---
title: "Flag of Luxembourg: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Luxembourg flag stands for, its official 3:5 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/luxembourg/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Luxembourg

**The flag of Luxembourg: Three equal horizontal bands of red, white and light blue.**

Ratio 3:5 · current design adopted 1972

*[Flag drawn on the page: Luxembourg]*

The similarity to the Dutch flag caused enough confusion that Luxembourg legislated its exact shades in 1972 and again considered replacing the flag altogether in 2006, when a deputy proposed adopting the red lion banner instead. The compromise was to make the Roude Léiw an official alternative civil flag in 2007, so Luxembourg now has two legal flags. The colours come from the arms of the House of Luxembourg — a red lion on horizontal blue and white stripes — and the blue was historically a lighter azure than the Netherlands ever used. In practice the two flags are told apart by the blue, and only reliably when seen together.

## Flags it gets confused with

*[Flag drawn on the page: Luxembourg, Netherlands]*

*Drawn at each flag’s own official ratio, which is itself the difference in some of these pairs.*

| Flag | How to tell them apart |
| --- | --- |
| Netherlands | The Dutch blue is dark cobalt (#21468B); Luxembourg's is sky blue (#00A1DE). Luxembourg is also longer, at 3:5. |

## What the colours mean

*Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.*

- **Red** (#ED2939) — From the Duchy's red lion
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — From the white-and-blue barry field of the historic arms
- **Light blue** (#00A1DE) — A sky blue, considerably lighter than the Dutch cobalt

- **Ratio:** 3:5
- **Current design adopted:** 1972
- **Colours:** red, white, light blue

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Luxembourg look like?

Three equal horizontal bands of red, white and light blue.

### What do the colours of the Luxembourg flag mean?

Red: from the Duchy's red lion. White: from the white-and-blue barry field of the historic arms. Light blue: a sky blue, considerably lighter than the Dutch cobalt.

### How do you tell the Luxembourg flag from the Netherlands one?

The Dutch blue is dark cobalt (#21468B); Luxembourg's is sky blue (#00A1DE). Luxembourg is also longer, at 3:5.

### When was the Luxembourg flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1972, and its official ratio is 3:5.

## Related pages

- [Luxembourg](https://atoneplace.net/country/luxembourg/)
- [The flag of Netherlands](https://atoneplace.net/flag/netherlands/)
- [Every flag with red in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/red/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [The flag of United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-kingdom/)
- [The flag of Canada](https://atoneplace.net/flag/canada/)
- [The flag of France](https://atoneplace.net/flag/france/)
- [The flag of China](https://atoneplace.net/flag/china/)
- [The flag of Germany](https://atoneplace.net/flag/germany/)
- [The flag of Russia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/russia/)
- [The flag of Italy](https://atoneplace.net/flag/italy/)

## Sources

- Official vendor product documentation — At One Place (/about/)