Flag of Serbia

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Flag of Serbia, ratio: 2:3

The flag of Serbia is a tricolour with Pan-Slavic colours. It consists of three equal horizontal fields, red on the top, blue in the middle and white on the bottom. The flag has small Coat of Arms of Serbia centred vertically and located left of centre by one-seventh of the length of the flag.^[1]

A similar flag was also used between 1882, when Serbia was proclaimed a kingdom, and abandoned in 1918, when it joined Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. In 1945, Serbia became a republic within Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and a communist star was added to the middle, dropped in 1991. The current form of the flag was officially adopted on August 16, 2004 in form of recommendation issued by the Parliament of Serbia^[2]. By adoption of the new Constitution of Serbia on November 8 2006, its usage became constitutionally sanctioned (along with the coat of arms and anthem), and the state and national (popular) flag were equalized^[3] (the version without coat of arms was used as national flag in the meantime).

On June 5, 2006 Serbia proclaimed independence after Montenegro voted for independence from the state union. On June 8, 2006 the new flag was raised for the first time in front of the United Nations headquarters in New York City.

The flag ratio is 2:3 (height/width), with the three colours each taking one third of the height. The exact colours, starting from the top, are^[4]:

• Red, Pantone 193C, CMYK 0-90-70-10
• Blue, Pantone 287C, CMYK 100-55-0-0
• White, CMYK 0-0-0-0

Contents 1 History 1.1 1882-1918 flag 1.2 1945-1991 flag 1.3 1991-2004 flag 1.4 2004-2006 national flag 2 Adaptations 3 See also 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

According to some accounts, the flag is a reversed flag of Russia, which is not coincidental. Prior to the First Serbian Uprising, a delegation from Serbia went to Russia to seek help^{[citation needed]}. The help was granted, and the delegation wanted to show their acknowledgement by asking to use the flag of Russia as Serbia's military flag in battles. There are two accounts of this event: one says that approval was granted, but that the delegation didn't bring a flag of Russia when returning home and forgot how the colours were ordered. The second one says that approval was not granted and Serbs then used the reversed flag of Russia to spite the Russians.

Another account claims, that in 1833, when Serbia was granted autonomy under Ottoman Empire, representatives of Serbia, asked to accept the same flag as a flag of Russia, but Ottoman Empire was against that, since they didn't want Serbia to have any stronger ties with Russia. The second proposition was a reversed order of colours, and it was accepted by both sides.

[edit] 1882-1918 flag

Kingdom of Serbia used the same tricolour with the big coat of arms. The merchant ensign contained only the shield and the crown of the big coat of arms, therefore closely resembling the today's flag.

[edit] 1945-1991 flag

After World War II, with communists in power, a red star (communist symbol) appeared in the centre of the new flag.

[edit] 1991-2004 flag

The flag of the Socialist Republic of Serbia was in use from 1991-2004 however the communist star symbol disappeared. The official dimensions were 2:1^{[citation needed]}.

[edit] 2004-2006 national flag

The national (popular) flag in use during 2004-2006 was the same as the current flag, without coat of arms.

[edit] Adaptations

• An earlier version of the flag of Montenegro had been adopted from the Serbian flag, but with a different hue of blue and different internal dimensions.

• Republika Srpska (a part of Bosnia and Herzegovina) uses the same flag without coat of arms. However, the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ruled that the flag of Republika Srpska has to be changed by September 2006.

• The Serbian Orthodox Church uses the Serbian flag in a 1:4 or higher ratio embossed with the Serbian cross.

[edit] See also

• Flag of Serbia and Montenegro
• Flag of Republika Srpska

[edit] References

1. ^ Official site of Serbian Government
2. ^ Official site of Parliament of Serbia
3. ^ Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, Article 7. National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia.
4. ^ (Serbian) Standards of Flag and Coat of Arms, Parliament of SerbiaPDF

[edit] External links

• Flags of the World

National flags	National coats of arms
Flags of sovereign states	Coats of arms of sovereign states
Flags of dependent territories	Coats of arms of dependent territories
Flags of unrecognized states	Coats of arms of unrecognized states
Flags of micronations	Coats of arms of micronations
Flags of formerly independent states