A golden map and six stars on a blue ground: the flag Kosovo chose in 2008 to represent all the communities that live in it.
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 5:7 ratio, blue, with the outline of the country 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.
Between 1999 and 2008, while the territory was administered by the UN
In 2007 a competition was called to create a new flag
Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008: many countries recognise it and others do not
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Kosovo is blue, with the map of the territory in gold and six white stars in an arc above it. It is one of only two national flags that draw the map of their country; the other is that of Cyprus. Kosovo declared its independence from Serbia in 2008: many countries recognise it and others do not, among them Serbia itself and Spain.
Before 2008, in Kosovo the flags of other places were mostly used. The Albanian majority flew the red flag of Albania, and the Serbian population that of Serbia. Between 1999 and 2008, while the territory was administered by the UN, the official flag was that of the United Nations.
In 2007 a competition was called to create a new flag, which received 993 entries. The rules asked for a design that would serve all the communities: no two-headed eagles, like those of Albania and Serbia, nor colour combinations associated with one of the two peoples. The winner was the designer Muhamer Ibrahimi, and the Parliament adopted his flag on 17 February 2008, the same day it declared independence.
It has not changed since it was adopted in 2008.
Its designer explained each element like this:
Blue
the desire to be part of Europe and of its institutions.
Golden map
a country rich and at peace.
Six stars
the communities that live in Kosovo: Albanians, Serbs, Bosnians, Turks, Gorani, and the Romani, Ashkali and Egyptian community.
The first flags were made in Turkey and reached Kosovo on a flight the day after the declaration of independence.
Ibrahimi said he had started drawing before the competition was called, guided by the requirements that were already known.
For its colours and shapes it recalls the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina: a blue ground, white stars and a yellow figure representing the country.
Where it is and what borders it.
Test what you have read about the flag of Kosovo.
Text based on the article “Bandera de Kosovo” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Cradel (current version), earlier version by Ningyou, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
Other flag
Europa
Europe
Southeast Europe
Other flag
Europa
Other flag
Europa
Other flag
Europa
Other flag
Albania
North Macedonia
Montenegro
Serbia