Flag of Croatia
Three equal horizontal bands of red, white and blue. In the centre is the coat of arms: a red and white chequered shield under a crown of five small historical shields.
What the flag means
The tricolour is usually explained as a union of the red and white of Croatia with the blue and white of Slavonia. The shields in the crown stand for historical regions. From left to right they are Central Croatia, Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria and Slavonia.
History
Croats used a red, white and blue tricolour from 1848, and it was the civil flag of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia from 1868 to 1918. In socialist Yugoslavia the Croatian flag carried a red star edged in yellow. After the first multiparty elections in 1990 the star was replaced by the chequered shield. The current flag and arms, designed by Miroslav Šutej, were set by the law on the coat of arms, flag and anthem of 21 December 1990.
Earlier flags of Croatia
- 1868–1918Red, white and blue tricolour of the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia
- 1947–1990Tricolour with a red star edged in yellow in the centre
Flags that look like this one
The Netherlands and Luxembourg are red, white and blue stripes; Luxembourg's bottom stripe is a lighter sky blue. Croatia adds a red-and-white chequered shield, and Paraguay adds a round seal.
Flags of Croatia's neighbours
Sources
- Wikipedia: Flag of Croatia
- Hrvatski sabor: Obilježja državnosti
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Read how we research flags in our editorial policy, or report a mistake.
