White, blue and red tricolour of the Slavic peoples, with a double cross on three mountains on the coat of arms so it cannot be confused with the Russian one.
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 2:3 ratio with a coat of arms towards the middle of the flagpole side.
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 Slovakia was part of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Slovaks were asking for more rights
Slovakia joins the Czechs in Czechoslovakia, which from 1920 uses that flag
Months later, on 1 January 1993, Slovakia becomes an independent country
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Slovakia has three horizontal stripes, white, blue and red, and a coat of arms with a double cross on three mountains. The coat of arms is not in the centre, but a little closer to the mast. Without it, the flag would be almost identical to Russia’s.
The three colours are the so-called Slavic colours: the white, blue and red that many Slavic peoples used in the nineteenth century, inspired by the Russian flag.
In 1848 Slovakia was part of the Kingdom of Hungary and the Slovaks were asking for more rights. In April of that year a Slovak flag was waved for the first time, in white and red, during a theatre performance in the village of Brezová. In August the blue was added. That tricolour took almost a century to become official.
Slovakia has been part of other countries for almost all its history, and its flag reflects that.
1848
The white, blue and red tricolour is born as the flag of the Slovak national movement. It is not official.
1918-1939
Slovakia joins the Czechs in Czechoslovakia, which from 1920 uses that flag.
1939-1945
Under the protection of Nazi Germany, Slovakia declares itself independent and makes the tricolour without the coat of arms official.
1945-1990
It becomes part of Czechoslovakia again and returns to using its flag.
1990
After the fall of communism, the Slovak region recovers the tricolour without the coat of arms.
1992
The new Constitution adds the coat of arms. Months later, on 1 January 1993, Slovakia becomes an independent country.
The colours speak of the Slavic origin of the country and the coat of arms of its land:
White, blue and red
the Slavic colours, shared with Russia, Slovenia or Serbia.
Double cross
a Christian symbol. A legend says that Cyril and Methodius brought it, the monks who evangelised the region in the ninth century, but there is no proof: it was in fact an emblem of the kings of Hungary from the twelfth century.
Three blue mountains
according to tradition, the Tatra, Fatra and Mátra ranges. Today the Mátra is in Hungary.
In 1992 the coat of arms was added because the tricolour on its own was confused with the Russian flag.
The current flag was raised for the first time on 3 September 1992, at 20:22, in front of Bratislava Castle.
Because of the double cross, it is one of the national flags that carry a clearly visible Christian symbol.
Where it is and what borders it.
Test what you have read about the flag of Slovakia.
Text based on the article “Bandera de Eslovaquia” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Original: Ladislav Čisárik and Ladislav Vrtel Vector: SKopp, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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