Flag ratio: 2:3
When flown vertically the coat of arms is rotated.
Note: If hoisted properly the
white field should be towards the finial.
The current form of the flag of Slovakia was adopted by Slovakia's Constitution, which came into force on September 3, 1992. The flag, in common with other Slavic nations, uses the red, white and blue colours.
Slovakia's flag in its current form (but with another seal on it or without any seal) can be dated back to the revolutionary year 1848, when the Slovaks where fighting against the Magyars (see: The Revolutions of 1848 in the Habsburg areas). It was also used semioficially in Czechoslovakia before World War II, by the Slovak Republic during WWII, and finally adopted (without the seal) on March 1, 1990 as the flag of the Slovak Republic within Czechoslovakia. The seal was added on September 3, 1992 and a special law describing the details of the flag followed in February 1993.
Unofficial flag of Slovakia before 1918. Official flag of Slovak county in Czechoslovakia (1918 - 1938), Slovak autonomous region (1938 - 1939),
Slovak state (1939-1945) and Slovak Republic within CSFR (1990-1992)
The blue triangle in the current flag of the Czech Republic, with which Slovakia formed Czechoslovakia up to the Velvet Divorce, was taken over from the blue strip of Slovakia's flag in 1920 into the flag of Czechoslovakia. The flag of Czechoslovakia has been taken over by the Czech Republic in late 1992, in direct violation of the 1992 Act on the Division of Czechoslovakia explicitly forbidding state symbols to be used by the two successor states.
Since the Slovak flag without the seal is identical to that of the modern Flag of Russia and it can also be compared to the modern Flag of Slovenia, the Constitution of the Slovak Republic added the seal in September 1992. The seal is Slovakia's coat of arms. For a description of the seal (a double cross and three hills), see Coat of Arms of Slovakia.
See also
