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The Serbian flag is based on a horizontal striped tricolour first introduced in 1835,
when Serbia was a self-governing province of the Ottoman (Turkish) Empire.
The design was first adopted as the national flag of the semi-independent Principality of Serbia in January 1839.
In 1878, this tricolour was retained when Serbian independence was formally recognised.
The use of the flag was maintained until 1918, when Serbia united with other Slavic states to form a federation of states that would eventually become known as the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia or Yugoslavia ('Land of the Southern Slavs') in short form.
When the Yugoslavian union broke up in the early 1990s, Serbia re-adopted its red-blue-white
flag on the 22nd of July 1992.
Serbia and Montenegro, two former members of Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY), united to form the Former Republic Yugoslavia in 1992, when the SFRY dissolved.
The Former Republic of Yugoslavia changed its name to the Republic of Serbia and Montenegro in 2002.
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Blue, white and red are
considered traditional Slavic colours; together they are referred to as the
pan-Slavic colours.
They were initially
adopted by Slavic nations in the mid-19th century at a time when many
of them lacked autonomy and were influenced by the flag of Russia (which
was in turn influenced by
the Dutch flag), an
independent Slavic country at the time.
The colours now symbolise
Slavic unity and independence and can be seen in the flags of a
number of the Slavic nations. |
