The

national flag A national flag is a flag that represents and national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...

of the

Republic of Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Mont ...

, also known in Croatian as the ''Tricolor'' (), is one of the state symbols of

Croatia Croatia, officially the Republic of Croatia, is a country in Central Europe, Central and Southeast Europe, on the coast of the Adriatic Sea. It borders Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the northeast, Serbia to the east, Bosnia and Herze ...

. It consists of three equal size, horizontal stripes in colors

red Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–750 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a seconda ...

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

and

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

anchored by the

coat of arms of Croatia The coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia () consists of one main shield and five smaller shields which form a crown over the main shield. The main coat of arms is a checkerboard that consists of 13 red and 12 white fields. It is also informa ...

History

The flag combines the colors of the flags of the Kingdom of Croatia (red and white), the

Kingdom of Slavonia The Kingdom of Slavonia (, , , , sr-Cyrl, Краљевина Славонија) was a kingdom of the Habsburg monarchy and the Austrian Empire that existed from 1699 to 1868. The kingdom included northern parts of present-day regions of Sla ...

(blue and white) and partially of the

Kingdom of Dalmatia The Kingdom of Dalmatia (; ; ) was a crown land of the Austrian Empire (1815–1867) and the Cisleithanian half of Austria-Hungary (1867–1918). It encompassed the entirety of the region of Dalmatia, with its capital at Zadar. History The Habs ...

(blue and yellow). The red-white-blue tricolor has been used as the Croatian flag since 1848, and the

pan-Slavic colors The pan-Slavic colors—blue, white and red—were defined by the Prague Slavic Congress, 1848, based on the symbolism of the colors of the flag of Russia, which was introduced in the late 17th century. Historically, however, many Slavs, Sla ...

are widely associated with

romantic nationalism Romantic nationalism (also national romanticism, organic nationalism, identity nationalism) is the form of nationalism in which the state claims its political legitimacy as an organic consequence of the unity of those it governs. This includes ...

. While the

Banovina of Croatia The Banovina of Croatia or Banate of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=, Banovina Hrvatska, Бановина Хрватска) was an administrative subdivision ( banovina) of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia between 1939 and 1941. It was formed by a m ...

existed within the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

, it had a similar flag without the modern crown above the Croatian checkerboard. After the

was invaded and Croatia became the

Independent State of Croatia The Independent State of Croatia (, NDH) was a World War II–era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist Italy. It was established in parts of Axis occupation of Yugoslavia, occupied Yugoslavia on 10 April 1941, ...

, the crown was removed and a "U" was placed at the top left of the flag. Also, the first field of the Croatian checkerboard was white. After

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

was superseded by the

SFR Yugoslavia The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (commonly abbreviated as SFRY or SFR Yugoslavia), known from 1945 to 1963 as the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as Socialist Yugoslavia or simply Yugoslavia, was a country ...

, Croatia's flag had a five-pointed red star with a yellow border in place of the coat of arms. The star was replaced by the coat of arms in May 1990, shortly after the first multiparty elections. The current flag and the coat of arms were officially adopted on December 21, 1990, about six (de facto) or ten (de jure) months before the proclamation of independence from Yugoslavia and a day before the Constitution of Croatia on December 22, 1990.

Shield

The shield depicts the red and white Croatian checkerboard. Above the shield is a crown consisting of shields of its various regions. From dexter to sinister they are the historical arms of Croatia,

Dubrovnik Dubrovnik, historically known as Ragusa, is a city in southern Dalmatia, Croatia, by the Adriatic Sea. It is one of the most prominent tourist destinations in the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean, a Port, seaport and the centre of the Dubrovni ...

Dalmatia Dalmatia (; ; ) is a historical region located in modern-day Croatia and Montenegro, on the eastern shore of the Adriatic Sea. Through time it formed part of several historical states, most notably the Roman Empire, the Kingdom of Croatia (925 ...

Istria Istria ( ; Croatian language, Croatian and Slovene language, Slovene: ; Italian language, Italian and Venetian language, Venetian: ; ; Istro-Romanian language, Istro-Romanian: ; ; ) is the largest peninsula within the Adriatic Sea. Located at th ...

and

Slavonia Slavonia (; ) is, with Dalmatia, Croatia proper, and Istria County, Istria, one of the four Regions of Croatia, historical regions of Croatia. Located in the Pannonian Plain and taking up the east of the country, it roughly corresponds with f ...

Design

The following colors are specified for use in the flag:

Unicode

The national flag of Croatia is represented as the

Unicode Unicode or ''The Unicode Standard'' or TUS is a character encoding standard maintained by the Unicode Consortium designed to support the use of text in all of the world's writing systems that can be digitized. Version 16.0 defines 154,998 Char ...

emoji An emoji ( ; plural emoji or emojis; , ) is a pictogram, logogram, ideogram, or smiley embedded in text and used in electronic messages and web pages. The primary function of modern emoji is to fill in emotional cues otherwise missing from type ...

sequence and .

Historical flags

File:Flag of the Kingdom of Croatia (Habsburg).svg, Flag of the Kingdom of Croatia (1852–1860) File:Flag of the Kingdom of Slavonia.svg, Flag of the

(1852–1860) File:Flag of the Kingdom of Dalmatia.svg, Flag of the

(1852–1860) File:Flag of Croatia-Slavonia.svg, Civil Flag of the

Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia The Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia (; or ; ) was a nominally autonomous kingdom and constitutionally defined separate political nation within the Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was created in 1868 by merging the kingdoms of Kingdom of Croatia (Habs ...

(1868–1918) File:Flag of Croatia-Slavonia with CoA.svg, Flag of the

Triune Kingdom The Triune Kingdom () or Triune Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia () was the concept—advocated by the leaders of the 19th-century Croatian national revival—of a united kingdom between Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia, which were alrea ...

of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia with the coat of arms, for usage in autonomic affairs. (1868–1918) File:Flag of Banate of Croatia (1939-1941).svg, Flag of the

(1939–1941) File:Flag of Independent State of Croatia.svg, Flag of the

(1941–1945) File:Flag of the Federal State of Croatia.svg, Flag of the

People's Republic of Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

(May 26, 1945 – January 18, 1947) File:Flag of Croatia (1947–1990).svg, Flag of the

Socialist Republic of Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), commonly abbreviated as SR Croatia and referred to as simply Croatia, was a ...

(January 18, 1947 – July 25 , 1990) File:Flag of Croatia (1990).svg, Flag of the Republic of Croatia (July 25 – December 21, 1990) File:Flag of the Republic of Croatia in 1990.svg, Variation of the flag of the Republic of Croatia (July 25 – December 21, 1990)

Other official flags in Croatia

Naval and other official flags

Commemoration

Hrvatska pošta HP-Hrvatska pošta d.d., founded in 1999, is a state-owned joint-stock company in Croatia that performs postal and payment transactions. It is the national postal operator of the Republic of Croatia. It is one of the largest service and reta ...

released into circulation two commemorative

postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...

s featuring the motifs of the installation flag of Ban Josip Jelačić from 1848 and the contemporary Croatian flag on Croatian flag day (June 5).

Gallery

File:Vrh vodotornja u Vukovaru.jpg, Flag of Croatia on the top of the

Vukovar water tower The Vukovar water tower () is a water tower in the Croatian city of Vukovar. It is one of the most famous symbols of Vukovar and the suffering of the city in the Battle of Vukovar and the Croatian War of Independence, when the water tower and t ...

. File:Croatian flag at the Knin Fortress 2015.jpg, Flag of Croatia on Knin Fortress. File:Flag of Croatia in Dubrovnik.jpg, Croatian flag flying in

. File:Zastava na Srđu.JPG, The largest flying flag in Croatia, atop the Srđ mountain over the Dubrovnik. File:Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix 2011 (20).JPG, Fans holding the Croatian flag during the 2011 Hungarian Grand Prix. File:2010 Paralympics Opening Ceremony - Croatia entering.jpg, Athletes of Croatia entering during the opening ceremonies of the

2010 Winter Paralympics The 2010 Winter Paralympics (), or the tenth Paralympic Winter Games, were held in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, from March 12 to 21, 2010. The opening ceremony took place in BC Place Stadium in Vancouver and the Closing ...

with the national flag. File:Croatian Flags during the Statehood Day (2007).jpg, A series of Croatian flags during Statehood Day in 2007. File:Svecanost podizanja NATOve zastave Zagreb 2.jpg, Croatian Honor Guard during the parade. File:Parlement européen de Strasbourg cérémonie des couleurs Croatie 11.jpg, Croatian flag raised in the

European Parliament The European Parliament (EP) is one of the two legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it ...

after accession in 2013. File:Opening ceremony 2015 WCh t181415.jpg, The Croatian flag during the 2015 World Fencing Championships opening ceremony in Moscow. File:Horvát Embassy Budapest.JPG, The flag in the Croatian Embassy in Budapest. File:Day of Independence - Croatia (4).jpg, In Crikvenica, fans gathered with the Croatian flag watching the

home team In sports, home is the place and venue identified with a sports team. Most professional teams are named for, and marketed to, particular metropolitan areas; amateur teams may be drawn from a particular region, or from institutions such as s ...

playing

Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic, is a country on the Iberian Peninsula in Southwestern Europe. Featuring Cabo da Roca, the westernmost point in continental Europe, Portugal borders Spain to its north and east, with which it share ...

during the 2016 Independence Day holiday.

References

External links

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Everything about the Croatian flags
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flag Of Croatia

National symbols of Croatia