The flag of Serbia
Застава Србије · since 2010
Back to SerbiaA horizontal tricolour of red, blue and white, which as the state flag carries the lesser coat of arms shifted towards the hoist. Serbia has flown the same three colours since the 1830s, when the Ottoman sultan allowed its ships a flag of their own. The present form dates from 2004, and the shades and the arms were redrawn in 2010.
At a glance
- Adopted
- 2010
- Proportion
- 2:3
- Colours
- Earlier flags
- 7
- Designers
- 2
The colours
The colours of the flag of Serbia, in the order it has them
- 0135.9%
Red
црвенаTop stripe, the field of the shield
- HEX
#C6363C- RGB
198 54 60- CMYK
0 90 70 10- Pantone
192 C- RAL
3018
- 0226.9%
Blue
плаваMiddle stripe
- HEX
#0C4076- RGB
12 64 118- CMYK
100 72 0 19- Pantone
280 C- RAL
5010
- 0337.2%
White
белаBottom stripe, the eagle
- HEX
#FFFFFF- RGB
255 255 255- CMYK
0 0 0 0
No law gives these codes. HEX and RGB are the colour this site draws the flag in; CMYK, Pantone and RAL are the values most often published for it.
Construction
How the flag is drawn
Three horizontal stripes of equal height, red over blue over white. The state flag carries the lesser coat of arms, a white double-headed eagle on a red shield under a crown, its centre shifted towards the hoist by one seventh of the flag's length. The civil flag is the tricolour alone.
- Stripes
- Three, horizontal, each a third of the height
- Arms
- The lesser coat of arms, centred vertically, its centre moved 1/7 of the flag's length from the centre towards the hoist
- Vertical display
- The top stripe on the viewer's left
Other forms
- Civil flag
- The tricolour without the arms, flown permanently at the National Assembly and at provincial and public services.
- Standard of the President
- The President of the Republic uses a standard of its own.
Meaning
What each part stands for
- Red and blue
- The oldest known colours of a Serbian flag: a treasury inventory of 3 July 1281 lists a flag of red and blue silk
- Red, blue and white
- Close to the Russian merchant flag reversed. Prince Miloš Obrenović first proposed the Russian white, blue and red, which the Russian consul took as an affront
- Double-headed eagle
- The white eagle of the Serbian arms, which in red on a yellow or white field was the banner of the medieval kings
Who drew it
- Ljubodrag Grujić
- Redrew the symbols after the 2009 law, including the arms on the flag
- Dragomir Acović
- Heraldist, honorary president of the Serbian Heraldry Society, consulted on the 2010 redesign
History
How the flag of Serbia got here
- 1835
The Sretenje Constitution
Feb 1835 → 1835
The first national flag, set by the constitution of February 1835 as "open red, white and steel blue". The constitution was in force de jure for 55 days, and no flag made to it survives.
- 1838
Principality of Serbia
1838 → 1878
A sultan's firman of 1838 set the flag as red, blue and white, with four six-pointed stars on the red for Ottoman suzerainty and the princely arms on the blue.
- 1878
Independence
1878 → 1882
The stars were removed after the Congress of Berlin recognised Serbian independence.
- 1882
Kingdom of Serbia
1882 → 1918
The tricolour with the new royal arms became the state flag and the plain tricolour the civil flag. Serbia ceased to be a sovereign state in 1918.
Image: Guilherme Paula, CC BY-SA 3.0
- 1945
Socialist Serbia
1945 → 1992
As a republic of Yugoslavia, Serbia kept the tricolour with a red star in the centre.
- 1992
The plain tricolour
1992 → 2004
The star removed, while Serbia was a republic of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
- 2004
The arms return
2004 → 11 Nov 2010
A parliamentary recommendation added the lesser arms to the state flag. The 2006 Constitution and the law of 2009 kept it.
- 2010
The standardised flagIn use
11 Nov 2010 → today
The government regulation of 11 November 2010 softened the red and the blue slightly and redrew the arms.
The law
What defines it, and who flies it
- 2004
Parliamentary recommendation on the state symbols
Introduced the present flag while Serbia was a member of Serbia and Montenegro.
- 2006
Constitution of the Republic of Serbia
Provides that the state symbols are regulated by law.
- 11 May 2009
Law on National Symbols
Put the symbols of 2004 into law and let the government set the source illustrations.
- 11 November 2010
Government regulation on the source illustrations of the arms, the flag and the anthem
Fixes the drawing of the flag and its colours in Pantone, CMYK and RGB.
In use
The state flag flies permanently at the entrances of state buildings and at half-mast during state mourning
The state flag must be displayed in the polling room at elections for state bodies and in the civil registry room where marriages are held
Flown only in daylight unless lit, and not in bad weather
Never allowed to touch the ground or to serve as a tablecloth, carpet, curtain or cover
Flown on the viewer's left when hoisted with another flag, except when a foreign representative is on an official visit
Related flags
The flags it is confused with or comes from
Russia- The Serbian merchant tricolour resembles the Russian merchant flag of the time reversed. Serbia first asked for the Russian colours in the Russian order.
Coat of arms
The arms of Serbia
