The 12 Flags of the Balkan Countries

The Balkan Peninsula is a mountainous area in Southeastern Europe. The Balkans have a rich, varied history, and although there’s some debate about exactly which nations are included, it’s generally considered to be a group of 12 nations. We partnered with flag experts to help us take a deep dive into Balkan vexillology today, including each of the 12 Balkan flags, what they all mean, and when each one was established. Let’s get started!

Flags of Balkan Countries

Download Image

Illustration showing all 12 of the Balkan flags.

Global flag expert Haitham Kuraishi says many of the flags of the Balkan region use the Pan-Slavic colors blue, red, and white, including Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia. National crests are a common component in the Balkan flags, and several of the flags feature a two-headed eagle, including Albania, Montenegro, and Serbia.

Section 1 of 12:

Albania

Download Article

The Albanian flag is black with a double-headed eagle. In 1443, Prince Skanderbeg successfully (albeit temporarily) defended Albania from the invading Ottoman Empire. His flag was red with a black, two-headed eagle in the center. This design was adopted when Albania became an independent nation in 1912. The flag has undergone some changes since then, but in 1992, the current version was adopted—a simple design similar to the original Skanderbeg flag.^{[1]
X
Research source}
- Symbolism: Global flags expert Tareth Peacock says the Albanian flag symbolizes “strength and independence.”^{[2]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Tareth Peacock
  Global Flags Expert
  
  Expert Interview} Kuraishi notes that the eagle takes inspiration from the two-headed Byzantine eagle, which broadly influenced the Balkans.^{[3]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview}
- Flown since: 1992
Meet the wikiHow Experts

Haitham Kuraishi is a historian and global flag expert. He creates content on topics including history, geography, maps, travel, and flags, and has over 182k followers on TikTok.

Tareth Peacock is a global flags expert who has over 5 years of experience creating content about flags on his YouTube channel, Flags in Focus.

Section 2 of 12:

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Download Article

The flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina is blue with a yellow triangle and white stars. The field of the flag is a rich, royal blue, and it’s divided by a yellow right-angled triangle. Along the diagonal edge of the triangle is a line of 9 white stars. The flag was established by the United Nations in hopes of unifying the nation. ^{[4]
X
Research source}
- Symbolism: The yellow triangle represents the shape of the country. Kuraishi says it also represents the 3 main ethnic groups making up the country: Bosniaks (Muslim population), Croats, and Serbs.^{[5]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview} Blue, white, and yellow are traditionally associated with the nation, too.^{[6]
  X
  Research source}
- Flown since: 1998

Section 3 of 12:

Bulgaria

Download Article

The Bulgarian flag is a horizontal tricolor of white, green, and red. Each stripe in the tricolor is of equal size.^{[7]
X
Research source} The design is inspired by the Russian flag. It was also inspired by the Pan-Slavic colors of white, red, and blue (though Bulgaria replaced blue with green) and was originally adopted in 1878, says Kuraishi.^{[8]
X
Expert Source

Haitham Kuraishi
Historian and Global Flag Expert

Expert Interview} It returned after the fall of the country’s Communist government in 1990.^{[9]
X
Research source}
- Symbolism: Green stands for Bulgaria’s natural wealth, red symbolizes the country’s fight for independence, and white represents peace and freedom.
- Flown since: 1990

Section 4 of 12:

Croatia

Download Article

The Croatian flag is a red, white, and blue tricolor with the coat of arms in the center. The flag’s field is equal-sized stripes of red, white, and blue. In the center is the national coat of arms, which has a red-and-white checkerboard pattern and a crown of 5 Croatian shields. The shields on the coat of arms include the oldest coat of arms in Croatia and the coats of arms of four historical republics that make up modern-day Croatia.^{[10]
X
Research source}
- Symbolism: The flag is inspired by a design flown by nationalists who fought for Croatian independence in 1848. Red, white, and blue were the uniform colors of Ban Josip Jelačić, the general who led the Croatian nationalist army. These are also the Pan-Slavic colors, says Kuraishi. He adds that the crown has multiple coats of arms, which represent its historic regions.^{[11]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview}
- Flown since: 1990 (After the fall of Yugoslavia, notes Kuraishi).^{[12]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview}

Section 5 of 12:

Greece

Download Article

The Greek flag has blue and white stripes with a white cross in the corner. This striking flag has 9 stripes, alternating blue and white. In the top left corner of the flag is a blue square with a white cross.^{[13]
X
Research source}
- Symbolism: The stripes on the flag are said to represent the syllables in the phrase “Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος,” which means “Freedom or Death.” Blue symbolizes the sea or heaven, and white represents the purity of the fight for independence. The cross on the flag represents Greek Orthodox Christianity, which is the main religion in Greece, says Kuraishi.^{[14]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview}
- Flown since: 1822

Section 6 of 12:

Kosovo

Download Article

Kosovo’s flag is blue with a gold map of Kosovo and 6 white stars. Kosovo is a relatively young country—it only gained independence in 2008. The design of the new flag was chosen in a contest, and it bears the shape of the nation under a crown of stars.^{[15]
X
Research source}
- Symbolism: Blue stands for Kosovo’s global aspirations and gold represents the country’s wealth. Kuraishi says the 6 white stars symbolize the 6 main ethnic groups in Kosovo: Albanians, Serbs, Bosniaks, Turks, Romani, and Gorani.^{[16]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview}
- Flown since: 2008

Section 7 of 12:

Montenegro

Download Article

The flag of Montenegro is red and gold with a two-headed eagle. The flag features a red field bordered in gold. In the center of the flag is a two-headed eagle with the nation’s coat of arms in the center. The eagle holds a scepter and has a crown above its heads.^{[17]
X
Research source}
- Symbolism: The colors of the flag are inspired by a royal banner, and the double-headed eagle represents the historical Njegoš Dynasty. Kuraishi adds that the eagle is inspired by the two-headed Byzantine eagle, which broadly influenced the Balkans. He says the crown represents Montenegro’s past as a kingdom.^{[18]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview}
- Flown since: 2006
- Kuraishi notes that previous flags of Montenegro used the Pan-Slavic colors of red, white, and blue. In 1880, he says Montenegro adopted the same color order as Serbia (red on top, blue in middle, white on bottom).^{[19]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview}

Section 8 of 12:

North Macedonia

Download Article

The North Macedonian flag is red with a golden, rayed sun. The field of the flag is red, with a golden circle in the center. Eight golden rays extend from the sun all the way out to the edges of the flag. It’s a slight variation of the Starburst Flag originally adopted in 1992.^{[20]
X
Research source}
- Symbolism: Alexander the Great used the starburst design as his symbol.
- Flown since: 1995

Section 9 of 12:

Romania

Download Article

The Romanian flag is a blue, yellow, and red vertical tricolor. The flag was first flown during the Revolution of 1848 and was officially adopted by the Kingdom of Romania in 1881. After being briefly removed under Communist rule, the tricolor flag returned in 1989.^{[21]
X
Research source}
- Symbolism: Yellow symbolizes Romania’s natural wealth, red stands for the blood shed in the fight for independence, and blue represents peace and freedom.
- Flown since: 1989

Section 10 of 12:

Slovenia

Download Article

The Slovenian flag is a white, blue, and red tricolor with a coat of arms in the corner. The white, red, and blue horizontal stripes are equal in size. The Slovene coat of arms is in the top left corner and features Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia, along with three golden six-pointed stars.^{[22]
X
Research source}
- Symbolism: The red, white, and blue colors are Pan-Slavic and inspired by the Russian flag, says Kuraishi. He adds that the coat of arms includes Triglav, which is the highest mountain in the Slovenian Alps.^{[23]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview} The stars in the coat of arms symbolize democracy.
- Flown since: 2003 (After the fall of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, notes Kuraishi).^{[24]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview}

Section 11 of 12:

Serbia

Download Article

The Serbian flag is a red, blue, and white tricolor with the country’s coat of arms. The horizontal stripes of the tricolor are all of equal size, and the coat of arms is prominently displayed about a third of the way in on the left. The coat of arms features a two-headed eagle bearing a shield and topped with a crown.^{[25]
X
Research source}
- Symbolism: Blue represents freedom and loyalty, red stands for the blood shed on behalf of the country, and white symbolizes honesty and purity. They are also the Pan-Slavic colors, says Kuraishi. He adds that the cross on the coat of arms represents the main religion of Serbian Orthodox Christianity, while the crown represents Serbia’s past as a kingdom. Kuraishi also says that the eagle is inspired by the two-headed Byzantine eagle, which influenced the Balkans.^{[26]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview}
- Flown since: 2004 (After the fall of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, notes Kuraishi).^{[27]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview}
- Kuraishi notes that the Pan-Slavic tricolor was influenced by the Dutch flag. Tsar Peter the Great was inspired to design a new flag for Russia in the 17th century. The Russian flag then inspired the Serbian flag in 1835, though Serbia flipped the Russian flag to have red on top and white on the bottom.^{[28]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview}
- In 1848, Kuraishi says the first Pan-Slavic congress met in Prague, which led to various Slavic provinces in the Austro-Hungarian Empire adopting the colors in their flags (including Slovakia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria).^{[29]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview}

Section 12 of 12:

Turkey

Download Article

The Turkish flag is red with a white crescent moon and star. The crescent moon is an older symbol found across ancient civilizations that was used as a symbol of the Ottoman Empire and symbolizes the Turkic identity and Turkic tribes, says Kuraishi.^{[30]
X
Expert Source

Haitham Kuraishi
Historian and Global Flag Expert

Expert Interview} This flag is often referred to as the “red banner,” most prominently in the Turkish national anthem.^{[31]
X
Research source}
- Symbolism: The star and crescent symbol became the symbol of the Ottoman Empire after its founder, Osman I, had a dream where a crescent covered the world.
- Flown since: 1844 as the Ottoman Empire; 1923 as the Republic of Turkey
- While the crescent moon and star are found on many Muslim-majority countries’ flags, Kuraishi says it doesn’t necessarily symbolize Islam for Turkey (since it’s a secular republic).^{[32]
  X
  Expert Source
  
  Haitham Kuraishi
  Historian and Global Flag Expert
  
  Expert Interview}