FLAG OF SERBIA: HISTORY AND MEANING - CULTURE VOCABULARY - 2025

The flag of Serbia, whose current design was created in 2004, is a flag with the red, white and blue tricolor. The banner has worn the same three colors since the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbia, more than a century before the country joined the confederation of Yugoslavia.

However, it has changed its design on several occasions, even removing the coat of arms more than once. The Serbian national flag is a symbol of national pride, as it is also for most Slavic countries.

Flag of Serbia.

The most significant change that the flag has seen throughout its history has been the order of the colors of the stripes. This has been linked, for the most part, to political changes in the Serbian government and its union with other European nations.

History

Kingdom of Serbia (1882-1918)

The Kingdom of Serbia was a European sovereign nation created in 1882 on the territory of the Principality of Serbia. The country achieved its independence after confronting the powerful Ottoman Empire, which was expanding through a large part of the eastern part of the world and wanted to continue conquering more territories.

The Kingdom of Serbia used the Slavic tricolor for the first time in the country's history, with the shield of the double-headed eagle in the center (this shield is a traditional Serbian symbol). The country was occupied during the First World War and existed until the end of it, when it joined Yugoslavia.

Flag of the Kingdom of Serbia (1882 - 1918). By Guilherme Paula

Union flag between Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia (1918 - 1941)

After the end of the First World War, Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia decided to unite to form the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which is considered as the first antecedent of Yugoslavia. The country came to be governed by a constitutional monarchy. Shortly after the formation of the country, in the same 1918, Montenegro also joined the state.

It kept the same original name until it was renamed Yugoslavia in 1929. The country adopted the Slavic flag of the three stripes in a different order from that of Serbia, but with the same colors.

Flag of Serbia, Croatia and Slovenia and first flag of Yugoslavia. By Fibonacci

Flag of the Government of National Salvation (1941 - 1944)

The first Yugoslavia lasted until 1941, when the Germans invaded the country to seize territorial control of all of Europe during World War II.

The government of National Salvation was the name given by Hitler's Nazi Germany to the state of Yugoslavia after the occupation of the country during the war. During the four years of occupation, Yugoslavia became a kind of puppet state of Germany, with a government acting under the orders of the Nazis.

Flag of the Government of National Salvation (1941 - 1944). By TRAJAN 117 This W3C-unspecified vector image was created with Inkscape.

Flag of the Socialist Republic of Serbia (1945 - 1992)

After the Second World War, the communist and nationalist parties of Yugoslavia had a great weight in the elections to rename the country after the war and decide the new political orientation of the nation.

In 1945, achieving a majority of votes of more than 80%, Yugoslavia happened to become a nation of socialist orientation at the hands of the Slavic Communist Party. The country lasted more than 40 years together, until its members began to separate in the early 1990s.

This government of Yugoslavia was led by Tito, the famous communist dictator who controlled the Socialist Party of Yugoslavia after the end of the Nazi occupation. The nationalist feeling of Slavic identity led to the communist government being established in the country.

The flag had the same tricolor of the traditional Yugoslav flag, but with a socialist star in the middle of the flag.

Flag of the Socialist Republic of Serbia, (1945 - 1992) CrnaGora at English WikipediaLater versions were uploaded by R-41 at en.wikipedia.

Flag of Yugoslavia (1992 - 2004)

Croatia and Slovenia gained independence from Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, leaving only Serbia and Montenegro as members of the confederation. It was at the beginning of this decade when the country stopped having a socialist government system, which caused a political rearrangement among all the entities that made up the nation.

However, Serbia and Montenegro decided to maintain the Yugoslav federation, but changing the name of the Socialist Republic that had been put after World War II. Thus, in 1992, Serbia and Montenegro held a referendum to rename the country the “Federal Republic of Yugoslavia”.

The flag was the same as the original one of Yugoslavia, again eliminating the socialist star in the center of the banner and adopting the traditional design.

Flag of Yugoslavia (1992 - 2004). By Duja

Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2004 - 2006)

The 2003 referendum caused Yugoslavia to be dismantled, with Serbia and Montenegro becoming a new confederate country where each government acted autonomously.

The creation of Serbia and Montenegro was simply a change in Yugoslavia's policy and, with much greater autonomy, Montenegro voted for its independence in 2006, which was achieved peacefully.

The flag of Serbia and Montenegro had the same tricolor of Yugoslavia, but with the blue stripe at the top and the white stripe at the center.

Flag of Serbia and Montenegro (2004 - 2006). By See File history below for details. (www.gov.yu)

Current flag of the country (adopted in 2004)

After the independence of Montenegro, Serbia again adopted the original Yugoslav flag with the same order of stripes as it had at the beginning. However, since this time the country would no longer exist in confederation mode, Serbia adopted the dynastic shield of the double-headed eagle on the part near the flagpole.

This is the flag that the country currently has and the only one of the flags of the Yugoslav countries that maintains the original order of the colors of the flag.

Flag of Serbia.

Meaning

The flag of Serbia is represented by the three main colors that have been used by the Slavic countries in their national flags. For these countries, the red, white and blue tricolor is a representation of the ideas of sovereignty.

That is the meaning of the three colors as a whole, but each one also has a particular meaning: the color red symbolizes the blood that has been shed by the Slavic patriots during their centuries of struggle against freedom; the blue symbolizes the clear sky that rises over the European territories; white represents the bright light that guides the country.

The coat of arms of Serbia, which is present on the flag, uses the double-headed eagle and the fleur-de-lis, which are traditional dynastic symbols in Serbian culture.

References

1. What Do the Colors and Symbols of the Flag of Serbia Mean? World Atlas Website, (nd). Taken from worldatlas.com
2. Flag of Serbia, Encyclopedia Britannica, 2018. Taken from Britannica.com
3. Government of National Salvation, Wikipedia. 2019. Taken from Wikipedia.org
4. Flag of Serbia, Flagpedia - Encyclopedia of Flags, (nd). Taken from Wikipedia.org
5. History of Serbia, 2019. Taken from Wikipedia.org