Flag of Serbia

Serbia

Use	National flag and state ensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	2004 (original version) 2010 (latest version used)
Design	A horizontal tricolour of red, blue, and white; charged with the lesser Coat of arms left of centre
Variant flag of Serbia
Use	Civil flag and ensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	2004
Design	Horizontal tricolour of red, blue, and white

The flag of Serbia is a tricolour consisting of three equal horizontal bands, red on the top, blue in the middle and white on the bottom. The same tricolour, in altering variations, has been used since the 19th century as the flag of the state of Serbia and the Serbian nation. The current form of the flag was officially adopted on 11 November 2010.

Design

State flag construction sheet

The state flag bears the lesser coat of arms, centered vertically and shifted to the hoist side by one-seventh of the flag's length. The flag ratio is 2 to 3 (height/width), with three equal horizontal bands of red, blue and white, each taking one third of the height. Recommended colours are:

Scheme	Red	Red	Blue	Yellow	Black
Pantone	192C	704C	280C	123C	X
CMYK	0-90-70-10	0-90-70-30	100-72-0-19	4-24-95-0	X-X-X-100
RGB	198-54-60	161-45-46	12-64-118	237-185-46	33-35-30

^α Only used on the greater arms ermine mantling, as seen on the presidential standards.

History

Middle Ages

Flag of Stefan Vladislav

Flag of Vladislav I (r. 1233–1243), as described in 1281

The son of King Stefan Vladislav, župan Desa, sent delegates from Kotor to Ragusa (Dubrovnik) to bring back things from the king's treasury; the inventory list included, among other things, "a flag of red and blue colour" ("vexillum unum de zendato rubeo et blavo" - a flag of fabric red and blue, zendato or čenda being a type of light, silky fabric). This is the first and oldest information on the colours of Serb flags. The oldest known Serb flag, thus, was red and blue. Note that, as Vladislav ruled from 1233 to 1243 and died after 1264, the flag predates the time of the description.

Flag of Stefan Uroš

Hungarian King Bela IV mentioned in his charter dated April 8, 1268, that his army defeated King Uroš, and when he would host some foreign rulers, his magnates brought captured Serbs and "in the sign of triumph, the flag of King Uroš before the court of Bela IV, and erected it there".

War flag of Stefan Dečanski

In 1326, Dečanski sent a delegate to the Mamluk Sultanate and sought a flag in yellow colour, to be used as a war flag. The Byzantines mention that there were several war flags hoisted by the Serbs at the Battle of Velbuzhd (1330), and the yellow one was likely one of those.

Flags of Emperor Dušan

Flag of Serbia on the map of Angelino Dulcert (1339).

The oldest known drawing of the flag is from a 1339 map made by Angelino Dulcert. The map depicts a number of flags, and Serbia is represented by a flag placed above Skoplje (Skopi) with the name Serbia near the hoist, which was characteristic for capital cities at the time of the drawing of the map. The flag represented the realm of Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia, who in 1345 became Emperor of Serbs and Greeks when he founded the Serbian Empire. The flag had a red double-headed eagle. A flag in Hilandar, seen by Dimitrije Avramović, was alleged by the brotherhood to have been a flag of Emperor Stephen; it was red at the top and bottom and white in the centre, a triband. Emperor Dušan also adopted the Imperial divelion, which was purple and had a golden cross in the centre. Another of Dušan's flags was the Imperial cavalry flag, kept at the Hilandar monastery on Mount Athos; a triangular bicolored flag, of red and yellow.

Revolutionary flags

A flag from the First Serbian Uprising.

During the First Serbian Uprising, various flags were used. Among the early flags, the one described by Mateja Nenadović could be connected with today's flag: it was white-red-blue with three crosses. Regular armies of the uprising usually had light yellow flags with various symbols, while voivode flags were often red-white, and with a superimposed black two-headed eagle. 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 Zhefarovich's book Stemmatographia of 1741. The most common symbol on the flags were the Serbian cross, followed by coat of arms of Tribalia and various other crosses. Most of the flags were made in Sremski Karlovci, designed by Serbian painters Stefan Gavrilović, Ilija Gavrilović and Nikola Apostolović.

Modern flags

State flag of the Kingdom of Serbia (1882–1918)

The 1835 Sretenje Constitution described the colours of the Serbian flag as bright red, white and čelikasto-ugasita (that could be translated as steelish-dark). The constitution was criticized, especially by Russia, and the flag was specifically singled out as being similar to the revolutionary flag of France. Soon afterwards, Miloš Obrenović was requesting to the Porte that the new constitution should contain an article about the flag and coat of arms, 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", which is the first appearance of the colours that are used today.

The colours are the reverse of those on the flag of Russia, and various popular stories exist in Serbia which seek to explain why. An example:

In Karađorđe's time, a delegation from Serbia went to Russia to seek help, and after arrival was at a celebration. When they were asked why don't they participate in the parade, they hastily entered and turned the Russian flag upside down. The citizens have thus noticed that Serbs have their flag too.

Serbia used the red, blue and white tricolour continuously from 1835 until 1918 when Serbia joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later known as Yugoslavia.

After World War II, Yugoslavia was reformed into a socialist federal republic, composed of six republics, one of which was Serbia. Each republic was entitled to its own flag on the condition that it contained the socialist red star. Following the breakup of Yugoslavia, Serbia initially continued using the same flag; the 1990 Constitution of Serbia stated that flag and coat of arms of Serbia can only be changed by the same procedure used to change the constitution itself, which required absolute majority of voters to support it. 1992 Serbian constitutional referendum asked the voters to choose between the flag with and without the star, with red star gaining the majority of votes, however not the absolute majority of voters. The red star was nonetheless removed from the flag in 1992 by a recommendation by the Serbian parliament; however, the coat of arms remained unchanged. In 2003, however, the government of Serbia issued a recommendation on flag and coat of arms use, that preferred using different symbols from the ones in the constitution. The 2006 Constitution of Serbia stated that state emblems would be regulated by law; the recommendation remained in use until 11 May 2009, when the actual flag law was enacted. In November 11, 2010, a visual redesign of the coat of arms was enacted, which is currently used on the state flag.

1835–1918 1946–1992 1992–2004 2004–2010 2010 onwards

Related and similar flags

See also: List of Serbian flags and Flag of Montenegro

Montenegro used to have flag similar to the Serbian tricolour with varying shades of blue. It originated from Montenegrin national costume. During the second Yugoslavia, the republics of Serbia and Montenegro had flags of same design and colours. Montenegro changed its flag in 1993 by altering the proportion and shade of blue in its flag and used this flag until 2004.

The Serbian tricolour was also the basis for the breakaway territories of Republic of Serbian Krajina and Republika Srpska during the Yugoslav Wars. The flag of Republika Srpska is still the Serbian tricolour.

The Serbian tricolour defaced with a Serbian cross is used as the flag of the Serbian Orthodox Church. A number of other unofficial variant flags, some with variations of the cross, coat of arms, or both, exist.

Proper flag protocol

State flag

The state flag (de facto national flag) is constantly flown on the entrances of state organ buildings. The National Assembly flies it only when in session and during state holidays. Organs of provinces, Vojvodina and Kosovo and Metohija, fly it only on national holidays.

It can also be flown during celebrations and other solemn manifestations which mark events of importance for Serbia, and on other occasions. During state mourning, it is flown at half mast, including by the organs of provinces, local organs, and public services. The flag must be displayed in an election room during an election for state bodies and in the room of civil registry dedicated for marriage (the officiant has to carry a sash with flag colours as well).

Civil flag

The civil flag of Serbia is constantly flown on the entrance of the National Assembly and organs of provinces and public services. It must be displayed in an election room during an election for provincial or local organs.

Also, it can be hoisted during celebrations and other cultural or sport manifestations, and on other occasions.

Other flags

The President of Serbia and the President (Speaker) of the National Assembly of Serbia use their official respective standards. The Serbian River Flotilla also uses its own naval ensign.

• 

  Standard of the President of Serbia

• 

  Standard of the President of the National Assembly of Serbia

• Flag of the Serbian River Flotilla.svg

  Flag of the River Flotilla of the Serbian Armed Forces

Respect for the flag

Horizontal and vertical display of the flag.

Neither the state flag nor the civil 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.

The flag is not flown in bad weather conditions. Also, it is flown only in daylight, unless it is illuminated.

If the flag is flown vertically on tables 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.

Correct display

The law defines how the flag of Serbia is displayed along with other flags, making no difference between state flags and other kinds of flags. If the flag is hoisted 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 hoisted with another on crossed staffs, its staff must be the front one.

If the flag of Serbia is hoisted along 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 centre 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.

See also

• List of Serbian flags
• Flag of Yugoslavia
• Flag of Serbia and Montenegro

References

Sources

Official documents

Secondary sources

• Krkljuš, L. 2009, "Features and symbols during the Serbian Nationalist Movement from 1848 to 1849", Istraživanja, no. 20, pp. 145-159

External links

• Serbia at Flags of the World
• Historical flags and arms of Serbia (in Italian)
• Flags and arms of Serbia in period times (in German)
• Flags and arms of Serbia