For more than a year they can be admired around the French Élysée Palace of President Macron. But this week it fell to the chief of the political editorial of the French radio station Europe1 look after. The color blue in the flags is wrong.
In addition to red and white, the flag is now navy blue instead of the lighter blue. “Macron has touched one of our national symbols without saying anything about it,” writes Europe1. “Nobody has seen it yet, but it’s a very important detail.”
Changed again
Macron had the change implemented on July 13, 2020, prompted by Arnaud Jolens, the director of the Élysée, who had thought it was a good idea for some time. Macron opted for a flag reminiscent of France’s glory years, according to the Élysée against Euronews.
Emmanuel Macron is not the first French president to have the colors of the national flag changed. Valéry Giscard d’Estaing already did it in 1976. Under his leadership, the original, darker shade of blue was changed to a lighter one. In this way, the French flag matched that of the European Union better, was the reasoning.
–
–
Macron is now single-handedly reversing that change. According to Europe1, because the navy blue of the current flag is considered aesthetically more beautiful, but there would also be a political motive behind it, with the tricolor flag as the symbol of strength and courage. The flag first appeared at the end of the 18th century, during the French Revolution.
–
–
In the years that followed, the tricolor was captured in many ways. Like the painter Eugène Delacroix in his world famous work ‘La Liberté guidant le peuple’, or ‘Freedom leads the people’. The painting from 1830, like the flag of that time, is part of French pride.
Boost for population
Macron’s Elysée hastened to say that the new flag is no way to say goodbye to the ‘European blue’. According to the spokespersons, there are no anti-European sentiments behind the change of color, but it is a ‘boost’ for the French population.
–
–
