EU Countries: Losing Their Identities? Quiz

The French national flag, the "Tricolore" dates back to the French Revolution and it was adopted officially shortly afterwards in 1794. The three bands left to right, represent liberty, equality and fraternity respectively. However, the colours themselves have a deeper history than the official meaning. Blue and red are the longstanding colours of Paris and white is the colour of the House of Bourbon, once the ruling house of France.

The "Tricolore" has inspired several other national flags.

The Italian Tri-colour was designed by the French ruler during the 1796 Italian campaign with the bands first being horizontal until they were changed to match the French "Tricolore" in 1798. It was only used until the fall of the Napoleonic Empire in 1814.

It was reintroduced when the Kingdom of Italy was formed in 1861. The coat of arms of the House of Savoy was added to the central white band of the flag at this time but when the monarchy ended in 1946, the coat of arms was removed. Hence the official national flag of Italy was adopted in 1946.

The flag of Hungary was first used in the uprising of 1848-49. Its pattern was based on the French "Tricolore". The colours date back to the 9th century, long before Hungary was part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Red symbolises strength, white is faithfulness and green is symbolic of hope.

A flag as described first appeared in 1608 when Hungary was a monarchy. There was a royal crown in its centre. After WWII when Hungary was briefly a republic, the crown was replaced with the Kossuth coat of arms.

Then, when the Communists ruled Hungary, a Soviet emblem replaced the coat of arms. In 1990 after independence, the coat of arms was redesigned but was not incorporated into the flag of independent Hungary.

Although the Grand Duke of Luxembourg had a coat of arms as early as the 13th century, the country had no flag until 1830. A tri-colour of red, white and blue was adopted based on the colours of the Grand Duke's coat of arms. The blue is lighter than the blue normally found in national flags and whilst red, white and blue are the three most common colours found in national flags, the particular blue stripe of the Luxembourg flag is enough to make it unique. Unlike most countries, the colours in the Luxembourg flag have not taken a 'secondary' meaning.

The first Netherlands ruling family of the newly independent republic (from Spain) was the House of Orange. The first flag adopted by the republic was a tri-colour of red, white and orange which were the colours of the House. This flag was known as the "Prinsvlag" but the orange dye was unstable and tended to turn reddish over time so a decision was made to change the orange to red in the 17th century. The flag as depicted has flown ever since but was confirmed by royal decree only in 1937. It is only the shade of blue (and the height/width ratio) that differentiates it from the Luxembourg flag.

However, the Netherlands flag has had an important influence on other nations' flags, especially the Pan-Slavic flags of Russia and the Balkan countries.

Legend states that an Austrian duke fought so fiercely in a battle the only part of his white tunic that was not red was the part covered by his sword belt. Thereafter Austria adopted red and white as the country's colours. Whether the legend is true or not, the stripes of red-white-red have been an emblem of Austria as far back as 1191.

The national flag of Austria was adopted after the fall of the Hapsburg dynasty in 1918. The flag was banned in WWII (Austria was considered part of Germany at this time) but revived after WWII when Austria became independent from Germany.

The story behind the Latvian flag is not dissimilar to the Austrian legend: An unnamed Latvian leader was badly wounded in a battle and the edges of the white sheet in which he was draped were stained with blood. The red on the flag has come to mean the readiness of Latvians to give their blood from their hearts for freedom.

The red-white-red banner became popular in 1279 as it became the banner of the home guard of Cesis. It was revived by university students and used in a national song festival in Riga in 1873. It became popular in Latvian units of the Russian army in WWI.

In 1917, prominent Latvians agreed the red colour should be crimson, and that the white band should be one-fifth of the flag width. The flag was banned under Soviet occupation in 1940 but was legalised in 1988 and became the national flag of independent Latvia in 1991.

In 1785, Spain adopted the red and yellow colours for its flag to distinguish Spanish ships from those of other nations, which was particularly important in the naval battles that raged at the time. The colours were taken from the arms of Aragon and Castile, the two regions united to form the Spanish Kingdom in 1479. There is no confirmed reason why the middle yellow band is twice the width of the upper and lower red bands. The colours themselves have no further meaning other than their geographical origins (although the Aragonese flag on which the national flag was partly based was itself, based on a legend of the king dragging his bloodstained fingers over a gold shield).

Whilst the colours have no secondary meaning they are prescribed: Flag Red (Rojo Bandera) and Flag Gualda Yellow (Amarillo Gualda Bandera) both prescribed Pantone shades to ensure the colours are consistent. (The Pantone Colour System is a widely used, global standardised colour matching system. It was developed to help designers and printers to specify and control colours of printing requirements).

When Spain became a republic in 1931, the flag was replaced by a horizontal tricolour of red yellow and purple (equal bandwidth). When the republic was overthrown in 1939, the original flag was restored.

The state flag is always depicted with the coat of arms which, curiously is offset and is closer to the hoist (by a defined margin). When the coat of arms changes, the flag changes as well. This occurred in 1945, 1977 and 1981. When displayed in a civil setting, the flag is displayed without a coat of arms.

Since the end of the 14th century, the Lithuanian flag was red with a white knight. In 1918 after independence (briefly), the national government appointed a commission to design a new national flag. The tri-colour was accepted, and whilst the meaning of the bands was not prescribed by decree, it has been accepted that the yellow stands for the sun and the ripening of grains. The green stands for the vegetation and the forests and the beauty of nature symbolising life, hope and freedom. Red stands for the colour of the land and for the bloodshed lost in the defence of the country. In addition to the unofficial meaning of each band, the Lithuanian government has ratified that the colours collectively stand for hope, courage and freedom from want.

The flag was suppressed under Soviet occupation but it became the national flag again when Lithuania became independent in 1991.

Before 1848, Germany was a collection of feudal states. At this time there was an attempt at unification and while it failed a flag was produced. The horizontal tri-colour of black, gold and red was taken from the uniforms of the Germanic soldiers that fought in the late 18th-century Napoleonic wars.

A united German Empire did form in 1871 but the Bismarck tri-colour of black, red and white was adopted. (Red from the Hanseatic League, and black and white from Prussia). After the defeat of Germany in WWI, the black, gold and red flag returned but only briefly. When the Nazi party came to power in 1933, they restored the imperial colours of red, black and white and made their party flag, the Hakenkreuz, the national flag.

After WWII, both German states restored the black/red/gold tri-colour with East Germany, adding its coat of arms for differentiation from the West German flag. Since unification, the plain tricolour has been used.

With the Belgian flag, the black, yellow and red can be traced back to the 12th-century colours of the Duchy of Brabant. The arms were a golden lion with red feet and tongue on a black shield. The Belgian War of Independence started in Brabant, so its colours became the colours of Belgium. The first flag was raised in 1792 in an attempt to gain independence from Austria. At that point the bands were horizontal. They were changed to vertical bands in 1831, inspired by the role of the French "Tricolore" in its own independence. The 1831 flag has remained in place since that time.

A curious issue with the Belgian flag: while the Swiss and the Vatican City flags are well-known for being square, the ratio of the Belgian flag is unique - 13:15 making it almost square.

In 1848, a revolutionary horizontal tricolour of blue/yellow/red (based on the French "Tricolore") preceded the formation of Romania. These were the colours of the Principalities of Walachia (red/yellow) and Moldovia (red/blue). Both principalities sought independence from the Ottoman Empire, and in 1861 they achieved this by forming the united country of Romania.

The flag was changed to a vertical tri-colour in 1867. At this time the Romanian state arms were included in the centre yellow band but they were removed in 1990 to avoid confusion with the newly independent country of Moldova which had a similar flag.