Why has France has changed the blue on its flag?
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Sacr茅 bleu! The French flag has been changed.
The French President Emmanuel Macron has changed one of the colours on France's official flag, using a darker shade of blue.
The new flags were hoisted above the presidential palace last year, but without any announcement.
France's flag which is blue, white and red, has used darker and lighter shades of the blue section for decades.
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Known as a tricolour flag, meaning it contains three colours, its bands are coloured blue, white, and red. The flag is inspired by the red, white and blue pins worn during the French Revolution.
The French Revolution was a period of ten years between 1789 and 1799 in France when the people overthrew the monarchy and took control of the government.
Why has the change got people talking?
The darker version of the flag was seen on display behind President Macron in September
The French Radio station, Europe 1 has said the darker blue on the flag is a symbol of the French revolution.
The darker shade, known as navy blue is used by the navy in France and is seen on French battle ships.
It's also used on lots of buildings, but over the last 40 years, some official buildings have moved towards the lighter blue to match the flag of the European Union (EU), of which France is a member.
It's been reported in France that there was some disagreement over Mr Macron's change back to darker blue, with some arguing the new shade was ugly and would clash with the EU flag.
- Published11 March 2014
