The 12 Flags of the Balkan Countries

Download Article

Global flag expert Haitham Kuraishi goes over the history & symbolism of the colorful banners of the Balkan Peninsula

Co-authored by Tareth Peacock and Amy Bobinger, BA

Last Updated: March 23, 2026 Fact Checked

Download Article

• Albania
|
• Bosnia & Herzegovina
|
• Bulgaria
|
• Croatia
|
• Greece
|
• Kosovo
|
• Montenegro
|
• North Macedonia
|
• Romania
|
• Slovenia
|
• Serbia
|
• Turkey

|Show more |Show less

The Balkan Peninsula is a mountainous area in Southeastern Europe. The Balkans have a rich, varied history, and although there’s some debate about exactly which nations are included, it’s generally considered to be a group of 12 nations. We partnered with flag experts to help us take a deep dive into Balkan vexillology today, including each of the 12 Balkan flags, what they all mean, and when each one was established. Let’s get started!

Flags of Balkan Countries

Global flag expert Haitham Kuraishi says many of the flags of the Balkan region use the Pan-Slavic colors blue, red, and white, including Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia. National crests are a common component in the Balkan flags, and several of the flags feature a two-headed eagle, including Albania, Montenegro, and Serbia.

Steps

Section 1 of 12:

Albania

Download Article

1. 
   The Albanian flag is black with a double-headed eagle. In 1443, Prince Skanderbeg successfully (albeit temporarily) defended Albania from the invading Ottoman Empire. His flag was red with a black, two-headed eagle in the center. This design was adopted when Albania became an independent nation in 1912. The flag has undergone some changes since then, but in 1992, the current version was adopted—a simple design similar to the original Skanderbeg flag.

   • Symbolism: Global flags expert Tareth Peacock says the Albanian flag symbolizes “strength and independence.” Kuraishi notes that the eagle takes inspiration from the two-headed Byzantine eagle, which broadly influenced the Balkans.
   • Flown since: 1992

   Meet the wikiHow Experts

   Haitham Kuraishi is a historian and global flag expert. He creates content on topics including history, geography, maps, travel, and flags, and has over 182k followers on TikTok.

   Tareth Peacock is a global flags expert who has over 5 years of experience creating content about flags on his YouTube channel, Flags in Focus.
Advertisement

Section 2 of 12:

Bosnia & Herzegovina

Download Article

1. 
   The flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina is blue with a yellow triangle and white stars. The field of the flag is a rich, royal blue, and it’s divided by a yellow right-angled triangle. Along the diagonal edge of the triangle is a line of 9 white stars. The flag was established by the United Nations in hopes of unifying the nation.

   • Symbolism: The yellow triangle represents the shape of the country. Kuraishi says it also represents the 3 main ethnic groups making up the country: Bosniaks (Muslim population), Croats, and Serbs. Blue, white, and yellow are traditionally associated with the nation, too.
   • Flown since: 1998

Section 3 of 12:

Bulgaria

Download Article

1. 
   The Bulgarian flag is a horizontal tricolor of white, green, and red. Each stripe in the tricolor is of equal size. The design is inspired by the Russian flag. It was also inspired by the Pan-Slavic colors of white, red, and blue (though Bulgaria replaced blue with green) and was originally adopted in 1878, says Kuraishi. It returned after the fall of the country’s Communist government in 1990.

   • Symbolism: Green stands for Bulgaria’s natural wealth, red symbolizes the country’s fight for independence, and white represents peace and freedom.
   • Flown since: 1990
Advertisement

Section 4 of 12:

Croatia

Download Article

1. 
   The Croatian flag is a red, white, and blue tricolor with the coat of arms in the center. The flag’s field is equal-sized stripes of red, white, and blue. In the center is the national coat of arms, which has a red-and-white checkerboard pattern and a crown of 5 Croatian shields. The shields on the coat of arms include the oldest coat of arms in Croatia and the coats of arms of four historical republics that make up modern-day Croatia.

   • Symbolism: The flag is inspired by a design flown by nationalists who fought for Croatian independence in 1848. Red, white, and blue were the uniform colors of Ban Josip Jelačić, the general who led the Croatian nationalist army. These are also the Pan-Slavic colors, says Kuraishi. He adds that the crown has multiple coats of arms, which represent its historic regions.
   • Flown since: 1990 (After the fall of Yugoslavia, notes Kuraishi)

Section 5 of 12:

Greece

Download Article

1. 
   The Greek flag has blue and white stripes with a white cross in the corner. This striking flag has 9 stripes, alternating blue and white. In the top left corner of the flag is a blue square with a white cross.

   • Symbolism: The stripes on the flag are said to represent the syllables in the phrase “Ελευθερία ή Θάνατος,” which means “Freedom or Death.” Blue symbolizes the sea or heaven, and white represents the purity of the fight for independence. The cross on the flag represents Greek Orthodox Christianity, which is the main religion in Greece, says Kuraishi.
   • Flown since: 1822
Advertisement

Section 6 of 12:

Kosovo

Download Article

1. 
   Kosovo’s flag is blue with a gold map of Kosovo and 6 white stars. Kosovo is a relatively young country—it only gained independence in 2008. The design of the new flag was chosen in a contest, and it bears the shape of the nation under a crown of stars.

   • Symbolism: Blue stands for Kosovo’s global aspirations and gold represents the country’s wealth. Kuraishi says the 6 white stars symbolize the 6 main ethnic groups in Kosovo: Albanians, Serbs, Bosniaks, Turks, Romani, and Gorani.
   • Flown since: 2008

Section 7 of 12:

Montenegro

Download Article

1. 
   The flag of Montenegro is red and gold with a two-headed eagle. The flag features a red field bordered in gold. In the center of the flag is a two-headed eagle with the nation’s coat of arms in the center. The eagle holds a scepter and has a crown above its heads.

   • Symbolism: The colors of the flag are inspired by a royal banner, and the double-headed eagle represents the historical Njegoš Dynasty. Kuraishi adds that the eagle is inspired by the two-headed Byzantine eagle, which broadly influenced the Balkans. He says the crown represents Montenegro’s past as a kingdom.
   • Flown since: 2006
   • Kuraishi notes that previous flags of Montenegro used the Pan-Slavic colors of red, white, and blue. In 1880, he says Montenegro adopted the same color order as Serbia (red on top, blue in middle, white on bottom).
Advertisement

Section 8 of 12:

North Macedonia

Download Article

1. 
   The North Macedonian flag is red with a golden, rayed sun. The field of the flag is red, with a golden circle in the center. Eight golden rays extend from the sun all the way out to the edges of the flag. It’s a slight variation of the Starburst Flag originally adopted in 1992.

   • Symbolism: Alexander the Great used the starburst design as his symbol.
   • Flown since: 1995

Section 9 of 12:

Romania

Download Article

1. 
   The Romanian flag is a blue, yellow, and red vertical tricolor. The flag was first flown during the Revolution of 1848 and was officially adopted by the Kingdom of Romania in 1881. After being briefly removed under Communist rule, the tricolor flag returned in 1989.

   • Symbolism: Yellow symbolizes Romania’s natural wealth, red stands for the blood shed in the fight for independence, and blue represents peace and freedom.
   • Flown since: 1989
Advertisement

Section 10 of 12:

Slovenia

Download Article

1. 
   The Slovenian flag is a white, blue, and red tricolor with a coat of arms in the corner. The white, red, and blue horizontal stripes are equal in size. The Slovene coat of arms is in the top left corner and features Mount Triglav, the highest peak in Slovenia, along with three golden six-pointed stars.

   • Symbolism: The red, white, and blue colors are Pan-Slavic and inspired by the Russian flag, says Kuraishi. He adds that the coat of arms includes Triglav, which is the highest mountain in the Slovenian Alps. The stars in the coat of arms symbolize democracy.
   • Flown since: 2003 (After the fall of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, notes Kuraishi)

Section 11 of 12:

Serbia

Download Article

1. 
   The Serbian flag is a red, blue, and white tricolor with the country’s coat of arms. The horizontal stripes of the tricolor are all of equal size, and the coat of arms is prominently displayed about a third of the way in on the left. The coat of arms features a two-headed eagle bearing a shield and topped with a crown.

   • Symbolism: Blue represents freedom and loyalty, red stands for the blood shed on behalf of the country, and white symbolizes honesty and purity. They are also the Pan-Slavic colors, says Kuraishi. He adds that the cross on the coat of arms represents the main religion of Serbian Orthodox Christianity, while the crown represents Serbia’s past as a kingdom. Kuraishi also says that the eagle is inspired by the two-headed Byzantine eagle, which influenced the Balkans.
   • Flown since: 2004 (After the fall of Yugoslavia in the 1990s, notes Kuraishi)
   • Kuraishi notes that the Pan-Slavic tricolor was influenced by the Dutch flag. Tsar Peter the Great was inspired to design a new flag for Russia in the 17th century. The Russian flag then inspired the Serbian flag in 1835, though Serbia flipped the Russian flag to have red on top and white on the bottom.
   • In 1848, Kuraishi says the first Pan-Slavic congress met in Prague, which led to various Slavic provinces in the Austro-Hungarian Empire adopting the colors in their flags (including Slovakia, Slovenia, and Bulgaria).
Advertisement

Section 12 of 12:

Turkey

Download Article

1. 
   The Turkish flag is red with a white crescent moon and star. The crescent moon is an older symbol found across ancient civilizations that was used as a symbol of the Ottoman Empire and symbolizes the Turkic identity and Turkic tribes, says Kuraishi. This flag is often referred to as the “red banner,” most prominently in the Turkish national anthem.

   • Symbolism: The star and crescent symbol became the symbol of the Ottoman Empire after its founder, Osman I, had a dream where a crescent covered the world.
   • Flown since: 1844 as the Ottoman Empire; 1923 as the Republic of Turkey
   • While the crescent moon and star are found on many Muslim-majority countries’ flags, Kuraishi says it doesn’t necessarily symbolize Islam for Turkey (since it’s a secular republic).

Expert Q&A

Search

Add New Question

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advertisement

Tips

Submit a Tip

All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published

Name

Please provide your name and last initial

Submit

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!