Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina

Bosnian Banate from 1154 until 1377 Used by Stjepan II Kotromanić. File:Banate of Bosnia flag of Stjepan II Kotromanic.svg|Royal banner of the Banate of Bosnia Bosnian Kingdom from 1377 until 1463 The flag of the Kingdom of Bosnia was based on coat of arms of the Bosnian dynasty Kotromanić, king Tvrtko I and his successors. The flag of medieval Bosnia was white with the coat of arms of the Kotromanić dynasty in the middle which consisted of a blue shield with six gold fleur de lys displayed around a white bend. File:Banner of King Tvrtko I of Bosnia.svg|Royal banner of the Kingdom of Bosnia Bosnian Revolt of 1830s flag In the 1830s revolt by Husein Gradaščević the green flag with a yellow crescent and star was used. The revolt's aim was for Bosnia to gain autonomy from the Ottoman Empire. File:Flag of Bosnia (1831-1832).svg|Bosnian Revolt Flag, 1831 Austro-Hungarian rule When the Austro-Hungarian Empire annexed Bosnia and Herzegovina the flag was changed. The province of Bosnia used a flag that was a horizontal bicolour of red and yellow, but the province of Herzegovina used the same flag but with reversed colors (yellow and red). The coat of arms is one of Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, Bosnian noble and duke from 14th century. The original medieval coat of arms had a white background and two red stripes in the top of the shield. It was Similar to the old flag of the Western Bosnian Flag. File:Flag of Bosnia (1908-1918).svg|Flag of the Condominium of Bosnia and Herzegovina during Austro-Hungarian administration (the country was formally under the sovereignty of the Ottoman Empire) (1878–1908) File:Flag of Bosnia (1878-1908).svg|Flag of Bosnia during Austro-Hungarian occupation (1878–1908) File:Flag of Bosnia (1908).svg|Flag of Bosnia after Austro-Hungarian annexation (1908) File:Flag of Herzegovina (1878-1918).svg|Flag of Herzegovina after Austro-Hungarian annexation (1878–1918) File:Flag of Bosnia (1908-1918).svg|Flag of Bosnia after Austro-Hungarian annexation (1908–1918) Yugoslav period During the interwar period Kingdom of Yugoslavia, Bosnia and Herzegovina had neither a status within it nor a flag to go with it. It was not until after World War II in Yugoslavia and disestablishment of the monarchy that this changed, as Bosnia and Herzegovina became its own republic within the newly established federal Yugoslavia. Without constitutional recognition, the mid-war Federal State of Bosnia and Herzegovina first adopted the flag flown by Bosnian-Herzegovinian Partisans during the war—a wholly red flag with a narrowly gold-bordered red star in its centre, both symbolizing socialism and communism. used at football games, as part of political rallies, and other such events. File:Flag of SR Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg| Flag of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (3 March 1992 − 20 May 1992) File:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1992–1998).svg|Flag of the Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina (20 May 1992 − 3 February 1998), still widely used unofficially among many Bosnians. File:Flag of the Republika Srpska.svg| Flag of Republika Srpska (1992-1995) File:Flag of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia.svg| Flag of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia Bosnia and Herzegovina after the Dayton Accords The Bosnian Serbs, before and after the signing of the Dayton Agreement, viewed the flag with the six fleurs-de-lys as only representing the Bosniaks (i.e. Bosnian Muslims) of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The flag of the state was eventually changed into the current, post-1998 flag. The current flag was introduced by the UN High Representative Carlos Westendorp after the Parliament of Bosnia and Herzegovina could not decide on a solution that was acceptable to all parties. Aside from the colors, the current flag contains no historical or other references to the Bosnian state. The flag is rarely ever seen in Republika Srpska, whose residents prefer to fly either that entity's regional flag or the Serbian national flag instead. Some Bosniaks dislike or have no particular affinity for the flag, preferring the former Bosnian national flag used from 1992 to 1998, or the former socialist-era Yugoslav flag instead. File:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg| Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina (4 February 1998 − present) File:Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina (construction sheet).svg|Construction sheet == Colour scheme==

== Alternative flag proposals ==

The first flag that was proposed in the First Set of Proposals was the "Czech Pattern", similar to the flag of the Czech Republic. It was intended to represent all three constitutive nations living in Bosnia and Herzegovina. The next proposal was the "Laurel branch". It is based on the light blue color of the United Nations Flag. It would have had a golden olive branch in the middle. The olive branch is taken from the United Nations emblem. The flag would have only one branch. The branch was rotated around 30 degrees counterclockwise. The third proposal was the "Map" proposal. It would also use the United Nations light blue color; however, there would be the addition of a white outline map of Bosnia and Herzegovina. No official text was ever published specifying the color of the outline, but it probably would have been white. File:BiH_flag_proposal_(three_nations).svg|First alternative flag of first proposal File:Flag of BiH (first set of proposals 2).svg|Second alternative flag of first proposal File:Flag of BiH (First set of proposal 3).svg|Third alternative flag of first proposal The Second Set of Proposals had flags that were truly representative of Bosnia and Herzegovina as a whole. The first flag design was a diagonally striped tricolor pattern of red to white to blue (different colors but in the same pattern as the Flag of the Republic of the Congo). In the centre there would be a blue map of Bosnia and Herzegovina outlined in yellow in the middle inside a circle of 10 five-pointed yellow stars. The flag would have been a 1:2 ratio. The second flag proposed was very similar except it had 12 five-pointed stars to represent the European Union. The Flag of Europe has the 12 five-pointed stars. The third design was a bit more different from the first two designs. The diagonal tricolor shape was kept, but the diagonal white stripe was made wider so that the angle was not perfectly 45 degrees. In the center there was a yellow map of Bosnia and Herzegovina outlined in green and under it there were two green olive branches. The olive branch pattern was the same one that the United Nations uses in its flag. The final fourth design was kept the same emblem from the third design, but did not have the diagonal stripes. Instead it had a horizontal tricolor pattern of blue, white, and red (from top to bottom), similar to that of the former Yugoslavia. File:B&H First Alternative Flag of Second Proposal.svg|First alternative flag of second proposal File:B&H Second Alternative Flag of Second Proposal.svg|Second alternative flag of second proposal File:B&H Third Alternative Flag of Second Proposal.svg|Third alternative flag of second proposal File:B&H Fourth Alternative Flag of Second Proposal.svg|Fourth alternative flag of second proposal The first Westendorp alternative flag was a highly similar one to today's flag, a diagonally divided top-hoist to bottom-fly yellow over light blue flag with line of 9 white five-pointed stars in the light blue field along the diagonal. The only major difference was that the color of the background was UN blue. The second Carlos Westendorp alternative flag is a light blue flag (using the United Nations' flag's colors) with 5 bars interchangeably coming out of hoist and not reaching the other end. The colors are interchangeably yellow and white. In the third alternative flag, the field was light blue and had five narrow yellow bars. File:First Westendorp Proposal of BiH flag.svg|First Carlos Westendorp alternative flag proposal File:Second Westendorp Proposal of BiH flag.svg|Second Carlos Westendorp alternative flag proposal File:Flag of BiH (third Westendorp proposal).svg|Third Carlos Westendorp alternative flag proposal Westendorp's decision ended up being the first alternative flag. However, it was changed slightly to a darker blue, evocative of the European Union's flag. ==Flags of administrative divisions==

Entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina File:Flag of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1996-2007).svg|Flag of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina (5 November 1996 – 14 June 2007) File:Flag of Republika Srpska.svg|Flag of Republika Srpska (6 April 1992 – present) == See also ==