Horizontal Tricolor Flags

About Horizontal Tricolor

The horizontal tricolor is the most common national flag layout on Earth. Its template is the flag of the Netherlands, which adopted three horizontal bands of red, white, and blue around 1572 during the revolt against Spain — making it the oldest tricolor still in use. Russia copied the design in the 17th century after Peter the Great visited the Dutch Republic, and the pattern then radiated across the Slavic world: white, blue, and red bands now form the basis of the flags of Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Serbia, and Croatia. Beyond Europe, horizontal tricolors are the dominant design in the Arab world (the pan-Arab black-white-red layout), in Africa (the pan-African green-yellow-red layout), and in Latin America (Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Bolivia). The popularity of the horizontal tricolor reflects its versatility: any three colors, any three meanings, instantly legible at sea or on land.