The Secret History Behind Serbia's Flag
Serbia's flag is Russia's tricolor with the stripes in a different order.
The design goes back to Serbia's revolt against Ottoman rule in 1804, when the Serbs took the white, blue and red tricolor of Russia and reordered the stripes. Red, blue and white became known as the pan-Slavic colors, and many other Slavic movements used them in the 1800s.
In 1882 Serbia established a state flag with the same tricolor and the royal coat of arms: a white cross on a red shield with a Cyrillic letter C in each corner, which people popularly read as "Samo sloga Srbina spasava", or "Only unity saves the Serbs".
The current flag was set by the new Constitution of Serbia, adopted on November 8, 2006. The state flag carries the arms on the left, and the civil flag is the plain tricolor.
The date printed on every Serbia design in our catalog, June 5, 2006, is the day Serbia became an independent state again.
Three stripes, rearranged, with two centuries of history.
Looking for a gift with a story? See our heritage gift guide, or read the story behind any other country's flag on our free Flag Stories page.