Flag of Yugoslavia
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| Use | National flag   |
|---|---|
| Proportion | 1:2 |
| Adopted | 1946 |
| Design | Three equal horizontal bands in the pan-Slavic colors, blue (top), white and red, with a gold-bordered red star at the flag's center |
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| Variant flag of Yugoslavia | |
| Use | Civil and state ensign  |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | late 1940s |
| Design | Three equal horizontal bands in the pan-Slavic colors, blue (top), white and red, with a gold-bordered red star at the flag's center |
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| Variant flag of Yugoslavia | |
| Use | Naval ensign  |
| Proportion | 2:3 |
| Adopted | 1963 |
The flag of Yugoslavia consisted of three equal horizontal bands colored in pan-Slavic colors, blue (top), white and red, with a yellow-bordered red star at the flag's center. During the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the national flag was a plain tricolor. The last Yugoslav national flag, used 1945-1992, was adopted during World War II as a modification of the flag that represented the wartime Yugoslav state (used 1943-1945) and was used by the resistance, the Partisans. The changes mostly affected the red star in the center: it was enlarged, its shape was changed, and its borders were outlined in yellow.
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History
Kingdom of Yugoslavia
The national flag of the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia was blue-white-red in the horizontal sense against a vertical staff.[1] The common national civil flag was the same as historic Pan-Slavic flag approved at the Pan-Slavic Congress in Prague, 1848. The state flag had the greater coat of arms of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia defacing the blue-white-red tricolour.[2]
The naval ensign (war flag) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia is blue-white-red with the simplified lesser coat of arms: On one third of the ensign length there shall be the state coat of arms with the crown. The height of the arms and crown (without the globe and cross) shall be half of the ensign height.[3][4]
The flags of the Kingdom were in official use from 1922 until the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was occupied by Axis powers in 1941. After that, the flag was used by the officially recognized government in exile, diplomatic representatives, and the Allies until 1945. During the Second World War, Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland (also known as Chetniks) used this flag.
The Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was established on December 1, 1918 and was renamed the Kingdom of Yugoslavia on October 3, 1929. The state's first flag was officially adopted in 1922.[5] All Yugoslav flags (including the first ones) were variations on the Pan-Slavic flag adopted at the Pan-Slavic Congress in Prague in 1848. The Pan-Slavic flag was a plain blue-white-red tricolor in the horizontal sense against a vertical staff, and the national flag and civil and state ensign during the 1918-1943 period (Kingdom of Yugoslavia) was exactly the same.[1] The naval ensign during the period was the blue-white-red tricolor with the simplified lesser coat of arms of Yugoslavia.[3][6]
World War II
In 1941 during World War II Yugoslavia was invaded and occupied by the Axis powers, and the Yugoslav government fled into exile in London. Soon afterward the Yugoslav resistance, the Partisans, was formed. The Partisans did not support the Yugoslav government-in-exile and initially used a number of different flags until finally one was universally adopted. The new flag was a the Yugoslav blue-white-red tricolor with a red star occupying the center of the white field, and with the dimensions altered to 1:2 instead of 2:3. The Partisans were recognized by the Allies in late November 1943 (Tehran Conference) and the name of the Yugoslav state was altered to Democratic Federal Yugoslavia (DFY). The old flag continued to be used by the government-in-exile (up until its merge with the Partisan government, the NKOJ in 1944), by its diplomatic representatives, and by the western Allies until 1945 - while in Yugoslavia, the version with the red star was primarily in use.
SFR Yugoslavia
After the war, in 1945, the red star flag became universally official. It was given its final shape by enlarging the star and adding a narrow yellow border. The flag was usually accompanied on official buildings by the flag of the federal republic and the flag of the League of Communists of Yugoslavia. Because of this, many buildings in former Yugoslavia still carry a three-poled flag holder. A smaller version of the flag served as the civil ensign while an elongated banner version was seen flown in front of the Yugoslav parliament.
Construction details
Chapter 1, Article 4 of the 1946 Yugoslav Constitution laid out the specifications for the SFRY flag. The ratio was set at 1:2 and it consisted of a flag that has blue, white and red horizontal stripes that are of equal width. In the middle of the flag is a red star that has a border of golden-yellow. The red star is placed in the center of the flag where the intersections of the corners meet.[7] In the 1963 and 1974 constitutions, the specifications and design of the flag did not change. Other sources state that the red star is placed in a circle that has a diameter of 2/3rd of the flag's hoist (width). The size of the golden-yellow border was not defined in the 1946 Constitution.[8]
Republic flags
During World War II, Yugoslavia became a federal state comprising six federal republics, each of which had its own flag and coat of arms. Flags of the Yugoslav federal republics were defined by each of its six constituent republics. The flag of the socialist republic was hung together with the flag of the SFRY on national holidays and other special occasions. All of the flags were based on the old historical flags of the respective Yugoslav constituent nations, except the flag of the SR Bosnia and Herzegovina and SR Macedonia which gained statehood after the WWII (Bosnia did exist a long time before that). Many of them used the pan-Slavic colors, red, white and blue. They were all embellished by a communist symbol, the red star. As for Bosnia and Herzegovina, because of its multiethnic character, its flag consisted of a red flag but with a small SFR Yugoslav flag in the upper-left corner.
The individual flags of the six Yugoslav socialist republics were as follows:
| Republic | Flag | Use | Present-day national flag |
|---|---|---|---|
| SR Bosnia and Herzegovina |  |
Civil and state flag and ensign of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina  |
 Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina |
| SR Croatia |  |
Civil and state flag and ensign of the Socialist Republic of Croatia |
 Flag of Croatia |
| SR Macedonia |  |
Civil and state flag and ensign of the Socialist Republic of Macedonia |
 Flag of Macedonia |
| SR Montenegro |  |
Civil and state flag and ensign of the Socialist Republic of Montenegro |
 Flag of Montenegro |
| SR Serbia |  |
Civil and state flag and ensign of the Socialist Republic of Serbia |
 Flag of Serbia |
| SR Slovenia |  |
Civil and state flag and ensign of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia |
 Flag of Slovenia |
See also
- List of Yugoslav flags
- Emblem of Yugoslavia
- Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
- Yugoslavia
- Kingdom of Yugoslavia
References
- ^ a b The Constitution of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia
- ^ http://zeljko-heimer-fame.from.hr/descr/yu-king.html
- ^ a b The Law on the Ensigns of War, Merchant and Private Vessels from 1922.
- ^ Law on the Flags of Yugoslav Ships from 1937.
- ^ Službene Novine Kraljevine Srba, Hrvata i Slovenaca, broj 89/1922, 28. 02. 1922.
- ^ Law on the Flags of Yugoslavian Ships from 1937.
- ^ s:Устав Федеративне Народне Републике Југославије (1946)
- ^ http://zeljko-heimer-fame.from.hr/descr/yu-fnrj1.html#yu%271946
