Luxembourg’s national flag has three equal horizontal bands of red, white, and sky blue. The law permits both 3:5 and 1:2 proportions; this record shows the 3:5 form.
Specification
The 1972 national-emblems law defines equal red, white, and blue horizontal bands in either a 5:3 or 2:1 fly-to-hoist format. Government guidance identifies the red as Pantone 032 C and the distinctive sky blue as Pantone 299 C.
Reference colors
HEX #EF3340 / asset rendering of Pantone 032 CHEX #FFFFFF / RGB 255, 255, 255HEX #00A3E0 / asset rendering of Pantone 299 CConstruction notes
For the displayed form, begin with a rectangle five units wide and three units high. Divide the hoist into three equal bands and fill them red, white, and sky blue from top to bottom. A six-unit-wide version produces the equally lawful 1:2 form without changing the bands.
Historical record
Luxembourg government history traces the country’s flag tradition to a banner recorded in 1123. The modern red, white, and blue colors derive from the historic arms. The tricolor was defined by the national-emblems law in 1972, while a 1993 measure authorized precise color standards. The current Constitution names the red-white-blue tricolor as the national emblem.
Source trail
Legilux: Law of 23 June 1972 on national emblems ↗
Historical tradition and modern legal milestones
The banner recorded in 1123 belongs to Luxembourg’s historical flag tradition; that reference is not an adoption date for the modern tricolor. The record identifies 23 June 1972 as the modern flag’s legal adoption and definition under the national-emblems law. It separately records 27 July 1993 as the color-specification milestone, when a measure authorized precise color standards. These dates describe distinct stages, rather than a single continuous modern design dating from 1123.
Interpreting the color references
The government color references reported in this record are Pantone 032 C for red and Pantone 299 C for sky blue. The displayed HEX values—#EF3340 for red, #FFFFFF for white, and #00A3E0 for sky blue—describe the asset’s digital depiction. The red and blue values are labeled as asset renderings of the reported Pantone references. These screen values are not an additional statutory color specification or a guarantee of a matching textile color; the record does not establish a manufacturing standard from them.
Frequently Asked Questions
What do hoist and fly mean, and why are the ratios sometimes reversed?
For this rectangular flag, hoist means height and fly means width. The permitted hoist:fly ratios 3:5 and 1:2 therefore mean height-to-width. Written as fly:hoist, or width-to-height, the same shapes are 5:3 and 2:1 respectively.
How do the five-by-three and six-by-three construction examples work?
A rectangle five units wide and three units high has a hoist:fly ratio of 3:5. A rectangle six units wide and three units high has a hoist:fly ratio of 3:6, which simplifies to 1:2. Both proportions are permitted by the national-emblems law. In either example, divide the height into three equal horizontal bands, each one unit high, colored red, white, and sky blue from top to bottom.