- Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina
The flag of
Bosnia and Herzegovina contains a wide medium blue vertical band on the fly side with a yellowisosceles triangle abutting the band and the top of the flag. The remainder of the flag is medium blue with seven full five-pointed whitestars and two half stars top and bottom along thehypotenuse of the triangle.The three points of the triangle are understood to stand for the three nationalities of Bosnia:
Bosniaks ,Croats , andSerbs . It is also seen to represent the map of Bosnia which looks like a triangle or a heart as some people call it the 'heart-shaped nation'. The stars, representingEurope , are meant to be infinite in number and thus they continue from top to bottom. The flag features colors often associated with neutrality and peace - white, blue, and yellow. The colors yellow and blue are also seen to be taken from the flag of theEuropean Union . They are also colors traditionally associated with Bosnia.Historical flags
Tvrtko
Bosnia and Herzegovina has encountered constant flag changes throughout its history. One of the first recognized flags dates back from the
Tvrtko reign in Bosnia. He used thecoat of arms that many centuries later appeared on the Bosnian flag in 1991 and stayed on the Bosnian flag until 1998.Western Herzegovina 1760 flag
The green flag with the white crescent and star pointing to the left was used by Bosniak landlords in border parts in southern and western
Herzegovina . The flag was most commonly used in wars. It also accompanied Bosnian troops during the second siege of Hotin (Bukowina ). It differs fromOttoman flag by size and direction of crescent, but also it is swallow-shaped, like some West-European jacks and ensigns.Bosnian Revolt of 1830s flag
In the 1830s revolt by
Husein Gradaščević the green flag with a yellow crescent and moon was used. The revolt's aim was for Bosnia to gain autonomy from theOttoman Empire .Independent Bosnia 1878
In 1878 Bosnia existed briefly as an independent nation. Its flag was very similar to the flag used by
Husein Gradaščević 's revolt of 1830. It was green with a yellow crescent and star, but had more curvature to a typical Islamiccrescent moon symbol. Bosnia was independent in 1878 for a few months, after the Ottoman troops left, but shortly afterward the Austro-Hungarians invaded and occupied Bosnia. The green/golden flag was in use for about only two months.Austro-Hungarian rule
When the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed
Bosnia and Herzegovina the flag was changed. The province of Bosnia used the flag that was red and yellow horizontally, but the province of Herzegovina used the same flag but reversed with reversed colors. (yellow and red).Thecoat of arms is one ofStjepan Vukcic Hrvatinić , Bosnian noble andduke from 14th century. The original medievalcoat of arms had a white background and two red stripes in the top of the shield, however, it was very similar to theAustro-Hungarian one.Yugoslav period
Bosnia and Herzegovina was one of the constituent republics of the former
Yugoslavia . The flag of the People's Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was very similar to Yugoslavia's old flag. It had the Yugoslav flag in the upper left corner, while the rest of the flag was red to symbolize thesocialism andcommunism in Yugoslavia at the time. Bosnia and Herzegovina also had a new coat of arms during the Yugoslav period. It was a symbol ofindustrialism in Bosnia at the time.Independent Bosnia 1992-1998
In 1992 Bosnia and Herzegovina gained its independence from Yugoslavia and a new flag. The flag has a white background with the Bosnian
Fleur-de-lis in the center. TheBosnian Serbs and Bosnian Croats who lived in Bosnia-Herzegovina after the signing of theDayton Agreement , viewed the flag as only representing the Bosniaks (formerly: Bosnian Muslims) of Bosnia-Herzegovina. The flag had to be eventually changed into the current day flag. The new flag was introduced by the UN High Representative after the Parliament of Bosnia-Herzegovina could not decide on a solution acceptable to all. The new flag contains no historical or other references to the Bosnian state.Bosnian symbol flag
The white star and crescent on a green background flag is a symbol of Bosnian Muslims.
Alternative flag variations (change of flag)
The first flag that was proposed in the First Set of Proposals was the "Czech Pattern", similar to the
flag of the Czech Republic . It was intended to represent all three constitutive nations living in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The next proposal was the "Laurel branch". It is based on the light blue color of the United Nations Flag. It would have had a goldenolive branch in the middle. The olive branch is taken fromUnited Nations emblem. The flag would have only one branch. The branch was rotated around 30 degrees counterclockwise. The third proposal was the simplistic "Map" proposal. It would also use the United Nations light blue color; however, there would be the addition of a white outline map of Bosnia and Herzegovina. No official text was ever published specifying the color of the outline, but it probably would have been white.The Second Set of Proposals had flags that were truly representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole. The first flag design was a diagonally striped tricolor pattern of red to white to blue (different colors but in the same pattern as the
Flag of the Republic of the Congo ). In the center there would be a blue map of Bosnia and Herzegovina outlined in yellow in the middle inside a circle of 10 five-pointed yellow stars. The flag would have been a 1:2 ratio. The second flag proposed was very similar except it had 12 five-pointed stars to represent theEuropean Union . The European Union Flag has the 12 five-pointed stars. The third design was a bit more different from the first two designs. The diagonal tricolor shape was kept, but the diagonal white stripe was made wider so that the angle was not perfectly 45 degrees. In the center there was a yellow map of Bosnia and Herzegovina outlined in green and under it there were two green olive branches. The olive branch pattern was the same one that the United Nations uses in its flag. The final fourth design was kept the same emblem from the third design, but did not have the diagonal stripes. Instead it had a horizontal tricolor pattern of blue, white, and red (from top to bottom).The first Westendorp alternative flag was a highly similar one to today's flag, a diagonally divided top-hoist to bottom-fly yellow over light blue flag with line of 10 white five-pointed stars in the light blue field along the diagonal. The only major difference was that the number of stars was 10. The second Westendorp alternative flag is a light blue flag (United Nations flag colors) with 5 bars interchangeably coming out of hoist and not reaching the other end. The colors are interchangeably yellow and white. In the third alternative flag, the field was light blue and had five narrow yellow bars.
Westendorp's decision ended up being the first alternative flag. However, it was changed a little by the European Unionfact|date=December 2007 to a darker blue to symbolize the European Union Flag.
See also
*
List of Bosnian and Herzegovinian flags
*Coat of arms of Bosnia and Herzegovina
*Flag of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
*Flag of Republika Srpska
*Flag of Kosovo
*Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina
* Flag of European UnionExternal links
* [http://fotw.net/flags/ba.html Flags of the World]
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