Colonel participating in riot waving Republican flag in Washington (8)

I believe the answer is:

tricolor

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'flag in washington' is the definition.
'tricolor' can be an answer for 'flag' (tricolor is a kind of flag). I'm unsure of the 'in washington' bit.

'colonel participating in riot waving republican' is the wordplay.
'colonel' becomes 'col'.
'participating in' indicates putting letters inside.
'waving' indicates an anagram (letters wave around).
'republican' becomes 'r' (abbreviation).
'riot' with letters rearranged gives 'trio'.
'col' put inside 'trio' is 'tricolo'.
'tricolo'+'r'='TRICOLOR'

Can you help me to learn more?

(Another definition for tricolor that I've seen is " French flag (in US)".)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.

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