author:** ![Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/10 "2004-12-03T07:28:10Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That said, doesn’t the Australian flag have four?Or is the field blue? Or am I just totally misremembering? You could try the link I posted above, or you could try this one which has all the national flags on [one page](http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/docs/flagsoftheworld.html) ---
**Author:** ![Ice\_Wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/dfb087/32.png) [@Ice\_Wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ice_Wolf)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 9:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/11 "2004-12-03T09:09:15Z")
It’s down to simplicity of design, and having something readily identifiable from a distance. According to the [North American Vexillological Association](http://www.nava.org/Publications/GFBF/gfbf-3.htm): > [@](#): > > Limit the number of colors on the flag to three, which contrast well and come from the standard color set… ---
**Author:** ![Aro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/b3f665/32.png) [@Aro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aro)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 9:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/12 "2004-12-03T09:49:37Z")
If it is not too much of a hi-jack, continuing on the Australian flag theme… Is there really much local support for the possibility of replacing the existing flag for the recently designed [aboriginal](http://www.ausflag.com.au/flags/ab.html) one? (incidentally a 3 coloured motif also) Or would a completely new design be adopted in the event of a wish to remove the Union flag from the existing design? ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/13 "2004-12-03T13:55:55Z")
> [@Aro](#): > > If it is not too much of a hi-jack, continuing on the Australian flag theme… > > Is there really much local support for the possibility of replacing the existing flag for the recently designed [aboriginal](http://www.ausflag.com.au/flags/ab.html) one? (incidentally a 3 coloured motif also) Or would a completely new design be adopted in the event of a wish to remove the Union flag from the existing design? The issue of the Australian flag s very controversial, partly because a lot of people support the present flag, and partly because there’s no one good design to replace it. However, it would not be replaced by the Aboriginal flag, because that represents the Aboriginal people, not all the people of Australia – though it could be replaced by a flag which incorporated aspects of the Aboriginal flag. [Some possible Australian flags](http://www.ausflag.com.au/new/) ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/14 "2004-12-03T14:52:52Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > That said, doesn’t the Australian flag have four? I seem to remember a black field with the Southern Cross on it in white, and a small copy of the Union Jack (red, white and blue) in the corner. Or is the field blue? Or am I just totally misremembering? The field is blue. To me the tri-color thing (Or two colors in the cases of Cananda, Peru, Nigeria, yada yada) just shows a real lack of originality. > [@Crandolph](#): > > Maybe Chile - is there another is the hemisphere? That’s the only one that comes to mind. Uraguay and Puerto Rico. ---
**Author:** ![Bytegeist](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9dc877/32.png) [@Bytegeist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bytegeist)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 3:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/15 "2004-12-03T15:17:38Z")
> [@Captain Lance Murdoch](#): > > To me the tri-color thing (Or two colors in the cases of Cananda, Peru, Nigeria, yada yada) just shows a real lack of originality. Well then, what do you have to say about [Libya’s flag](http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/flags/ly-flag.html), Mr. Crayola McRainbow? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 3:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/16 "2004-12-03T15:40:03Z")
> [@Cunctator](#): > > Surely the Canadian flag has only two colours - red and white? > . Yes. But it still has three stripes. I mean, in heraldy, you find all sort of shapes and designs, even in the most simple coat of arms. But national flags, for the most part, are uninspiring, most of them being made on the same model. Generally three colors, or three strips or bands, and quite often both. And all rectangular apart one, if I’m not mistaken. And I’m not sure it really help telling them apart. At the contrary, there are a number of flags that look very similar with another one. For instance, someone wondered in a thread why Ivorian people were wawing Irish flags. They weren’t. They were wawing nearly identical Ivorian flags. Flags with a peculiar design (say the US one due to its stripes and stars, or the Canadian one due to the mapple leaf) are much more easy to tell apart. And honestly, I find three strips to be a weird idea. Do you see a lot of items that come colored in three colors with three strips? Clothes, for instance? Having for example only one background color with a distinct feature on it (like in heraldy, once again) would seem more logical a choice. ---
**Author:** ![Oswald\_Bastable](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/oswald_bastable/32/214_2.png) [@Oswald\_Bastable](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oswald_Bastable)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/17 "2004-12-03T16:48:16Z")
> [@clairobscur](#): > > Do you see a lot of items that come colored in three colors with three strips? Well, there’s teatime favourite of penny pinching Mums with picky children everywhere, Neapolitan Ice Cream[Neapolitan Ice Cream](http://www.smithdairy.com/smiths.asp?c=3) (third pic top row). On the question of the French tricolore, I had always assumed it to be symbolical of the three pillars of the revolution, Liberté, fraternité, egalité (Is that the right order? It’s been a while since I was in 1789), but as that’s just my personal WAG… OB ---
**Author:** ![Gotterfunken](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/58956e/32.png) [@Gotterfunken](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gotterfunken)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 5:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/18 "2004-12-03T17:16:53Z")
[The Italian flag](http://www.arcaini.com/ITALY/ItalianFlag/HistoryOfItalianFlag.htm), too, was intentionally modelled after the French tricolor. I used to think the French tricolor symbolized the Three Estates of France (royalty, clergy, and common people), but it seems that it really originated from a [combination](http://flagspot.net/flags/fr.html) of Paris’s traditional colors–red and blue–with the Bourbon monarchy’s color of white. (These colors were later interpreted as references to St. Martin (blue), the Virgin Mary (white), and St. Denis (red), but these attributions were only added some time after those colors had been adopted for the flag) I don’t think there’s any real symbolic reason why so many flags use three colors or three bands–I think it’s more of a design thing. Three colors are about as many as you can use in a flag to give it some life, but without being overly busy. Expressive but succinct, in other words. ---
**Author:** ![clairobscur](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/839c29/32.png) [@clairobscur](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/clairobscur)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 5:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/19 "2004-12-03T17:26:28Z")
> [@Oswald Bastable](#): > > On the question of the French tricolore, I had always assumed it to be symbolical of the three pillars of the revolution, Liberté, fraternité, egalité (Is that the right order? It’s been a while since I was in 1789), but as that’s just my personal WAG… > > OB Actually not. Blue and red are the colors of Paris (the arms display a ship navigating on the Seine river), and the white stands for the king’s flag. The three colors were displayed first on cockades by the revolutionnaries during the brief constitutionnal monarchy period, as a symbol of the union between the Parisian people and the king, then imposed on him and eventually became the colors of the national flag. However, I can think of one instance when the three colors and the three words of the motto have been equated. By Kieslowski, in his trilogy[Blue](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108394/) , [White](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111507/) , and [Red](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111495/) . Free advertisment for Kieslowski, a director that I liked a lot. ---
**Author:** ![Crandolph](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7cd45c/32.png) [@Crandolph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crandolph)\ **Post date:** [December 3, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767/20 "2004-12-03T21:43:38Z")
> [@Captain Lance Murdoch](#): > > Uraguay and Puerto Rico. I believe Uruguay’s is more similar to Argentina’s (or, for that, matter, Greece). [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-are-so-many-national-flags-three-coloured/277767.md?page=2)