Flag of Croatia

Meaning and history of the flag of Croatia

Croatia's flag was adopted on December 21, 1990, shortly before its declaration of independence from Yugoslavia. It features three equal horizontal stripes of red, white, and blue from top to bottom, with the national coat of arms centered across all three bands. Red, white, and blue are Pan-Slavic colors shared by numerous Slavic nations, including Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic.

The central coat of arms is the flag's most distinctive feature. It consists of a checkerboard (šahovnica) of twenty-five squares alternating in red and white, arranged in five rows and five columns, topped by a crown made up of five smaller shields representing Croatia's historical regions: the Kingdom of Croatia, the Republic of Ragusa, Dalmatia, Istria, and Slavonia. The šahovnica is a Croatian symbol documented since the Middle Ages and ranks among Europe's oldest heraldic emblems. Without the coat of arms, the flag would be identical to that of the Netherlands, which shares the same three colors in the same order.

You can view the flag of Croatia in high resolution above and download it in several sizes for personal, educational or reference use. To explore more, visit the full Croatia profile, its map, or the current local time in Zagreb.