White stands for right and truth, the honor of free citizens and trustworthiness. But the red reminds us of the blood that has been shed in the recent past. It has been shed at all times in the remote past and we are ready to offer it again for freedom and independence, for our nation and country. Latvian poets say that the red in the flag indicates the readiness of the Latvians to give blood of their hearts for their freedom, which was represented by the white in the flag. It means something dark brick red.
Some colorists define color as dark cherry red.
Officialy colors aren't standardized in any system. The Latvian flag is reputed to date from 1279, which would make it one of the oldest national flags. The earliest extant reference to the Latvian flag is in a volume called the Livlandische Reimchronik which dates from the 14th century. It describes a banner 'red in colour, cut through with a white strip' used by a Latvian military unit in 1279. The reference was unearthed by a scholar, Janis Grinsbergs, in the 19th century and was popularized as an ethnic flag for the Latvian people by students at the University of Tartu in 1870.