Flag of Slovenia

Republic of Slovenia

Use	National flag and naval ensign
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	25 June 1991
Design	A horizontal tricolor of white, blue, and red; charged with the Coat of arms at the hoist side

The national flag of Slovenia (Template:Lang-sl) features three equal horizontal bands of white (top), blue, and red, with the Slovene coat of arms located in the upper hoist side of the flag centered in the white and blue bands. The coat of arms is a shield with the image of Mount Triglav, Slovenia's highest peak, in white against a blue background at the center; beneath it are two wavy blue lines representing the Adriatic Sea and local rivers, and above it are three six-pointed golden stars arranged in an inverted triangle which are taken from the coat of arms of the Counts of Celje, the great Slovene dynastic house of the late 14th and early 15th centuries.

The flag's colors are considered to be Pan-Slavic, but they actually come from the medieval coat of arms of the Duchy of Carniola, consisting of a blue eagle on a white background with a red-and-gold crescent. The existing Slovene tricolor was raised for the first time in history during the Revolution of 1848 by the Slovene Romantic nationalist activist and poet Lovro Toman on 7 April 1848, in Ljubljana, in response to a German flag which was raised on top of Ljubljana Castle.

The civil and state ensign for ships has the same design as the national flag, but a different shape (2:3 instead of 1:2). Boats up to 24 metres (79 ft) use the national flag as an ensign. The naval jack uses colors of the coat of arms, a white, blue, and yellow horizontal tricolor.

Historical development

Origins

1:2 Flag of the Slovene nation, first flown during the spring of nations of 1848.

The white-blue-red Slovene flag was first raised on April 7, 1848, on a building between Congress Square and Prešeren Square in Ljubljana, by a group of nationally minded students led by the prominent liberal nationalist activist and poet Lovro Toman. Despite opposition from the local ethnic Germans it was subsequently recognized by the Austrian Government as the official flag of Carniola. This formal recognition, albeit on a regional level, was an exception to the policy of the Austrian Government which tended to persecute national symbols of the non-German nationalities in the Empire.

In addition, Austrian authorities saw all tricolors as basically nationalist and potentially revolutionary symbols, so Austrian provinces (as the Empire itself) were only allowed to use bicolors (the only exception being the flag of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia, since it was interpreted to be a combination of the Croatian and Slavonian bicolors). So the official recognition of the Carniolan white-blue-red tricolor instead of the traditional white-blue bicolor was seen as a major achievement by the Slovenes and it quickly became the symbol representing the idea of United Slovenia. In the second half of the 19th century, the Slovene national tricolor became the only truly all-Slovene symbol, representing all Slovenes, regardless of the historical region in which they lived.

The tricolor flag continued to be associated with Slovenia during the country's incorporation into Yugoslavia, although officially the whole kingdom including Slovenia had the same flag, in this case, the blue-white-red. In the interwar period, it was also used by the Slovenes of the Julian March that were annexed to Italy, where it was prohibited and persecuted by the fascist regime.

Slovene flags during and after WWII

1:2 Flag used by Slovene Partisans that was adopted on 26 September 1941 at the Stolice meeting of the Yugoslav Partisans.

1:2 Flag of SR Slovenia, 1945–1991.

During World War II The Slovene national colors were used both by the Partisan Resistance Movement (usually with a red star in the middle) and by the Slovene Home Guard, the voluntary anti-Communist militia sponsored and supported by the Nazi German occupation forces.

In 1945 a red star was officially placed on the flag of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, a constituent of the Socialist Yugoslavia.

Flag of independent Slovenia

1:2 Flag Proposal in 1990 before independence by the Party of Democratic Reform.

Following Slovene independence from Yugoslavia, the red star was removed and the new coat of arms, designed by Marko Pogačnik, was added. The flag was officially adopted on June 27, 1991, following a long and controversial dispute about the coat of arms of the new Republic.

2003 flag proposals

In 2003, a campaign was started to partially or completely alter the flag in order to enhance Slovenia's international recognition, and especially to differentiate it from those of Russia and Slovakia. An eleven-striped design won the official contest. However, public opinion seems to be strongly against changing the flag at the moment.

Government (maritime) flags

These flags are used on naval vessels only.

Flag	Use	Description
	President of Slovenia
	President of the National Assembly of Slovenia
	Prime Minister of Slovenia
	Minister of Defence of Slovenia
	Chief of the General Staff of Slovenia

Naval jacks

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1995-1996	Naval Jack of Slovenia
	1996-present	Naval Jack of Slovenia

Other flags

Flag	Use	Description
	Flag of the Slovenian Armed Forces

Colours

Scheme	White	Blue	Red	Yellow
CMYK	0   0   0   0	100  60   0  10	0 100 100   0	0  10 100   0
RGB	255-255-255 (#ffffff)	0-92-230 (#005CE6)	255-0-0 (#FF0000)	255-230-0 (#FFE600)
SCOTDIC Code 777—Int'l Colour Codification System (2034)	N1 N95	N46 N722509	N23 N074014	N6 N197512

External links

• Slovenia at Flags of the World
• Slovene flag proposals
• Britannica.com