Helvetian Republic (1798-1803)

Last modified: 2002-01-05 by pascal gross
Keywords: switzerland | helvetian republic | napoleon |
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• Flag
• History
• Variation of the flag

• Switzerland
• Helvetic legions

The flag adopted by the Helvetic Republic was green-red-yellow horizontally.
Harald Müller, 15 July 1996

When the French under Napoléon conquered great parts of Europe they created republics all over. Flags were introduced according to the French model, i.e. vertical and horizontal tricolours. Switzerland met the same fate in 1798. Later on, after France had become an empire, all those republics were transformed into kingdoms (often with Napoléon's relatives as monarchs).
Harald Müller, 26 January 1996

It is a correction in the sense that the font is more correct. It is a variant in the sense that I'm not sure whether "La Paix" was on all flags. This GIF is rendered from a photograph of a surviving flag. The photo is actually pale blue-pink-white, but I find no evidence that those were the actual colours, and I assume that it faded from green-red-yellow.

The Helvetic Republic (Switzerland) was proclaimed on 19 March 1798. This flag was officially adopted on 13 February 1799. It is in effect the first national flag of modern Switzerland.

T.F. Mills, 24 September 1997