Two stripes, red and white, in the colours of the Grimaldi, the family that has ruled Monaco for over seven centuries.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
Civil, state and military, on land and at seaFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field, almost square, with a 4:5 ratio and two horizontal stripes.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
Red and white: the colours of the arms of the Grimaldi, documented as far back as 1339
The two-stripe flag arrived on 4 April 1881
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Monaco has two horizontal stripes of the same size: red above and white below. It is so simple that it has almost a twin on the other side of the world: that of Indonesia, which differs only in shape and in the shade of the red.
Red and white are the colours of the Grimaldi, the family that has ruled Monaco since the late thirteenth century. Their coat of arms is covered in red and white lozenges, and for centuries the country’s flags repeated that design or bore the coat of arms on a white ground.
The two-stripe flag arrived on 4 April 1881, with Prince Charles III, the same one who promoted the casino that made Monte Carlo famous. Since then Monaco has had two flags: the red and white one, which belongs to everyone, and the white one with the coat of arms, which represents the prince.
Before the current flag, Monaco used the lozenge design of the Grimaldi arms in several forms.
17th-18th centuries
A flag full of red and white lozenges is used, copied from the arms of the Grimaldi.
1793-1814
During the French Revolution, Monaco is annexed by France and flies the French tricolour.
1814-1881
The Grimaldi recover power and the flag becomes white, with the crowned coat of arms in the centre.
1881
Charles III approves the two-stripe flag, red and white.
The flag has no official meaning beyond its origin:
The flags of Monaco and Indonesia are almost identical: the Monegasque one is squarer, with a 4:5 ratio, and the Indonesian one more elongated, 2:3. According to the Indonesian press, in 1952 Monaco asked Indonesia to change its flag, but Indonesia refused: its colours came from the old kingdom of Majapahit, seven centuries ago. That of Poland has the same colours, but the other way round.
The 1881 rule says the flag is 4:5, but almost all the ones made today are 2:3, like most flags in the world.
In the palace and in the government buildings, which depend on the prince, the white flag with the coat of arms flies. In the National Council, elected by the citizens, the red and white one flies.
The arms of Monaco are held up by two armed monks. According to tradition they recall Francesco Grimaldi, who in 1297 disguised himself as a friar to enter the fortress of Monaco and conquer it.
Where it is and what borders it.
Test what you have read about the flag of Monaco.
Text based on the article “Bandera de Mónaco” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Drawn by User:SKopp, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
Other flag
Europa
Africa
Western Africa
Other flag
Europa
Other flag
Europa
Oceania
Melanesia
Other flag
Europa
France