Flag of Vojvodina
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| Proportion | 1:2 |
|---|---|
| Adopted | 27 February 2004 |
| Design | Three horizontal bands of red, blue and white. |
The flag of Vojvodina is based on the Serb tricolour.[1] It consists of three horizontal strands of red, blue and white with the blue portion being significantly wider.
The blue portion contains three yellow stars representing the three geographic regions of Vojvodina: Bačka, Banat and Srem.[2] The flag of Vojvodina is adopted on 27 February 2004.[2]
The three colors symbolize the connection of Vojvodina with Serbia, while the three stars are also symbolizing the connection with the European Union and the European orientation of Vojvodina.[1]
History
Historical flag of Serbian Vojvodina
- According to the Constitution of Serbian Vojvodina, the flag was a Serbian tricolour (red-blue-white).[3]
- The flag of the Serbian Vojvodina was introduced in 1848,[4] and featured a coat-of-arms which was essentially the Austrian Habsburg imperial arms, with the coat-of-arms of the Serbs (Serbian cross) on the chest of the black eagle. The bearer of the Serbian arms was the Austrian black eagle, instead of the Serbian white one, in order to show the fidelity of the newly established Voivodship to the Imperial Court in Vienna. The coat-of-arms was added to the yellow-black background. Thus the flag differed from the flag of the Principality of Serbia, which used Serbian national tricolour and had a different arms in the middle of its state flag.
1990s Proposed unofficial flag
The blue-yellow-green flag (vertical and horizontal) was used as an unofficial flag of Vojvodina by some regionalist political parties such as League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, Vojvodina Coalition, etc. This flag was introduced during the 1990s (at the time when Vojvodina did not had its official flag) with the proposal that it should become the future flag of Vojvodina.[5] Since the adoption of the official Vojvodina flag in 2004, the proposed flag has mostly been abandoned as an unofficial symbol of the province, and is today only sporadically used as the LSV party flag. The proposed 1990s flag is based on the similar flag that dates back to 11 May 1848, when it was adopted as the flag of the Serb revolutionaries from Šajkaška[5] (central part of Vojvodina, east of Novi Sad). More precisely, that flag was used by the Šajkaš Battalion that belonged to the Germanic-Illyric Regiment of the Banatian Military Frontier. However, the original flag had a brownish colour instead of green.[5] There are horizontal variants of the flag as well.
Those who proposed the flag during the 1990s contended that blue, yellow and green colours representing the sky, corn and grazing land (pasture), respectively. Another interpretation is that those colours representing the sky, sun and fertile land of Vojvodina, respectively.
During the 1990s, this flag was one of the symbols of Vojvodinian regionalist movement that was opposing Milošević's regime in Belgrade. Today this flag is used as a party flag of the League of Social Democrats of Vojvodina, which advocated that Vojvodina should become a constituent republic of the new regionalised and federalised Serbia.[5] However, even this party now uses the official flag of Vojvodina, as a symbol of the region.
Similar flags
- The flag of Vojvodina is somewhat similar to the Flag of Gagauzia.
- The orientation of the stars on the flag of Vojvodina is similar to those on the flag of the State of Tennessee.
See also
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Vojvodina (Autonomous Province, Serbia)". Flagspot.net. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Zastava Vojvodine". Zastava Vojvodine. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
- ↑ Projekti ustava za Vojvodovinu Srbiju nastali u toku srpskog narodnog pokreta 1848-1849, "Боје Војводовине еесу одозго црвена, у среди плаветна, одоздо бела."
- ↑ "Narodni muzej Pancevo". Muzej-pancevo.org.rs. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 "Vojvodina (Region, Yugoslavia [Serbia]): Political parties". 1uptravel.com. Retrieved 2012-10-16.
Further reading
- "Leksiklopedija" (column), TV Novosti magazine, Belgrade, 1991.
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