Flag of Croatia

The flag of the Republic of Croatia is one of the state symbols of the Republic of Croatia, officially adopted on December 21, 1990.

It consists of three horizontal stripes of equal width in red, white and blue with the coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia in the center. It is also called the Croatian tricolor or red-white-blue, after the lines from the patriotic song Marjane, Marjane (red, white, blue, that's the right flag).

The Croatian flag is the national flag with the largest number of animals among all flags in the world.

There are five animals in total: three lions as the symbol of Dalmatia, one marten as the symbol of Slavonia and one goat as the symbol of Istria. All of them are placed in the "crown" of the Croatian coat of arms.

The basic provision on the appearance of the Croatian flag is contained in Article 11(2) of the Constitution of the Republic of Croatia:

"The flag of the Republic of Croatia shall consist of three colors: red, white and blue, with the historical Croatian coat of arms in the center."

The Constitution further states that the description of the historical Croatian coat of arms, the flag and the text of the national anthem, as well as the use and protection of these and other state symbols, shall be regulated by law.

The flag of the Republic of Croatia is accepted by the Law on the Coat of Arms, Flag and Anthem of the Republic of Croatia and the Flag and Ribbon of the President of the Republic of Croatia. The Act was adopted by the Parliament of the Republic of Croatia on December 21, 1990, at a joint session of the Joint Labor Council, the Municipal Council and the Social Policy Council, promulgated by the President by decree on the same day and published in the Official Gazette, which entered into force immediately.

Article 10 of the Law prescribes the appearance of the flag:

"The flag of the Republic of Croatia shall consist of three colors : red, white and blue with the coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia in the center. The ratio of width and length of the flag is 1:2.

The colors of the flag are arranged horizontally in this order from the top: Red, White and Blue. Each color makes up one third of the flag width.

The coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia is placed in the center of the flag so that the upper part of the coat of arms (the crown) goes into the red field of the flag and the lower part of the coat of arms goes into the blue field of the flag. The center of the coat of arms coincides with the intersection of the diagonals of the flag.

An essential part of the law is the artistic representation of the coat of arms and the flag of the Republic of Croatia, as well as the flag and the ribbon of the President of the Republic of Croatia.

The artistic representation of the coat of arms and the flag was created by the academician Miroslav Šutej and they are kept in the Croatian Parliament. According to the law, only the original coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia is kept in the Parliament.

In September 2011, the Presidency of the Croatian Parliament decided to create and publish graphic standards for the coat of arms and flag of the Republic of Croatia and the flag of the President of the Republic of Croatia.

Such a decision was made due to the need to publish a unique model for each of these state coats of arms in order to avoid the current situation of public use of numerous versions made with different techniques.

Academician Miroslav Šutej is the author of all state emblems, and they were digitally designed by designer Božo Kokan.

Hymn

| Croatian text | German translation |

| ---------------- | -------------------- |

| Lijepa naša domovino,
Oj junačka zemljo mila,
Stare slave djedovino,
Da bi vazda sretna bila! | Our beautiful homeland,
O heroic dear land,
Old glory father's heritage
,Eternally you shall be happy! |

| Mila, kano si nam slavna,
Mila si nam ti jedina.
Mila, kuda si nam ravna,
Mila, kuda si planina! | Love you are to us, as you are glorious,
Love you are to us, you alone,
Love you are to us, where you are even
,Love, where you are mountains. |

| Teci Dravo, Savo teci,
Nit' ti Dunav silu gubi,
Sinje more svijetu reci:
Da svoj narod Hrvat ljubi! | Flow Drava, Sava flow,
You too Danube, do not lose your strength.
Blue sea, tell the world
:That the Croatian loves his people, |

| Dok mu njive sunce grije,
Dok mu hrašće bura vije,
Dok mu mrtve grobak krije,
Dok mu živo srce bije! | As long as the sun warms his fields,
As long as the bora blows around his oaks,
As long as the grave covers his dead,
As long as his living heart beats. |