View source for Flag of Slovakia

{{short description|National flag}}
{{Infobox flag
| Name       = Slovak Republic 
| Image      = Flag of Slovakia.svg
| Image2     = Flag of Slovakia vertical.svg
| Nickname   = {{lang|sk|Vlajka neba-vody-ohňa}} <br> ('Sky-water-fire flag')
| Morenicks  = 
| Use        = 111000 
| Symbol     = {{FIAV|normal}}
| Proportion = 2:3
| Adoption   = {{Start date and age|1992|09|03|df=yes}}
| Design     = A horizontal [[tricolor (flag)|tricolor]] of white, blue, and red; charged with [[Coat of arms of Slovakia|coat of arms]] at the [[hoist (flag)|hoist side]]
| Designer   = [[Ladislav Čisárik]]<ref name=teraz/><br>Ladislav Vrtel<ref name=teraz>{{cite news |title=Zomrel autor výtvarného spracovania štátnych symbolov SR |url=http://www.teraz.sk/slovensko/zomrel-autor-vytvarneho-spracovania-symb/273523-clanok.html |work=[[News Agency of the Slovak Republic]] |date=2017-08-03 |access-date=2017-09-06 |archive-date=2017-08-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170803212100/http://www.teraz.sk/slovensko/zomrel-autor-vytvarneho-spracovania-symb/273523-clanok.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
}}

The current form of the [[national flag|national]] '''flag of the Slovak Republic''' ({{langx|sk|Vlajka Slovenskej republiky}}) was adopted by [[Slovakia]]'s [[Constitution of Slovakia|Constitution]], which came into force on 3 September 1992. The flag of Slovakia, like many other flags of [[Slavs|Slavic]] nations, uses the [[Pan-Slavic colors|Pan-Slavic colours]] ([[white]], [[blue]], and [[red]]). Pictured to the left of centre of the flag is [[Coat of arms of Slovakia|Slovakia's national coat of arms]].

==History==
Slovakia's flag in its current form (but with another coat of arms on it or without any arms) can be dated back to the revolutionary year 1848.{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} It was also used semi-officially in [[Czechoslovakia]] before [[World War II]], and by the [[Slovak Republic (1939-1945)|Slovak Republic]] during World War II.

In 1990, the interior ministry tasked [[Ladislav Čisárik]], a painter and heraldic artist, and Ladislav Vrtel, an expert in [[heraldry]], with creating a new coat of arms and national flag.<ref name=teraz/><ref name=sme>{{cite news |title=Zomrel autor slovenských národných symbolov Ladislav Čisárik ml. |url=https://domov.sme.sk/c/20618149/zomrel-autor-slovenskych-narodnych-symbolov-ladislav-cisarik-ml.html |work=[[SME (newspaper)|SME]] |date=2017-08-03 |access-date=2017-09-06 |archive-date=2017-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907170457/https://domov.sme.sk/c/20618149/zomrel-autor-slovenskych-narodnych-symbolov-ladislav-cisarik-ml.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name=ssp>{{cite news |first=Marcela |last=Glevická |title=How the national emblem appeared – including so far secret communism designs |url=https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20460586/how-the-national-emblem-appeared-including-so-far-secret-communism-designs.html |work=[[The Slovak Spectator]] |date=2017-02-16 |access-date=2017-09-07 |archive-date=2017-09-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170907180257/https://spectator.sme.sk/c/20460586/how-the-national-emblem-appeared-including-so-far-secret-communism-designs.html |url-status=live }}</ref> Čisárik and Vrtel based their designs for a modern [[coat of arms of Slovakia]] and flag on an existing 14th-century [[coat of arms of Hungary]].<ref name=teraz/><ref name=sme/> However, Čisárik and Vrtel chose to enlarge the [[Coat of arms of Slovakia|double cross]] three times to emphasize it as a national symbol.<ref name=teraz/><ref name=sme/> In addition to the national coat of arms and the national flag, the duo also designed a new presidential standard, which incorporates the double cross as well.<ref name=teraz/><ref name=sme/>

The new flag was finally adopted (initially without Čisárik's and Vrtel's coat of arms) on 1 March 1990 as the flag of the Slovak Republic within Czechoslovakia. The coat of arms was added on 3 September 1992 and a special law describing the details of the flag followed in February 1993, after Slovakia became an independent country.

==Design==
Since the flag of [[Slovakia]] without the coat of arms was inspired by the [[flag of Russia]] since the revolutionary year 1848 (only the hues of red and blue differing), the [[Constitution of Slovakia]] in September 1992 added the [[Coat of arms of Slovakia|national coat of arms]] at the hoist side, and surrounding by a narrow white fringe.

It is one of 28 national flags that contain overtly Christian symbols.<ref name="Michael Green - Vexillologist">{{cite web |url=https://www.brandingthenations.com/blog/flagsforgodssake |title=Flags, for God's Sake |last1=Green |first1=Michael |date=March 20, 2015 |website=brandingthenations.com |access-date=February 3, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200203234625/https://www.brandingthenations.com/blog/flagsforgodssake |archive-date=February 3, 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref>
{{Clearleft}}
{| class=wikitable style="text-align:center;width:fit-content"
|-
! Construction sheet
! Colors scheme<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vlada.gov.sk/slovensko/statna-vlajka/ |title=Štátna vlajka |language=sk |publisher=Government of Slovakia |access-date=December 3, 2024 }}</ref>
! ! style="background:#FFFFFF; width:100px; color:black;"| White
! style="background:#254AA5; width:100px; color:white;"| Blue
! style="background:#ED1C24; width:100px; color:white;" | Red
|-
| rowspan=3|[[File:Flag of Slovakia (construction sheet).svg|320px]] || [[CMYK]] || 0, 0, 0, 0 || 100, 80, 0, 0 || 0, 100, 100, 0
|-
|[[Web colors|HEX]]
|#FFFFFF
|#254AA5
|#ED1C24
|-
|[[RGB color model|RGB]]
|255, 255, 255
|37, 74, 165
|237, 28, 36
|}

==Photo gallery==
<gallery>
File:Flags of Slovakia.jpg|A line of Slovak flags on poles
File:Vertical Slovak Flag Logan Square Philadelphia 30 Jul 2022.jpg|The correct vertical display of the Slovak flag (with rotated coat of arms)
File:EU and Slovakia flags.jpg|Slovak flag and [[Flag of Europe|European Union flag]] are often seen together front of government buildings
File:Slovak International Air Fest 2012 - AFRC -15.jpg|Flag of Slovakia in army uniform
File:Jill Biden met with Zuzana Čaputová at the Grassalkovich Palace in 2022 (1).jpg|Presidential standard of Slovak Republic (centre) together with Slovak flags and European Union flags
</gallery>

==Presidential standard==
<gallery>
File:Flag of the President of Czechoslovakia (1918-1939, 1945-1960).svg|{{FIAV|historical}}Presidential standard of [[Czechoslovakia]]<br/>(1918–1939)<br/>(1945–1960)
File:Flag of the President of Slovakia (1939-1945).svg|{{FIAV|historical|}}Presidential standard of [[First Slovak Republic]]<br/>(1939–1945)
File:Flag_of_the_President_of_Czechoslovakia_(1960-1990).svg|{{FIAV|historical}}Presidential standard of [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]]<br/>(1960–1990)
File:Flag of the President of Czechoslovakia (1990-1992).svg|{{FIAV|historical}}Presidential standard of [[Czech and Slovak Federative Republic]]<br/>(1990–1992)
File:Flag of the President of Slovakia.svg|Presidential standard of [[Slovak Republic]]<br/>(since 1993)
</gallery>

==Historical flags==
{{gallery|width=120|height=120|noborder=yes|whitebg=no
||{{FIAV|historical|}}Flag of the [[Principality of Nitra]]
|File:Slovenská_vlajka_1848.png|{{FIAV|historical|}}Slovak flag proposed by the ''[[Demands of the Slovak Nation]]''<br/>(1848)
|File:Slovenská_vlajka_1848_z.png|{{FIAV|historical|}}Flag used during the [[Slovak Uprising of 1848–49|Slovak Uprising]]<br/>(1848–1849)
|File:Slovenská vlajka 1848-1849.png|{{FIAV|historical|}}One of the more popular flags used by slovak volunteers during [[Slovak Uprising 1848-1849|Slovak Uprising 1848]]. Flags from this period introduced blue color into the slovak flag for the first time, after the [[Slavic Congress of Prague|Slavic Congress]]. Used also as flag of [[Slovak National Council (1848–49)|Slovak National Council]]<br/>(1848–1849)
|File:Slovensk%C3%A1_vlajka_1849.png|{{FIAV|historical|}}Another flag used during the [[Slovak Uprising of 1848–49|Slovak Uprising]]<br/>(1848–1849)
|File:Socialist red flag.svg|{{FIAV|historical|}}Flag of the [[Slovak Soviet Republic]]<br/>(1919)
|File:Flag of Bohemia.svg|{{FIAV|historical|}}First flag of [[First Czechoslovak Republic|Czechoslovakia]]<br/>(1918–1920)
|File:Flag of Czechoslovakia.svg|{{FIAV|historical|}} Flag of [[Czechoslovakia]]<br/>(1920–1939)<br/>(1945–1992)<br/>[[Provisional Government of Czechoslovakia|Czechoslovak government-in-exile]]<br/>(1939–1945)
|File:War ensign of the First Slovak Republic.svg|{{FIAV|historical|}}[[War flag]] of the [[First Slovak Republic]], used by a country's military forces<br/>(1939–1945)
|File:Flag of First Slovak Republic 1939-1945.svg|{{FIAV|historical|}}Official flag of the<br/>[[Autonomous Land of Slovakia|Autonomous Slovak land]] within the [[Second Czechoslovak Republic]]<br/>(1938–1939)<br/>[[First Slovak Republic]]<br/>(1939–1945)<br/>[[Slovak Socialist Republic]] within [[Czechoslovak Socialist Republic]]<br/>(1969–1990)<br/>[[Slovak Socialist Republic (1969–1990)/Slovak Republic (1990–1992)|Slovak Republic]] within [[Czech and Slovak Federative Republic]]<br/>(1990–1992)
}}

==See also==
{{Politics of Slovakia}}
{{Portal|Heraldry|Slovakia}}
*[[Coat of arms of Slovakia]]
*[[National Seal of Slovakia]]
*[[List of Slovak flags]]
*[[Pan-Slavic colors]]

== References ==
<references/>

== External links ==
{{sister|project=commons|text=[[Wikimedia Commons]] has media related to '''''[[Commons:Category:Flags of Slovakia|Flags of Slovakia]]'''''}}
* [https://www.prezident.sk/en/page/symbols-and-currency/ Symbols and Currency - President of the Slovak Republic]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20221101133109/https://www.aspi.sk/products/lawText/1/40765/1/2 Zákon NR SR o štátnych symboloch Slovenskej republiky a ich používaní]
* {{FOTW|id=sk|title=Slovakia}}

{{Clear}}
{{Slovakia topics}}
{{Flag of Europe}}


{{DEFAULTSORT:Slovakia, Flag of}}
[[Category:Flags of Slovakia| ]]
[[Category:Flags with crosses]]
[[Category:Flags introduced in 1992]]
[[Category:Flags with blue, red and white]]
[[Category:National symbols of Slovakia|Flag]]
[[Category:National flags]]
[[Category:Flags with coats of arms|Slovakia]]