Three stripes, red, white and blue, with the famous chequered shield, a Croatian symbol with over five hundred years of history.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
Civil, state and militaryFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 1:2 ratio with a coat of arms in the centre.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
In 1848, in the middle of the wave of revolutions across Europe
The painter and designer Miroslav Šutej created it in the summer of 1990
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Croatia has three horizontal stripes: red, white and blue. In the centre it carries its most famous symbol, a shield of red and white checks like a chessboard. That drawing is so popular that Croats also wear it on football shirts.
In the mid-nineteenth century Croatia was part of the Austrian Empire. Many Croats wanted to defend their language and their identity, as did other Slavic peoples of the region. In 1848, in the middle of the wave of revolutions across Europe, the red, white and blue tricolour was first used officially.
Today’s design is much more recent. The painter and designer Miroslav Šutej created it in the summer of 1990, while Croatia was preparing to separate from Yugoslavia.
The three stripes have stayed since 1848. What has changed, with each regime, is the symbol in the centre.
1848-1918
The tricolour, without a coat of arms, represents Croatia within the Austrian Empire.
1941-1945
During the Second World War a fascist regime allied with Germany rules. It adds the chequered shield and, in the corner, the letter U of its party.
1947-1990
Croatia is a republic of communist Yugoslavia. In the centre it shows a red star with a yellow border.
1990
In July, after the first free elections, the star is replaced by the chequered shield, still without a crown.
1990
On 21 December Šutej’s design is approved, with a crown of five coats of arms over the chessboard.
The law does not explain the colours, but there is a usual reading:
Red and white
the colours of the coat of arms of Croatia.
Blue
the colour of the coats of arms of Dalmatia and Slavonia, two regions of the country.
Chessboard of 25 squares
the symbol of Croatia for over five hundred years. It has 13 red squares and 12 white ones.
Crown of five coats of arms
the historic regions of the country: central Croatia, Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria and Slavonia.
According to a legend, a tenth-century Croatian king, Stephen Držislav, won his freedom from the doge of Venice by playing chess and put the board on his shield. It is only a tale: it was written centuries later.
The chequered shield first appears in a painting of 1495 in Innsbruck.
Throughout history the first square at the top left has sometimes been red and sometimes white. Today it is red.
Miroslav Šutej also designed the kuna banknotes, the old Croatian currency, and the chequered drawing on the national football team’s shirt.
Where it is and what borders it.
Test what you have read about the flag of Croatia.
Text based on the article “Bandera de Croacia” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Nightstallion, Elephantus, Neoneo13, Denelson83, Rainman, R-41, Minestrone, Lupo, Zscout370,MaGa (based on Decision of the Parliament), Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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