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See also: List of flags of Montenegro

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Flag of Montenegro

Use	National flag and ensign
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	July 13, 2004
Design	Red with the national coat of arms in the middle and with a golden border. The ratio of the flag is two to one. The coat of arms in the flag occupies 2/3 of its height. The midpoint of the coat of arms matches the intersection point of the diagonals of the flag. The width of the golden border is 1/20 of the shorter flag edge.
Use	National flag
Proportion	2:1
Adopted	July 13, 2004
Design	Red with the national coat of arms in the middle and with a golden border. The ratio of the vertical flag is two to one, but can vary. The coat of arms in the flag occupies 1/3 of its width. The midpoint of the coat of arms matches the intersection point of the diagonals of the flag. The width of the golden border is 1/20 of the shorter flag edge. For the land use.

The Flag of Montenegro (Montenegrin: Застава Црне Горе / Zastava Crne Gore) was officially adopted with the Law on the state symbols and the statehood day of Montenegro on 13 July 2004 at the proposal of the Government of Montenegro. It was constitutionally sanctioned with the proclamation of the Constitution on 22 October 2007. It is a red banner with broader golden edges all around the red field with the Coat of arms of Montenegro in its center.

The Law on the state symbols and the statehood day of Montenegro reached full effect the day after its publication in the Official Gazette of Montenegro. The publication occurred 12 July 2004 and the legal power of the Law occurred day after, on 13 July 2004 - The statehood day of Montenegro.

The Republic flag is also the flag of the Army of Montenegro.

Description

The flag of Montenegro is red, with the coat of arms in the middle, and golden borders. The ratio of the flag is 1:2. The coat of arms takes 2/3 of the flag's height. The middle point of the coat of arms matches the middle point of the flag. The width of the border is 1/20 of the flag's proportions. There exist two versions of the Montenegrin flag, horizontal, mostly used outdoor; and vertical, mostly used indoor.

Use of flag

The flag is permanently hoisted on: 1) the building of the Parliament of Montenegro; 2) the buildings in which are official premises of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the High Court, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme State Attorney and the Human Rights Ombudsman; 3) on the residence of the President of Montenegro.

The flag is hoisted: 1) on the statehood day of Montenegro and in days of other state holidays of Montenegro, on buildings in which are seated state bodies and bodies of the local self-management; 2) on the buildings of the representations of Montenegro abroad; 3) on aircraft, ships and other vessels according to special regulations; 4) on voting sites during elections and referendums; 5) on the mourning days determined by the Government, half-masted.

Also flag may be hoisted during international meetings, political, scientific, cultural, artistic, sporting and other manifestations in which Montenegro is represented, according to the rules of such events; during celebrations, festivities, sporting and other manifestations, etc.

When hoisted in Montenegro together with one or more flags of other states or international organizations the flag takes the place of honor. The place of honor is considered the center of a circle, the top of a semicircle, the first place in a row, column or a group of flags, the central position between the flags and the left side as seen from the front from the flags of other states or international organizations.

The flag is risen, lowered, hoisted, taken down and carried with the usual honors (standing up, saluting etc.) The flag can not be hoisted so as to touch the ground, nor should be used as a table cloth, curtain or similar. ¹

Historical

Flags as the state symbols were introduced only in the time of Petar II Petrovic-Njegos. Before him, the principal Montenegrin flag had been the alaj-barjak (regimental colors) with a single symbol on it - the cross (krst). The Montenegrins gathered around krstas either at meetings or before battles. The first written description of the Montenegrin flag dates from the time of Scepan Mali (the Imposter): white, with a red frame and a golden cross on top of the spear. The next comes form 1838: pale-yellow with the small red cross, and in 1876 the flag was described as being red with the white cross. In the time of Prince Danilo, the cross on the alaj-barjak was replaced by the two-headed eagle with the initials DI (Danilo I) on its breast, with the lion passant underneath. Prince/King Nikola made many different flags in his time. The first of the variations was the same as Danilo's, differing only in the initials - NI (Nikola I). Around 1910, two new variants appeared: one tricolor (red, blue and white) with the two-headed eagle bearing the initials NI on its breast and the lion passant on the sinister, the other with the two-headed eagle above the initials NI. ²

In late 1946 a new flag of the People's Republic of Montenegro, a constituent republic of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was adopted. It returned the traditional tricolor adding an ideological Communist Red Star to its center. This flag was used until 1991 when the Red Star was removed, but the Montenegrin flag was identical to the other Republic of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, Serbia, so in 1993 the old flag from 1905 was returned, but differently sized.

The state flag proclaimed in 1993 is the tricolor - red, bluish and white, with size ratio 1:3.

Gallery of State flags

Republic of Montenegro (federal) (1993-2004.07)	People's/Socialist Republic of Montenegro (1946-1991/93)	Princedom/Kingdom of Montenegro (1905-1918/21), also people's flag of that age	Montenegrin flag (from 1876-1905)
Unofficial flags of Montenegrin realm, used before 19th century

Notes

• Just after adopting the flag, in transitional period of 60 days size of golden eagle was 1:3 of the flags' size, instead of 2:3.
• The symbols were originally adopted in 2004 by the ruling coalition (DPS-SDP) on an extraordinary session of the parliament on the proposal of the Government of Montenegro, without the presence of the opposition.
• It was criticized by opposition for being non-vexilologic, originating only partially from the old military flags of Montenegro. The ruling coalition adopted it during campaign for an independent Montenegro, which was then a part of a state union with Serbia, having a tricolor similar to the Serbian for its flag.³

Miscellaneous

• In the video game Europa Universalis III, the first real time strategy game where Montenegro is a playable country, a flag similar to the present is used from the 14th century, but without the crown and golden borders.
• The biggest Montenegrin flag was made for fans for first Montenegrin football international match versus Hungary on March 24 2007.

See also

• List of flags of Montenegro
• Cross pattée
• Flag of Serbia and Montenegro
• Flags of the Yugoslav Socialist Republics

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Flags of Montenegro

• Montenegro at Flags of the World
• Encyclopaedia Britannica, Flag of Montenegro