How the Tricolor Got Its Stripes : And Other Stories About Flags

A sparkling tour through the stories of the symbols we know so well - Tim Marshall

Starting with flags that we know, this captivating history explains the origins and hidden meanings of flags, taking a chatty but always entertaining path through this universal subject.

Each chapter starts with a well-known flag and shows how that flag led to a number of other flags - so, for example, how the French tricolor led to the red, white and green tricolor of Italy, and then to a host of other tricolors in different parts of the world.

Many of the over 200 colour illustrations feature alternative versions of existing flags - the flags that might have been - such as the red Canadian maple leaf between two bands of blue, representing the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.

This entertaining and very likeable history of flags was written by Ukrainian businessman and ex-cabinet minister Dmytro Dubilet and first published in Ukrainian six months before the start of the Ukrainian-Russian war.

A joyous, witty book full of revelations about flags. With great panache, Dmytro Dubilet shows how a flag doesn't merely symbolise a nation but embodies it. His constantly surprising book could make vexillology (the study of flags) a mainstream pursuit. ― Andrew Martin, author of Underground Overground and Night Trains

A charming book, written with disarming simplicity. Dubilet has unearthed a flood of bizarre stories from around the world and across time. Very enjoyable. ― Simon Kuper, author of Chums