There is currently no official flag for the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The

federation A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

is part of the state of

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and ...

. The federation adopted its own flag in 1996, but the flag and associated coat of arms were deemed unconstitutional by the

Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, Ustavni sud Bosne i Hercegovine, Уставни суд Босне и Херцеговине) is the interpreter and guardian of the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina, It ...

in 2007. The federation has not yet adopted a new flag, anthem or coat of arms; instead the symbols of the central state are used for official purposes as a provisional solution.

Former flag of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996–2007)

A flag was adopted by the

Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina is one of the two entities within the State of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being Republika Srpska. The Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina consists of 10 autonomous cantons with their own gove ...

on 5 November 1996. On the flag, green stood for the

Bosniaks The Bosniaks ( bs, Bošnjaci, Cyrillic script, Cyrillic: Бошњаци, ; , ) are a South Slavs, South Slavic ethnic group native to the Southeast European historical region of Bosnia (region), Bosnia, which is today part of Bosnia and Herzeg ...

and red for the

Bosnian Croats The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina (), often referred to as Bosnian Croats () or Herzegovinian Croats () are the third most populous ethnic group in the country after Bosniaks and Serbs, and are one of the constitutive nations of Bosnia and ...

. The same went for the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

, whereon the green arms and golden

fleur-de-lis The fleur-de-lis, also spelled fleur-de-lys (plural ''fleurs-de-lis'' or ''fleurs-de-lys''), is a lily (in French, and mean 'flower' and 'lily' respectively) that is used as a decorative design or symbol. The fleur-de-lis has been used in the ...

stood for the Bosniaks and the chequy shield for Bosnian Croats. The ten stars arranged in a circle, although they resemble those on the

European flag The Flag of Europe or European Flag consists of twelve golden stars forming a circle on a blue field. It was designed and adopted in 1955 by the Council of Europe (CoE) as a symbol for the whole of Europe. Since 1985, the flag has also been ...

, represented the 10 cantons of the Federation.

Decision of the constitutional court

On 12 April 2004,

Sulejman Tihić Sulejman Tihić (26 November 1951 – 25 September 2014) was a Bosnian politician who served as the 4th Bosniak member of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina from 2002 to 2006. He was a member and later president of the Party of Democratic ...

, then Chairman of the Presidency of Bosnia and Herzegovina, filed a request with the Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina for the review of constitutionality of Articles 1 and 2 of the Law on the Coat of Arms and Flag of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (''Official Gazette of Federation of BiH No. 21/96 and 26/96''), Articles 1, 2 and 3 of the Constitutional Law on the Flag, Coat of Arms and Anthem of the Republika Srpska (''Official Gazette of the Republika Srpska No. 19/92''), Articles 2 and 3 of the Law on the Use of Flag, Coat of Arms and Anthem (''Official Gazette of the Republika Srpska No. 4/93'') and Articles 1 and 2 of the Law on the Family Patron-Saint's Days and Church Holidays of the Republika Srpska (''Official Gazette of Republika Srpska No. 19/92''). On 2 December 2004 the applicant submitted a supplement to the request. Two partial decisions were made in a year 2006, when the Court found that the coat of arms and flag of the Federation of B&H, and

, anthem, family patron-saint days and church holidays of Republika Srpska were unconstitutional. In its decision, among other things, the Court stated: The formal name of the item is ''U-4/04'', but it is widely known as "Decision on the insignia of entities" (Bosnian: ''Odluka o obilježjima entiteta''), since its meritum was about the symbols of entities. The Court has ordered the

Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina Parliament of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina ( Serbo-Croat-Bosnian: ''Parlament Federacije Bosne i Hercegovine''/Парламент Федерације Босне и Херцеговине) is the bicameral legislature of the Federat ...

and the

National Assembly of Republika Srpska The National Assembly of Republika Srpska (, abbr. НСРС/NSRS) is the legislative body of Republika Srpska, one of two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The current assembly is the ninth since the founding of the entity. History The Nation ...

to bring the contested legal documents in line with the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina within six months from the publishing date of its decision in the ''Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina''. Since the harmonisation was not done in that granted time-limit, that Court has, on 27 January 2007, adopted the Ruling on failure to enforce in which it established that the contested articles of the interpreted legal documents shall cease to be in force as of the date following the publishing date of the Ruling in ''Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina''. On 31 March 2007, the Constitutional Court placed its decision into the "Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina" officially removing the flag and coat of arms of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Former flag of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996–2007)

Decision of the constitutional court

See also