The South Slavic peoples have long been distinguished by a desire to unite into a single state. In the middle of the 19th century, an agreement was signed between representatives of Serbs and Croats in Vienna, on the basis of which the Serbo-Croatian literary language was legalized. And already in the 17th of the 20th century, an attempt was made to create a single state, uniting representatives of four nationalities: Serbs, Croats, Slovenes and Montenegrins. Everyone remembers these momentous moments in history, but not everyone knows what the flag of Yugoslavia looks like. Therefore, in the article we will try to talk in detail about this.
Thorny path
By the end of 1918, unity took place when the empire of the Austro-Hungarians collapsed, and the Montenegrin and Serbian territories were liberated from occupation. The community of states includes the above-mentioned countries and Herzegovina and Bosnia, which joined them. The newly created association became known as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. Later, the state of Yugoslavia appeared.
In the spring of 1941, an attack by the army of German-Italian invaders divided the country into separate parts. This marked the beginning of the liberation movement led by the Communists. However, when fascism was defeated, the fraternal peoples re-formed the republic. In 1945, the Democratic Republic of Yugoslavia appeared. In 1946, it became People’s, and in 1963, Socialist.
The nineties
In the 90s of the XX century, in all the republics of the former Kingdom of Yugoslavia, separatist sentiment intensified. The leaders of all five countries had to agree to the formation of independent states, separate from each other without changing the sovereign borders. In turn, Serbia and Montenegro, disagreeing with the division, could not leave the federation. In 1992, the creation of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) was announced .
In the late 90's in Montenegro, the party of the Social Democrats collapsed. This led to disagreements between the leaders of the two states. Decisions of the parliament of the federation ceased to be recognized in Montenegro, and the election of the head of state in 2000 was boycotted. Negotiations between the leaders of the countries did not produce results. But the focus of both republics on the European future forced their ruling circles under pressure from the Union of Europe to compromise. They created the community of Montenegro and Serbia. The agreement was signed in Belgrade in 2002. Each state in Europe wanted to defend its independence. In the summer of 2006, the Federation of South Slavic peoples ceased to exist when Montenegro left the community.
Flag of Yugoslavia: the beginning
The basis of each of the Yugoslav flags is a combination of three colors - red, blue and white. These shades were used by all Slavic peoples. They were approved back in 1848 at the Prague Congress. The colors symbolized the unification of the South Slavic peoples into a single state. They came to the tricolor after a fierce struggle of Serbia and Montenegro against the Ottoman Empire for their independence. The flag of Yugoslavia did not exist at that time. But as a basis, we took elements that changed due to a change in power.
Then on the flags of both states against the background of red, blue and white stripes their symbols flaunted. The crown gold on the shield played in the feathers of a silver eagle about two heads, warming a cross on the heart. It was a symbol of independent Serbia. Montenegro crowned the canvas of its tricolor with the crown of the principality of red. So Pan-Slavic colors, as they were called later, turned out to be in the Balkans.
Royal flag
After the unification of independent countries into the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, the question of choosing colors for the flag did not arise. It was decided only to change the order of the tricolor stripes so as not to repeat any of the state flags in the Kingdom. Now the main color has become blue, in the center is white, the base has become red. In the middle of the canvas was the coat of arms of Yugoslavia.
The flag was officially approved after the adoption of the Constitution in 1921. Despite the coup d'état that took place in early January 1929, which brought a military-monarchist dictatorial system, the flag of the kingdom of Yugoslavia remained the same. That was before the start of World War II. Some historical events entailed changes in state symbols.
Acts of the Communists
Until September 1941, the flag of Yugoslavia remained unchanged. After the beginning of the struggle of the people for liberation, their appearance became somewhat different. The communist government approved a tricolor without a coat of arms; a red star with five rays was added to the center. She became a symbol of the national struggle, the path to socialism and the unity of the national spirit. When Yugoslavia became a Socialist Republic and amendments were made to the Constitution dated 1963, the state flag also changed its former appearance. Now, against the background of the red cloth, the state emblem was located. He occupied the center of the banner.
At the suggestion of the deputies, a different look was planned for the flag. On the red canvas on the upper left was to be the state tricolor. However, the decision was never made, and therefore they returned the state tricolor with a star in the center. The only change and addition to the design was the golden border of the five-pointed symbol. The flag of Yugoslavia in this form lasted until the next coup.
Final version
When the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, which included Montenegro and Serbia, was announced in 1992, the flag again changed its appearance. Now the countries have returned to the form of the state banner in the form of three stripes of red, white and blue. Each of them occupied the same space on the canvas, and it was decided to remove the five-pointed star, as an echo of the "partisan". This was the final version of the flag of Yugoslavia, which remained unchanged until 2006. This year there was a complete and irrevocable collapse of it. The state in Europe ceased to exist, breaking up into six countries: Serbia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, Slovenia and Macedonia.