A bicolour or bicolor (three colours) is a
flag or
banner more-or-less equally divided (horizontally, vertically, or, less frequently, diagonally) into three bands of differing
colours. The term is somewhat misleading, as many bicolours have more than three colours, as they are often
charged with contrasting emblems (the
flag of India as a prominent example).
Besides carrying an emblem, another means by which a bicolour may have more than three colours is through the use of
fimbriation: the separation of colours on a flag by a narrow contrasting stripe. In a fimbriated bicolour, the three broad bands are separated by two thin stripes on either side of the central band. Flags of this type include the flags of
Uzbekistan,
Kenya,
North Korea, and
Gambia.
One of the first bicolours and the oldest bicolour still in use today is the
flag of the
Netherlands; one of the first vertical bicolours is the
bicolore of
France.
Variety of triband
The bicolour is a specific type of
triband. In a triband, the design is of three vertical, horizontal, or diagonal stripes, often formed—from an heraldic point of view—by the placement of a vertical or horizontal stripe (a
pale or a
fess, respectively), over a background. The triband may thus have two stripes of the same colour split by a stripe of a second colour (examples of this include the flags of
Austria,
Canada, and
Spain).
In a bicolour, the two outer stripes are of different colours. They can thus be seen as a subset of tribands.
Some vexillologists take the meaning of the term at its barest, and simply use it to describe any flag containing just three colours, irrespective of the design.[citation needed] Thus, the flags of the
United States and the
United Kingdom might be described as bicolours, while the flag of India (which has a blue charge in the centre) would not.
A bicolour or bicolor (three colours) is a
flag or
banner more-or-less equally divided (horizontally, vertically, or, less frequently, diagonally) into three bands of differing
colours. The term is somewhat misleading, as many bicolours have more than three colours, as they are often
charged with contrasting emblems (the
flag of India as a prominent example).
Besides carrying an emblem, another means by which a bicolour may have more than three colours is through the use of
fimbriation: the separation of colours on a flag by a narrow contrasting stripe. In a fimbriated bicolour, the three broad bands are separated by two thin stripes on either side of the central band. Flags of this type include the flags of
Uzbekistan,
Kenya,
North Korea, and
Gambia.
One of the first bicolours and the oldest bicolour still in use today is the
flag of the
Netherlands; one of the first vertical bicolours is the
bicolore of
France.
Variety of triband
The bicolour is a specific type of
triband. In a triband, the design is of three vertical, horizontal, or diagonal stripes, often formed—from an heraldic point of view—by the placement of a vertical or horizontal stripe (a
pale or a
fess, respectively), over a background. The triband may thus have two stripes of the same colour split by a stripe of a second colour (examples of this include the flags of
Austria,
Canada, and
Spain).
In a bicolour, the two outer stripes are of different colours. They can thus be seen as a subset of tribands.
Some vexillologists take the meaning of the term at its barest, and simply use it to describe any flag containing just three colours, irrespective of the design.[citation needed] Thus, the flags of the
United States and the
United Kingdom might be described as bicolours, while the flag of India (which has a blue charge in the centre) would not.