France changed the color of its flag — and no one noticed for over a year

• France changed the color of it's flag over a year ago and no one noticed.
• French news outlets revealed on Sunday that the blue third of the flag was made darker.

France changed the color blue used in the country's flag, and the detail went unnoticed for more than a year, according to multiple reports.

French President Emmanuel Macron decided in July 2020 to change the blue third of the flag to a darker shade.

According to French news site CNews, the color change is a return to a darker navy shade that was used before 1976, when then-president Valéry Giscard d'Estaing decided to make the colors lighter to better match the European Union's flag.

The new shade is also a hat tip to the French Revolution and a "very political" attempt to reconnect with the past, French site Europe 1 reported.

Photos from May 2020 and August 2020 show a stark difference in the blues, especially when the flag is seen next to the European Union flag.

There's been no administrative communication regarding the color change and no instructions have been given to replace any officials flags, the Europe 1 report said.

Last year, the new flag was raised above the presidential palace, but there was no celebration or any acknowledgment, the BBC reported.

Despite the decades-long switch to a lighter flag, the country's navy and other officials buildings have always used the darker shade, the BBC reported.