Flag of the Czech Republic

The national flag of the Czech Republic () is the same as the flag of the former Czechoslovakia. Upon the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, the Czech Republic kept the Czechoslovak flag while Slovakia adopted its own flag. The first flag of Czechoslovakia was based on the flag of Bohemia, and was white over red. This was almost identical to the flag of Poland (only the proportion was different), so a blue triangle was added at the hoist in 1920. The flag was banned by the Nazis in 1939, and a horizontal tricolor of white, red, and blue was enforced. The 1920 flag was restored in 1945.
== History ==
The traditional colours of Czechia, originating from a 1192 coat of arms (depicting a rampant lion with a double silver tail on a red background), are white and red. Due to historical considerations, the flag of the Czech Republic bears identical resemblance to that of Czechoslovakia. 
After the establishment of an independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, the country had been using the red and white flag of Bohemia, identical to the Polish flag. Following calls for a new flag to be adopted by the fledgling state, a committee picked a design by Jaroslav Kursa, an archivist in the Czechoslovak Ministry of the Interior. His design included the red and white horizontal stripes derived from the coat of arms of Bohemia, and added a blue wedge extended halfway along the flag.
The flag was officially approved by the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia on 30 March 1920 and since then, it has been in continuous use, with the exception of the German occupation of Czechoslovakia during World War II,Government of the Czech Republic The Czech Republic's national flag. Retrieved 4 March 2011. Additionally, during a short period following the Velvet Revolution, between 1990 and 1992, the Czech part of the Czechoslovak federated state adopted the previous red and white flag.Law defining state symbols of the Czech Republic 67/1990 Sb, from 13 March 1990
During the 1992 negotiations on the split of Czechoslovakia, a clause forbidding the use of the state symbols of Czechoslovakia by either successor state was inserted into the legislation concerning the dissolution of the federation.Ústavný zákon č. 542/1992 Zb. o zániku Českej a Slovenskej Federatívnej Republiky, Čl. 3 ods. 2(Constitutional act. No. 542/1992 Col. on the dissolution of the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic, art. 3 sect. 2) The Czech Republic violated this clause, passing legislation overruling the previous agreement and keeping the use of the flag.Law defining state symbols of the Czech Republic 3/1993 Sb, from 17 December 1992
{| class="wikitable" cellspacing="3" cellpadding="3" style="background:#fff;"	 	 	 	 	 	
 	 	 	 	 	 	
Kingdom of Bohemia1198-1918	Czechoslovakia1918-1920	Czechoslovakia1920-1939	Protectorate ofBohemia and Moravia1939-1945	Czechoslovakia1945-1992	Federal Czech Republic1990-1992	Czech Republic1993-present
==Czechoslovakia==
File:Flag of the Czech Republic (WFB 2000).png|Flag of Czechoslovakia (1920–1992)
File:Naval Ensign of Czechoslovakia 1935-1939 1945-1955.svg|Naval Ensign of Czechoslovakia. (1935–1955)
File:Naval Ensign of Czechoslovakia 1955-1960.svg|Naval Ensign of Czechoslovakia. (1955–1960)
== Dimensions ==
The blazon of this flag is per pall fesswise Argent, Azure, and Gules. The flag is formed from an isosceles triangle that extends halfway along the rectangle (a common mistake is to draw it shorter) and two bands: one white and one red. The most similar foreign flag is the flag of the Philippines but the latter has dimensions 1:2, the three colors permuted, and additional golden-yellow symbols added on it.
File:Tricolour_of_the_Czech_Republic.svg|Czech Republic tricolour
==Presidential standard==
Another Czech official symbol is the Standard of the President of the Czech Republic. It was first introduced in 1918 for the President of Czechoslovakia. The current version, which was designed by heraldist Jiří Louda, was adopted upon the creation of an independent Czech Republic in 1993.
===Previous versions===
File:Presidential_Standard_of_the_Republic_of_Czechoslovakia_(1918-1939).png|Presidential standard of First Czechoslovak Republic (1918-1939), and Czechoslovak Republic (1945–1960)
File:Bohemia_Moravia_President_Standard_1939-1945.svg|Presidential standard of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (1939–1945)
File:Flag_of_the_President_of_Czechoslovakia_(1960-1990).svg|Presidential standard of Czechoslovak Socialist Republic (1960–1990)
File:Czechoslovakia_COA_Flag_1990.svg|Presidential standard of Czech and Slovak Federative Republic (1990–1992)
==See also==
* The red boxer shorts over Prague Castle
==Literature==
* Zbyšek Svoboda, Pavel Fojtík: brochure Naše vlajka. Vznik a vývoj české vlajky (Our Flag. Origin and evolution of the Czech flag), Libea, 2005, .
* Petr Exner, Pavel Fojtík, Zbyšek Svoboda: brochure Vlajky, prapory a jejich používání (Flags, banners and their use), Libea, 2004, .
== References ==
== External links ==
*History of the Czech and Czechoslovak flag 
*
*Czech flag - facts, history, colors 
Czech Republic
 
Category:National symbols of the Czech Republic
Czech Republic
Category:1920 establishments in Czechoslovakia