3 colors The blue bar in the French flag is said to represent caring for the poor, after a 4th century Roman soldier cut half of his blue coat and gave it to a beggar in Amiens (in modern-day France) who was freezing in the snow. The soldier later had a dream that Jesus was wearing half his blue cloak, and dedicated the rest of his life to the church. He's known as Saint Martin, or Martin of Tours, today. White is traditionally the color of the Virgin Mary, but more importantly for France it's also historically the color representing Joan of Arc. In the 15th century, her flag flew over the armies who ultimately drove the English from the Kingdom of France. French royalty later adopted this color as their own. Saint Denis, the patron saint of Paris, is represented by the color red. Saint Denis' flag during the Middle Ages was entirely red with a sun symbol at the top, and was once also the personal flag of Charlemagne.

I think it is important to distinguish between the geographical entity known as France and the Kingdom of France. France was not a unified country for a very long time and was governed by many virtually autonomous rulers including the Dukes of Normandy. After 1066 when the Duke of Normandy became the King of England, his lands in (geographic) France and those of those allied to Normandy came under the influence therefore of the English crown. The English king also came to control much of the South of France through marriage when Eleanor of Aquitaine had married Henry II of England in the mid-12th century.The Kings of France fought continually to expand their influence and finally ousted (English) rule from all of mainland France (including of course Normandy and Aquitaine), the final outpost being Calais, which did not fall until 1558, over one hundred years after Joan of Arc.

Kings of England of course accepted a gradual change to constitutional monarchy, which Kings of France did not learn, resulting in the violent revolution of 1789 with all the associated state organised terror (including the attempted genocide of the inhabitants of the Vendee). Maybe they might have done better under English rule (this is 'tongue in cheek' before I am inundated with mail from French nationalists)!

merci madammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmme