Flag of the Czech Republic

"Flag of Czechoslovakia" redirects here. For the flag of Slovakia, see Flag of Slovakia.
Czech Republic
Use National flag, civil and state ensign
Proportion 2:3
Adopted 1 January 1993
30 March 1920
Design Two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red with a blue isosceles triangle based on the hoist side.
Designed by Jaroslav Kursa

The national flag of the Czech Republic (Czech: státní vlajka České republiky) is the same as the flag of the former Czechoslovakia. Upon the dissolution of Czechoslovakia the Czech Republic kept the Czechoslovak flag while the Slovak Republic adopted its own flag. The first flag of Czechoslovakia was based on the arms, and was white over red. This was identical to the Flag of Poland, so a blue triangle was added at the hoist. The flag was banned by the Nazis in 1939, and a horizontal tricolor of white, red, and blue was enforced. The original flag was restored in 1945.

The Czech Republic's use of the old Czechoslovak flag is in violation of a 1992 constitutional act that explicitly forbids former federal symbols to be used by the two successor states.[1]

History

Flag of Bohemia, and ČSR. (1918–20)


The author of the flag is Jaroslav Kursa (1875–1950),[2] an archivist of the Department of Home Affairs, as the original author of the present flag appearance. The flag contains red and white colors derived from the ancient Coat of arms of Bohemia; because the flag was almost identical with the Polish flag and had the same colors as the Austrian flag, a blue wedge was added in 1920 (The version without the wedge is identical to the flag of Bohemia).

The flag was officially approved by the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia (ČSR) on 30 March 1920. Since then, it has been used continuously, excluding the World War II occupation years.[3] During the Prague Spring (1968) and the Velvet Revolution (1989) the flag served as the dominant symbol of national unity.

During the 1992 negotiations about the details of dissolution of Czechoslovakia, on demand by Vladimír Mečiar and Václav Klaus, a clause forbidding use of state symbols of Czechoslovakia by successor states was inserted into the Law about dissolution of ČSFR. From 1990 to 1992, the red and white Flag of Bohemia (differing from the Polish flag only by proportion of the colors) officially served as the flag of the Czech Republic. Eventually, after a search for new symbology, the Czech Republic decided to keep the Czechoslovak flag with an altered meaning, and this was accepted by prominent Slovak vexillologists.


Dimensions

The blazon of this flag is per pall fesswise Argent, Azure, and Gules. The flag is formed from an isosceles triangle that extends halfway along the rectangle (a common mistake is to draw it shorter) and two bands: one white and one red.

Presidential standard

Standard of the President
Proportion 1:1
Adopted 1993 (1918)
Design Coat of arms with national motto "Pravda vítězí" (Truth prevails) and leaves of linden tree.

Another Czech official symbol is the Standard of President of the Czech Republic. It was first introduced in 1918 for the President of Czechoslovakia. Current version was adopted after creation of independent Czech Republic in 1993.

Previous versions

Literature

References

  1. ↑ Ústavný zákon č. 542/1992 Zb. o zániku Českej a Slovenskej Federatívnej Republiky, Čl. 3 ods. 2
    (Constitutional act. No. 542/1992 Col. on the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, art. 3 sect. 2)
  2. ↑ "Czech society of vexicologists about the origin of the Czechoslovak state flag" (MS WORD) (in Czech). Retrieved 2007-12-10.
  3. ↑ Government of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic's national flag. Retrieved March 4, 2011.

External links

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