Croatian Flag Day – 175th anniversary of the Croatian tricolor
This year marks the 175th anniversary of the enthronement of Ban Josip Jelačić, when he received his inauguration flag as a sign of his honor and authority. This was the first official use of the Croatian red-blue-white tricolor, which since then has been used in its basic original form as a symbol of the Croatian people and nationality, with certain changes in the heraldic, symbolic and ideological elements at its center.
During the revolutionary movements of 1848, tricolored flags appeared all over Europe. The first Croatian tricolor appeared in March 1848 and soon became immensely popular in all Croatian regions. Its colors were based on the historical coats of arms of Dalmatia, Croatia and Slavonia. On 5 June, Jelačić decided to use the tricolor with the coat of arms of the Triune on one side and his personal coat of arms on the other side as his official Ban flag instead of the former red cavalry flag.
Since its appearance, the tricolor has become an indivisible part of the Croatian national identity. Although the tricolor has been banned throughout history, it has never lost its popularity among the Croatian people. The current form was adopted by the Parliament on 21 December 1990, when the appearance of the coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia, based on the design by Miroslav Šutej, and its placement on the flag were determined.
On the occasion of the 170th anniversary of the adoption of the tricolor in 2018, the Croatian Heraldic and Vexillological Association, the Croatian History Museum, the Croatian Institute of History and the Society of Brethren of the Croatian Dragon have proclaimed 5 June as Croatian Flag Day to honor the expressed last will of Ban Jelačić, to commemorate his 1848 Ban flag as the first tricolor Croatian national flag, and to promote the Croatian tricolor as a symbol of Croatian statehood and a powerful means of creating and maintaining Croatian unity.
Lieutenant Colonel dr.sc. Željko Heimer, dipl.ing.,
LF, FF, president of the Croatian Heraldic and
Vexillological Association and president of the
International Federation of Vexillological Associations
