Flag of Serbia

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National Flag of Serbia

State Flag of Serbia, ratio: 2:3

The flag of Serbia is a tricolour with Pan-Slavic colours, with three equal horizontal fields, red on the top, blue in the middle and white on the bottom, and the Coat of Arms of Serbia centered vertically and located left of center by one-seventh of the flag's length^[1]. The same tricolour, in a number of variations, was the flag of Serbia throughout history, as well as the flag of various other Serbian states, and is national flag of Serbs.

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.

Contents 1 Design 2 Other official flags 3 History 3.1 Medieval flags 3.1.1 Flag of Stefan Vladislav 3.1.2 Flag of Tsar Dusan 3.2 Flags of the First Serbian Uprising 3.3 Modern flags 3.3.1 First introduction 3.3.2 1882-1918 flag 3.3.3 1945-1991 flag 3.3.4 1991-2004 flag 4 Adaptations 5 Proper flag protocol 5.1 State flag 5.2 People's flag 5.3 Other flags 5.4 Respect for the flag 5.5 Handling of the flag 5.6 Correct display 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Design

The flag ratio is 2:3 (height/width), with the three colours each taking one third of the height. Recommended 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
• Yellow (on the coat of arms), Pantone 116C, CMYK 0-10-95-0

The flag has small Coat of Arms of Serbia centered vertically and located left of center by one-seventh of the length of the flag.^[1]

[edit] Other official flags

Serbian military Flag Ratio 1:1.

(Flipside).

Standard of the President of Serbia

Standard of the President of the National Assembly of Serbia

[edit] History

[edit] Medieval flags

[edit] Flag of Stefan Vladislav

The oldest known description of a flag of Serbia is from 1281 description of treasury of king Stefan Vladislav, which was kept in Dubrovnik Republic. The description lists vexillum unum de zendato rubeo et blavo - a flag of fabric red and blue.^[5] We however don't know how were the colors patterned; horizontal diband shown to the right is sometimes used in commemorations of medieval events in Serbia^[6]. As Vladislav ruled from 1234 to 1243 and died after 1264, the flag was used earlier than it was described, around the middle XIII century.

[edit] Flag of Tsar Dusan

The oldest known drawing of a flag of Serbia is from the 1339 map of Angelino Dulcert. The map depicts a number of flags, and Serbia is represented by a flag placed above Skoplje (Skopi) with the name Serbia (Seruja) near the hoist, which was characteristic for capital cities at the time of the drawing of the map. The flag is red two-headed eagle on yellow field.^[7]

[edit] Flags of the First Serbian Uprising

During the First Serbian Uprising, a large variety of flags was used. Among the early flags, one described by Mateja Nenadovic could be connected with today's flag: it was white-red-blue with three crosses^[8]. Regular army of the uprising usually had light yellow flags with various symbols, while voivode flags were often red-white, made of silk, and defaced with black two-headed eagle from the coat of arms of Russia. There were also flags of other colors, including red-yellow, red-white-blue and red-blue. This variety of colors was followed by variety of symbols on the flags, most often taken from Hristofor Zefarovic's Stematography. The most common symbol on the flags is Serbian cross, followed by coat of arms of Tribalia and various other crosses.^[9]

Most of the flags were made in Sremski Karlovci, and designed by Serbian painters Stefan and Ilija Gavrilovic, and Nikola Apostolovic.^[9]

An early flag from 1804

A flag from before 1807

Regular army flag from 1809

Voivode flag from 1811

[edit] Modern flags

[edit] First introduction

1835 Sretenje constitution prescribed flag of Serbia as horizontal tricolour of red, white and steel blue (čelikasto-ugasita) stripes. The constitution was attacked, especially by Russia, and the flag was specifically attacked as being similar to the revolutionary flag of France^[10]. Soon afterwards, Milos Obrenovic was requesting to the Porte that the new constitution has an article about the flag and coat of arms^[11], and subsequent ferman (1835) allowed Serbs to use their own maritime flag, which will have "upper part of red, middle of blue, and lower of white colour"^[12], which is the first appearance of the colors which has remained until today.

The colors are exactly reverse of those on the flag of Russia, and various popular stories exist in Serbia which seek to explain why. According to one, 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 acknowledgment 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.

During the First World War, use of the flag was forbidden in occupied Serbia^[13]. After the war, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Yugoslavia) was created (see Flag of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia). Serbia did not exist as a territorial division in Yugoslavia and didn't have any flag.

[edit] 1945-1991 flag

After World War II, the League of Communists of Yugoslavia came to power in Yugoslavia, and split it into six republics, one of which was Serbia. The red star was used to deface the new flag of Serbia, as was the case with other flags of the Yugoslav Socialist Republics and very flag of Yugoslavia. Exactly the same flag was used as flag of Montenegro.^[13]

[edit] 1991-2004 flag

After the breakup of Yugoslavia, the red star was removed from the flag.^[13] The official dimensions were 2:1^{[citation needed]}.

[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 but without the coat of arms.

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

[edit] Proper flag protocol

[edit] State flag

The state flag of Serbia is constantly flown on the entrance of a building of a state organ of Serbia, and displayed in their rooms. The Skupština is flying it only during a session and during state holidays. Organs of provinces, Vojvodina and (in theory) Kosovo and Metohija, are flying it only on a state holiday.^[14]

It can also be flown during celebrations and other solemn manifestations which mark events of importance for Serbia, and on other occasions^[15]. During days of mourning, it is flown at half mast but only by provincial and local organs and public services^[16].

The flag also has to be displayed in an election room during an election for state organs^[17] and in the room of civil registry dedicated for marriage (the registrar has to carry a sash with flag colors as well)^[18].

[edit] People's flag

The people's flag of Serbia is constantly flown on the entrance of the Skupština and organs of provinces and public services. It has to be displayed in an election room during an election for provincial or local organs.^[19]

Also, it can be flown during celebrations and other cultural or sport manifestations, and on other occasions^[20].

[edit] Other flags

The President of Serbia and the President of the National Assembly of Serbia are using their Standards instead of the state flag^[21].

[edit] Respect for the flag

Neither state nor people's flag can be hoisted so that they touch the ground, nor be used as rests, tablecloths, carpets or curtains, nor to cover vehicles or other objects, nor to attire speaker platforms or tables, except as table flags. They must not be used if damaged or otherwise look unsuitable for use.^[22]

[edit] Handling of the flag

The flag is not flown in bad weather conditions. Also, it is flown only in daylight, except if lit.^[23]

If the flag is flown vertically on a table or otherwise, its top field is on the left side of the viewer. If it is flown vertically across a street or square, its top field should be on the northern side if the street has east-west orientation, and eastern side if it has north-south orientation or on a circular square.^[24]

[edit] Correct display

The law defines how the flag of Serbia is flown when flown with other flags, making no difference between state flags and other kinds of flags.

If the flag is flown with another flag, it is always on the viewer's left, except during an official visit of a representative of another country or an international organization, when the flag of the visitor is it is on the viewer's left. If the flag is flown with another on crossed staffs, its staff must be the front one.

If the flag of Serbia is flown with two flags, it must be in the middle.

If the flag is flown with multiple flags,

• if the flags are flown in a circle, it must be in the center of the circle, clearly visible;
• if the flags are flown in a semicircle, it must be in its vertex;
• if the flags are flown in a column, it must be in the front of the column;
• if the flags are flown in a row, it must be in the first place, that is, on the viewer's left;
• if the flags are flown in a group, it must be in the front of the group.^[25]

[edit] See also

• Flag of Serbia and Montenegro
• Flag of Republika Srpska
• Flag of Montenegro

[edit] References

[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