Which European country's flag is a vertical tricolor of blue, white, and red? France. Its national flag, known as the Tricolore, has three vertical bands arranged blue at the hoist, white in the centre, and red at the fly.
The design emerged during the French Revolution. Paris's traditional blue and red were combined with white, historically associated with France's monarchy, to create a symbol intended to unite the nation. An early version reversed the order of the colours, but the modern blue-white-red arrangement was adopted on 15 February 1794.
The flag was briefly replaced by a plain white royal flag during the Bourbon Restoration from 1815 to 1830. It returned after the July Revolution and has remained France's national flag since then, apart from a short interruption in 1848.
France's flag is sometimes confused with the horizontal tricolours of Russia and the Netherlands, or Belgium's vertical black-yellow-red flag. Colour shades have also varied: France has used both darker and lighter blue versions, though the darker shade became the presidential default again in 2020.