Editing Flag of France (section)

==Design==
Article 2 of the [[Constitution of France|French constitution]] of 1958 states that "the national emblem is the tricolour flag, blue, white, red".<ref>{{Cite book |title=Constitution du 4 octobre 1958 |trans-title= |chapter=Article 2 |author= |publisher=Légifrance (French government) |date= |url=https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/LEGIARTI000006527453 |language=fr |access-date=15 November 2021 |archive-date=15 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115200514/https://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/loda/id/LEGIARTI000006527453 |url-status=live }}</ref> No law has specified the shades of these official colours.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Discrètement, Emmanuel Macron a changé la tonalité du drapeau bleu-blanc-rouge |trans-title=Emmanuel Macron has discreetly changed the hue of the blue-white-red flag |website=[[RMC (France)|RMC]] |date=15 November 2021 |url=https://rmc.bfmtv.com/emission/discretement-emmanuel-macron-a-change-la-tonalite-du-drapeau-bleu-blanc-rouge-2051123.html |language=fr |quote=La Constitution ne précise pas la tonalité des couleurs. Aucune loi non plus. |access-date=17 November 2021 |archive-date=15 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115133950/https://rmc.bfmtv.com/emission/discretement-emmanuel-macron-a-change-la-tonalite-du-drapeau-bleu-blanc-rouge-2051123.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=drapeau/> In English [[blazon]], the flag is described as ''tierced in pale [[Azure (color)|azure]], [[argent]] and [[gules]].''

The blue stripe has usually been a dark navy blue; a lighter blue (and lighter red) version was introduced in 1976<ref name=lightyear>{{Cite web |title=À propos du bleu du drapeau tricolore - |trans-title=About the blue of the tricolour flag |author= |website=Société Française de Vexillologie |date=n.d. |access-date=23 November 2021 |url=https://drapeaux-sfv.org/vexillologie/actualites/article/a-propos-du-bleu-du-drapeau-tricolore |language=fr |archive-date=15 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231015025617/http://www.drapeaux-sfv.org/vexillologie/actualites/article/a-propos-du-bleu-du-drapeau-tricolore |url-status=live }}</ref> by [[President of France|President]] [[Valéry Giscard d'Estaing]].<ref name=blue/><ref name=drapeau>{{cite web|url=http://www.promo-drapeaux.fr/content/15-drapeau-france|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210131204524/http://www.promo-drapeaux.fr/content/15-drapeau-france|archive-date=31 January 2021|title=Drapeau Français|website=promo-drapeaux.fr}}</ref> Both versions were used from then; town halls, public buildings and barracks usually fly the darker version of the flag, but the lighter version was sometimes used even on official State buildings.<ref name=moreau>{{Cite news |title=Emmanuel Macron a changé la couleur du drapeau français |trans-title=Emmanuel Macron has changed the colour of the French flag |first=Louis |last=de Raguenel |website=Europe 1 |date=14 November 2021 |url=https://www.europe1.fr/politique/info-e1-le-drapeau-francais-a-change-de-couleur-4076943 |language=fr |quote=La décision de changer la couleur du drapeau français a été prise par le président de la République le 13 juillet 2020 (…) |access-date=15 November 2021 |archive-date=15 November 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115161915/https://www.europe1.fr/politique/info-e1-le-drapeau-francais-a-change-de-couleur-4076943 |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 13 July 2020, President [[Emmanuel Macron]] reverted,<ref name=moreau/> without any statement and with no orders for other institutions to use a specific version, to the darker hue for the presidential [[Élysée Palace]], as a symbol of the French Revolution.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Osborne |first=Samuel |date=15 November 2021 |title=Emmanuel Macron changed colour of French flag in 'very political' decision |url=https://news.sky.com/story/emmanuel-macron-changed-colour-of-french-flag-to-revive-a-symbol-of-the-revolution-12469156 |access-date=2022-12-22 |website=[[Sky News]] |language=en |quote=But they also said the "very political" decision was made "to revive a symbol of the French Revolution". |archive-date=22 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221222221953/https://news.sky.com/story/emmanuel-macron-changed-colour-of-french-flag-to-revive-a-symbol-of-the-revolution-12469156 |url-status=live }}</ref> The move was met with comments both in favour of and against the change, but it was noted that both the darker and lighter flags have been in use for decades.<ref name=blue/>
[[File:Flag of France (colour shade comparison) 063712.svg|thumb|A comparison of the lighter and darker versions of the flag]]
{| class="wikitable" style="background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px solid #aaaaaa; border-collapse: collapse; white-space: nowrap; text-align: left" width="60%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="2" border="1"
|- style="text-align: center; background: #eee"
! Authority
! Scheme
!style="background:#0055A4; color:white" title="#0055A4"| Blue
!style="background:#FFFFFF" title="#FFF"| White
!style="background:#EF4135; color:white" title="#EF4135"| Red
|-
| Ministry of Defense<ref name='milcolours'>{{cite tech report|author= |title=Couleurs de la défense nationale|language=fr|trans-title=Colours for the French ministry of defence |number=NORMDEF 0001, Édition 01|institution=République Française - Ministére de la Défense|date=March 2009|url=https://www.derivery.fr/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/NORMDEF-0001-Couleurs-de-lad%C3%A9fense-nationale.pdf}}</ref><ref name='navycolors'>{{cite web |url=https://flagspot.net/flags/fr.html#col |title=France |access-date=14 November 2017 |publisher=Flags of the World |archive-date=27 July 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160727203123/https://flagspot.net/flags/fr.html#col |url-status=live }}</ref>
| [[AFNOR]]<br />NFX 08002
| A 503
| A 665
| An 805
|-
| rowspan="4" | Embassy to Germany<br />(lighter colours)<ref name='colors'>{{Cite web |url=http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/de/frankreich_3/frankreich-entdecken_244/portrat-frankreichs_247/die-symbole-der-franzosischen-republik_260/trikolore-die-nationalfahne_114.html |title=Die Symbole der französischen Republik |access-date=28 September 2009 |archive-date=10 November 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111110005908/http://www.diplomatie.gouv.fr/de/frankreich_3/frankreich-entdecken_244/portrat-frankreichs_247/die-symbole-der-franzosischen-republik_260/trikolore-die-nationalfahne_114.html |url-status=bot: unknown }}</ref>
| [[Pantone]]
| Reflex blue
| Safe
| Red 032
|-
| [[CMYK color model|CMYK]]
| 100.80.0.0
| 0.0.0.0
| 0.100.100.0
|-
| [[RGB color model|RGB]]
| (0,85,164)
| (255,255,255)
| (239,65,53)
|-
| [[Hex color|HEX]]
| #0055A4
| #FFFFFF
| #EF4135
|}
Currently, the flag is one and a half times wider than its height (i.e. in the proportion 2:3) and, except in the [[French Navy]], has stripes of equal width. Initially, the three stripes of the flag were not equally wide, being in the proportions 30 (blue), 33 (white) and 37 (red). Under [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon I]], the proportions were changed to make the stripes' width equal, but by a regulation dated 17 May 1853, the navy went back to using the 30:33:37 proportions, which it now continues to use, as the flapping of the flag makes portions farther from the [[halyard]] seem smaller.

[[File:Drapeau France Télévision.svg|thumb|Flag used as a photographic backdrop]]
When the French president or prime minister is expected to be photographed at an official or televised event, a flag with a much narrower white stripe is often used as a backdrop to ensure that all three stripes are visible when the cameras are focused on them, as using a flag with equal stripes might show only the white stripe in frame.<ref name="LObs1">{{Cite web |title=Dix choses que vous ignoriez sûrement sur les drapeaux|language=fr|trans-title=Ten things you surely don't know about flags|author1-last=de Boutiny |author1-first=Arthur |work=[[L'Obs]] website|date=18 November 2016 |url= https://www.nouvelobs.com/rue89/rue89-rue89-culture/20140628.RUE4683/dix-choses-que-vous-ignoriez-surement-sur-les-drapeaux.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190101002845/https://www.nouvelobs.com/rue89/rue89-rue89-culture/20140628.RUE4683/dix-choses-que-vous-ignoriez-surement-sur-les-drapeaux.html|archive-date=1 January 2019|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://drapeaux-sfv.blogspot.com/search/label/drapeau%20fran%C3%A7ais%20%C3%A0%20bande%20blanche%20%C3%A9troite|title=Drapeau français à bande blanche étroite|language=fr|trans-title=The French flag with a narrow white stripe|publisher=Drapeaux-SFV (former information blog of the [[French Society of Vexillology]])|date=2010–2012|author=|access-date=15 November 2021|archive-date=15 November 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211115120414/http://drapeaux-sfv.blogspot.com/search/label/drapeau%20fran%C3%A7ais%20%C3%A0%20bande%20blanche%20%C3%A9troite|url-status=live}}</ref>