The national flag of Croatia (Trobojnica) consists of three horizontal stripes of red, white and blue colors, with the country’s coat of arms at the center. It was adopted on December 21, 1990, six months before the country declared independence. The national flag’s proportion is 1:2 while the variant used as the civil and state ensign has a proportion of 2:3 and was used in 1992.

The red and white colors are associated with the Kingdom of Croatia and white and blue represent the Kingdom of Slavonia. Red and blue were associated with the Kingdom of Dalmatia. The three kingdoms are historically constituents of the Croatian Kingdom. The red and white checks in the shield represent the Kingdom of Croatia. Nationally, white stands for peace and honesty, red is bravery and power and blue represents vigilance, loyalty and truth. On top of the shield are five arms representing the Kingdoms of Croatia, Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria and Slavonia (left to right).

Miroslav Šutej designed the current flag of Croatia. He was a Croatian painter and graphic artist. He provided the designs of the national flag, banknotes and the jersey pattern of the national soccer team. He served in the Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts until his death on 13 May 2005.

Croatia has incorporated the colors of red, blue, and white since at least the year 1848. However, the flag has featured different symbols atop the stripes. Most notably, from the years 1945 to 1990, the three striped flag featured a red and yellow star in the middle when the flag stood for the Socialist Republic of Croatia.

This page was last modified on May 1st, 2018

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