We all know that the colors of the Israeli flag are white and blue. But… where did the idea come from?

The first person in modern times who voiced the idea that blue and white are the national colors of the Jewish people, was the Austrian Jewish poet Ludwig August Frankl (1810-1894). More than three decades before the First Zionist Congress, Frankl published a poem entitled “Judah’s Colors“:

When sublime feelings his heart fill,
He is mantled in the colors of his country
He stands in prayer, wrapped
In a sparkling robe of white.

The hems of the white robe
Are crowned with broad stripes of blue;
Like the robe of the High Priest,
Adorned with bands of blue threads.

These are the colors of the beloved country, 
Blue and white are the borders of Judah;
White is the radiance of the priesthood,
And blue, the splendors of the firmament.
         A. L. Frankl, “Juda’s Farben,” in Ahnenbilder (Leipzig, 1864), p. 127

It is hard to find the text of this poem online, but for those parents who are looking for educational content, this poem may be a nice meaningful memorization piece. Here is the original version in German:

Anlegt er, wenn ihn Andacht füllt
Die Farben seines Landes;
Da steht er beim Gebet verhüllt,
Weiß schimmernden Gewandes.

Den Rand des weißen Mantels breit
Durchziehen blaue Streifen,
Sowie des Hohenpriesters Kleid
Die blauen Fädenschleifen.

Die Farben sind’s des theuren Lands,
Weißblau sind Juda’s Grenzen:
Weiß ist der priesterliche Glanz,
Und blau des Himmels Glänzen.