Why do so many countries fly red white and blue flags? When did these colors come to mean something and why?

by [deleted]
myothercarisawhale

This thread might help, especially /u/jester92800's comment here.

In short: red, white and blue were easy colours to use for practical reasons, and these gradually took on several meanings that became adopted in various national flags, from the pan-slavic colours to the flags of France, the UK, the US etc.