The first clear-cut expression of nationalism came to France with the French Revolution of 1789. The French revolutionaries introduced various measures and practices which proclaimed that it was the people who would henceforth constitute the nation and shape its destiny. (i) The ideas of la patrie (the fatherland) and le citoyen (the citizen) emphasised the notion of a united community enjoying equal rights under a constitution. A French flag, the tricolour, was chosen to replace the royal standard. (ii) The Estates General was elected by the body of active citizens and renamed National Assembly. (iii) A centralised administrative system was put in place and it formulated uniform laws for all its citizens.