Flags with Vertical Stripes

The vertical tricolor is the second-most common pattern in world vexillology, and almost every example traces back to revolutionary France. The 1794 French tricolor — blue at the hoist, white in the center, red at the fly — was deliberately designed by the painter Jacques-Louis David and the National Convention as a republican counterpoint to royal banners.

Within two decades, the pattern had spread to every territory France touched, directly or by influence. Italy adopted vertical green-white-red bands in 1797, Belgium followed in 1831, and the Republic of Ireland's green-white-orange tricolor was first flown in 1848.

Newly independent African states such as Mali, Senegal, Guinea, and Côte d'Ivoire all chose vertical tricolors in the early 1960s, layering the Pan-African colors onto a French structural template. The vertical band remains a marker of republican lineage and, often, a quiet acknowledgment of France's role in shaping modern statehood.