List of flags of Bosnia and Herzegovina

For more information on current and historical national flags, see Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the White Fortress, Sarajevo.

This is a list of flags used in Bosnia and Herzegovina. For more information about the national flag, visit the article Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Flags of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

National flag

Flag Date Use Description
1998 – present Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina A blue field with a wide medium blue vertical band on the fly side with a yellow isosceles triangle abutting the band and the top edge of the flag.
1998 – present Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina (vertical)

Subnational flags

Entities

Flag Date Use Description
1995–2007 Former flag of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina A vertical tricolour of red (for the Bosnian Croats), white, and green (for the Bosniaks), with a coat of arms on the wide central band on which the green arms and golden fleur-de-lys represents the Bosniaks, and the checked shield the Bosnian Croats.

The Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina voted against the use of the current flag of the Federation declaring it unconstitutional.[1] On 31 March 2007, the Constitutional Court placed its decision into the "Official Gazette of Bosnia and Herzegovina" officially removing the flag and coat of arms of Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina.[2]

1995 – present Flag of Republika Srpska A horizontal tricolour of red, blue, and white, very similar to the flag of the Misiones Province in Argentina, reversed flag of Russia, or the flag of Serbia without the coat of arms (with slightly differently coloured shades).

Districts

Flag Date Use Description
1998 – present Flag of Brčko District Uses the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Military flags

Flag Date Use Description
1992 – 1996 Flag of Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina This flag of the Army of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina was adopted in 1992.
1992 – 1996 Flag of Croatian Defence Council
1992 – 1996 Flag of Police of Herzeg-Bosnia
2004 – present Flag of Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina Light blue with the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the canton and the emblem of the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the lower fly.

Cantons of the Federation

Flag Date Use Description
1999 – Flag of Una-Sana Canton A horizontal tricolour of blue, white and green, charged with the canton’s coat of arms near the hoist.
2000 – Flag of Posavina Canton A horizontal unequal tricolour of red, white and green, charged with the canton’s coat of arms in the centre.
1999 – Flag of Tuzla Canton
2000 – Flag of Zenica-Doboj Canton A horizontal unequal tricolour of green, white and red, charged with the canton’s coat of arms in the centre.
2001 – Flag of Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde
2003 – Flag of Central Bosnia Canton
2004 – Flag of Herzegovina-Neretva Canton
1996–1998 Flag of West Herzegovina Canton Deemed unconstitutional by the Federation Constitutional Court in 1997 because "it only represented one group".[3]
1999 – Flag of Sarajevo Canton
1996–1997 Flag of Canton 10 Deemed unconstitutional by the Federation Constitutional Court in 1997 because "it only represented one group".[3]

Former flags of the Cantons of the Federation

Flag Date Use Description
1997–1999 Former Flag of Una-Sana Canton
1996–2000 Former Flag of Posavina Canton
1996–1999 Former Flag of Tuzla Canton
1997–2000 Former Flag of Zenica-Doboj Canton
1997–2001 Former Flag of Bosnian-Podrinje Canton Goražde
1996–1998 Former Flag of Sarajevo Canton
1998–1999 Former Flag of Sarajevo Canton

Political flags

Flag Date Party Description
Party of Democratic Action
Alliance of Independent Social Democrats
Flag of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Patriotic Party
Democratic Youth Movement
Democratic People's Union
until 1990 League of Communists of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Ethnic groups flags

Flag Date Use Description
Flag of Bosniaks (1) The main national flag of Bosniaks which was used from 1992 to 1995 as the flag of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The republic remained composed of Bosniaks after the establishment of Republika Srpska and the Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia.
Flag of Bosniaks (2) An other flag that represents Bosniaks, but it's not so popular. It has two green lines (symbolizing islam) with a white line in the middle. In the white line there's a crescent moon.(the main symbol of islam)
Flag of Bosnian Serbs The flag of the ethnic Bosnian Serbs with the Serbian tricolor (red,blue,white). It's also the flag of Republika Srpska and is the traditional Serbian national flag
Flag of Bosnian Croats The flag of the ethnic Bosnian Croats. It's similar to the flag of Croatia with a difference in the emblem. It was also the flag of the Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia from 1992 to 1996

Historical national flags

Flag Date Use Description
The Bosnian Banate
1154-1377 Flag of the Bosnian Banate. Swallow-tailed, a blue field with a white cross pattée in the center.
The Bosnian Kingdom
1377-1463 Flag of the Bosnian Kingdom possibly adopted during the reign of King Tvrtko I Kotromanić. Swallow-tailed, a blue field with a white line in the center, included with 6 Bosniak lilies from the Kotromanić dynasty.
1377-1463 Royal Flag of Tvrtko I of Bosnia. a white field with 5 sestiere on the fly and the arms of Bosnia in the center.
1377-1463 Military Flag of Bosnia. Swallow-tailed, a blue field with a white cross pattée in the center.
The Kosača dynasty
1448-1482 Flag of Herzegovina A red field with 2 white crosses pattée off-centred toward the hoist and 3 sestiere on the fly.
Rama
1618 Banner used for "Rama" at Ferdinand II's coronation as King of Hungary. Swallow-tailed, a blue field with a shield in the center.
Ottoman Bosnia
1517–1793 Flag of The Ottoman Empire Red field with a Green Disc in the center and 3 golden crescent moons inside the disc.
1793–1844 Flag of The Ottoman Empire A Red Field with a white crescent moon and a 8-pointed star.
1844–1878 Flag of The Ottoman Empire A Red Field with a white crescent moon and a 5-pointed star.
1800–1878 Imperial Flag of The Ottoman Empire
1760s Flag of Western Herzegovina 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. Swallow-tailed; a green field with a white crescent and star pointing toward the hoist.
1878 Flag of Bosnia. In 1878 Bosnia existed briefly as an independent nation.[citation needed] Very similar to the flag used by Husein Gradaščević's revolt of 1830: a green field with a yellow crescent and star facing away from the hoist, but with a more curved crescent, like a typical Islamic crescent moon symbol.
Austro-Hungarian Bosnia
1878–1918 Flag of Austria A horizontal bicolour of black and yellow.
1878–1915 Royal Flag of Austria-Hungary A golden field bordered with golden, black, white and red triangles displaying The Austrian Royal Arms.
1878–1918 Royal Flag of Austria-Hungary A golden field bordered with golden, black, white, red and green triangles displaying both the Imperial crown of Austria and the Royal crown of Hungary.
1878–1908 Flag of the Austro-Hungarian-occupied Province of Bosnia A red and yellow horizontal bicolour with a shield. The Province of Herzegovina used a similar flag but with the colors reversed (a yellow and red bicolour).
1908 Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina after Austro-Hungarian annexation. A red and yellow horizontal bicolour.
1878-1918 Flag of Herzegovina, during the Austro-Hungarian rule in Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia in Yugoslavia
1918-1941 Flag of The Kingdom of Yugoslavia A Horizontal Tricolor of Blue, White and Red.
1922-1937 Royal Flag of The Kingdom of Yugoslavia
1937-1941 Royal Flag of The Kingdom of Yugoslavia
1941-1945 State flag of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) A tricolour of red, white, and blue with the Ustaše symbol in top-left corner (letter "U" surrounded by Croatian interlace) and the Croatian coat of arms (but with the first field white, as opposed to red) in the center.
1946-1992 Flag of The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia A Horizontal Tricolor of Blue, White and Red with a red star in the center.
1956-1963 Presidential Flag of The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
1963-1992 Presidential Flag of The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
1940-1946 Flag of Bosnian-Herzegovinian Partisans
1946–1992 Flag of the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina within Yugoslavia A red field (symbolizing the national liberation movements) with the Yugoslav flag in the canton.
Independent Bosnia.
1993–1995 Flag of Autonomous Province of Western Bosnia and Republic of Western Bosnia
1992–1998 Flag of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina A white field with a blue shield bearing six Bosnian Golden Lilies in the centre. It also was and it still is the main Bosniak national flag.

Proposed flags

Further information: Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina § Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1946–1992)

Proposals for the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Flag Date Use Description
Proposed, never used First proposal of a flag for the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 15 November 1946.[4] Federal flag of Yugoslavia with an additional five-pointed golden star imposed behind the existing red star, with their rays interchangeably positioned.
Proposed, used in real life Second proposal of a flag for the Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 1947.[4] Variant of the flag adopted on 31 December 1946 with a much larger Yugoslav canton flag and a margin.

Proposals before Dayton Agreement

Flag Date Use Description
Proposed, never used Bosnian Tricolor Proposal
Proposed, never used Bosnian Democratic Union Proposal
Proposed, never used Defenders of Sarajevo Proposal

First set of proposals

Flag Date Use Description
Proposed, never used First alternative in the first set of proposals. Similar to the flag of the Czech Republic. A green and red horizontal bicolour with a blue triangle in the hoist.
Proposed, never used Second alternative in the first set of proposals. Similar to the flag of the United Nations. A light blue field with a branch of wheat.
Proposed, never used Third alternative in the first set of proposals. A blue field with an outline of the map of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Second set of proposals

Flag Date Use Description
Proposed, never used First alternative in the second set of proposals. A red, white, and blue diagonal tricolour with a silhouette map of Bosnia and Herzegovina within a circle of 10 gold 5-pointed stars.
Proposed, never used Second alternative in the second set of proposals. A red, white, and blue diagonal tricolour with a silhouette map of Bosnia and Herzegovina within a circle of 12 gold 5-pointed stars.
Proposed, never used Third alternative in the second set of proposals. A red, white, and blue diagonal tricolour with a yellow silhouette map of Bosnia and Herzegovina outlined in green within two green olive branches.
Proposed, never used Fourth alternative in the second set of proposals. A red, white, and blue tricolour with a yellow silhouette map of Bosnia and Herzegovina outlined in green within two green olive branches.

Third set of proposals

Flag Date Use Description
Proposed, used briefly in 1998 First alternative in the third set of proposals (the Westendorp proposals). Identical to the national flag that was adopted, but with a field of light blue that the flag of the United Nations uses.
Proposed, never used Second alternative in the third set of proposals (the Westendorp proposals). A field of light blue that the flag of the United Nations uses with three gold and two white stripes, interleaved so as to form a rectangle in the centre.
Proposed, never used Third alternative in the third set of proposals (the Westendorp proposals). A field of light blue that the flag of the United Nations uses with five gold and five white stripes, interleaved so as to form a triangle in the centre.

See also

References

  1. ^ "Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina - End of 37th plenary session". Archived from the original on 3 January 2014. Retrieved 2 July 2013.
  2. ^ "Constitutional Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina - 38th plenary session - second day". Archived from the original on 3 September 2010. Retrieved 19 November 2009.
  3. ^ a b "U-11/97". Archived from the original on 19 April 2008. Retrieved 8 June 2009.
  4. ^ a b Heimer, Željko; Jerlagić, Velid-aga (2006). "Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (Socialist Yugoslavia)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 10 March 2023.