Flag of the Republic of Macedonia

:"For the flag of the region of Greece called Macedonia, see Flag of Macedonia (Greece)."

The flag of the Republic of Macedonia depicts a stylised rising yellow sun on a red field, with eight broadening rays extending from the centre to the edge of the field. It was adopted on 5 October 1995. The flag replaced an earlier version that controversially depicted the Vergina Sun, a symbol claimed by Greece.Shea, John. "Macedonia and Greece: The Struggle to Define a New Balkan Nation", pp. 308-309. McFarland, 1997. ISBN 0786402288] Macedonia had previously used a red flag depicting the Communist red star.

History

Flag of Democratic Macedonia / People's Republic of Macedonia (1944-1946)

The modern Macedonian state was proclaimed on 2 August 1944 by the Anti-Fascist Assembly of the National Liberation of Macedonia (ASNOM), the state's supreme legislative and executive body until 1946. The state was originally known as Democratic Macedonia and was renamed the People's Republic of Macedonia in 1945. The flag was adopted along with the state's laws and principles during ASNOM's first plenary session in the St. Prohor Pcinjski Monastery in modern Serbia, near the Macedonian town of Kumanovo. The first version of the flag depicted a gold-edged five-pointed red star centred on a red field.

Flag of the People's Republic / Socialist Republic of Macedonia (1946-1992)

Between December 1946 and September 1991, the Socialist Republic of Macedonia (known as the People's Republic of Macedonia until 1963) was one of the six constituent republics of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. It was the only Yugoslav republic not to use the Pan-Slavic colours on its flag. Macedonia instead adopted an amended version of its previous flag, depicting a gold-edged five-pointed red star in the canton against a red field in a design similar to the flags of the Soviet Union or the People's Republic of China. This flag was adopted on 31 December 1946 under Article 4 of the Constitution of the People's Republic of Macedonia [Barraclough, E.M.C. and Crampton, William G. (eds). "Flags of the World", p. 148. F. Warne, 1978] and remained in use until well after Macedonia's independence from Yugoslavia in September 1991, due to a lack of agreement about what should replace it.

"Vergina Flag" (1992-1995)

On 11 August 1992, the now-independent Republic of Macedonia adopted a new flag to replace the old Communist "red star" insignia. The flag depicted a stylised yellow sun centred on a red field with eight main and eight secondary rays emanating from the sun, tapering to a point. This ancient symbol was known as the Vergina Sun or Vergina Star, named after the Greek town where it had been discovered in archaeological excavations of the ancient Macedonian city of Aigai. The Vergina Sun was regarded by Greece as a symbol of continuity between ancient Macedonia and modern Greek culture, and in particular as a symbol of the Argead dynasty of Philip II of Macedon and his son Alexander the Great. It had also been adopted by many in the then Socialist Republic of Macedonia to symbolise historical connections between that country and ancient Macedon and had been paraded in demonstrations by ethnic Macedonians at home and abroad. [Hamilakis, Yannis. "The Nation and Its Ruins: Antiquity, Archaeology, and National Imagination in Greece", p. 131. Oxford University Press, 2007. ISBN 0199230382]

The flag, the new state's constitution and its name all became the focus of a bitter dispute between the two countries, during which Greece imposed an economic blockade on the Republic from February 1994. In July 1995, Greece lodged a request with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for exclusive copyright to the Vergina Sun. [http://www.b-info.com/places/Macedonia/republic/news/95-07/jul31.mak "Greece petitions for int'l rights to Vergina Star"] , ANA, 31 July 1995. See also WIPO registrations: [http://www.wipo.int/cgi-6te/guest/ifetch5?ENG+6TER+15+1151315-REVERSE+0+0+-1+F+308+431+101+25+SEP-0/HITNUM,B+KIND/Emblem+] [http://www.wipo.int/cgi-6te/guest/ifetch5?ENG+6TER+15+1151315-REVERSE+0+0+-1+F+307+431+101+25+SEP-0/HITNUM,B+KIND/Emblem+] , [http://www.wipo.int/cgi-6te/guest/ifetch5?ENG+6TER+15+1151315-REVERSE+0+0+-1+F+306+431+101+25+SEP-0/HITNUM,B+KIND/Emblem+] .] Greek objections also prevented the flag from being flown at the United Nations Headquarters building in New York The blockade was lifted in October 1995 when an agreement was reached to change the flag, modify the constitution and resolve the naming dispute through United Nations-sponsored negotiations. [Bell, Imogen (ed). "Central and South-Eastern Europe 2004: 4th Edition", p. 418. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 1857431863]

Current flag (1995-present)

The current Macedonian flag was adopted under the "Act on the Flag of the Republic of Macedonia", passed by the Assembly of the Republic of Macedonia on 5 October 1995 and proclaimed by a decree issued the same day. [Decree 08-3359/1, as published in "Služben vesnik na Republika Makedonija" (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia), 6 October 1995.] The flag evokes "the new sun of Liberty" referred to in the Macedonian national anthem "Denes nad Makedonija" ("Today Over Macedonia"):

:"Today over Macedonia, is being born"
:"the new sun of liberty."
:"The Macedonians fight,"
:"for their own rights!"

Popular opinion was divided about the merits of changing the flag; a survey carried out before the Assembly's vote found that a bare majority of the population, 56.33 percent, supported the adoption of a new flag. Nonetheless the Assembly voted for the new flag by an overwhelming majority, with 110 of the 115 delegates voting in favour, one voting against and four abstaining.

ee also

*Flags of the Republic of Macedonia
*Vergina Sun

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.mymacedonia.net/links/flag.htm My Macedonia: Macedonian flag]
*