The Colors of Our Flag

The flag of the United States of America is red, white, and blue. But why were these particular colors chosen for our flag?? Why not some other colors?? In the book “Our Flag” by the House of Representatives the colors for the flag when it was first created in 1777 were not thought about. But is says then in 1782 the colors of the Great Seal of the United States, were the same colors as our flag and that the colors for the Great Seal stood for, white: purity and innocence; red: hardiness and valor; and blue: vigilance, perseverance, and justice. As we know the 50 white stars represent the 50 states, the 13 stripes represent the original 13 colonies that rebelled against England. The Starred blue canton is considered the “Union”. George Washington stated, "We take the stars from Heaven, the red from our mother country, separating it by white stripes, thus showing that we have separated from her, and the white stripes shall go down to posterity representing Liberty.”

So I then was wondering what some of the other flags that are the same colors as our flag, what those colors stand for, for those countries. In France the flag is a tricolor flag, with one panel blue, then white and then red. The blue and red seem to signify the city of Paris, and the white represented the colors of the King. This was created during the time of the French Revolution. During the revolution the militaries distinct sign was the ancient colors of Paris- blue and red. Louis XVI came to Paris on July 17, 1789 to honor the National Guard and he wore the colors blue and red in a cockade, the Commander of the Guard then added white for royalty. So that is how the colors of France began.

How about the English flag. The flag of England is referred to as the Union flag or Union Jack. It’s colors are also red, white, and blue. The current flag, which came about on January 1st, 1801, merges the kingdoms of Ireland and Great Britain together. The red saltire cross is the cross of St. Patrick for Ireland. The saltire cross in white is St. Andrew’s cross for Scotland. And then the thicker red cross that goes over the white and thin red cross (that look more like X) is St. George’s cross, which represents England. The Blue background is blue for royalty.