Flag of Montenegro

The **flag of Montenegro** (Montenegrin: Застава Црне Горе / *Zastava Crne Gore*) was officially adopted with the Law on the state symbols and the statehood day of Montenegro on 13 July 2004 at the proposal of the government of Montenegro. It was constitutionally sanctioned with the proclamation of the Constitution on 22 October 2007. It is a red banner with broader golden edges all around the red field with the coat of arms of Montenegro in its center.

The Law on the state symbols and the statehood day of Montenegro reached full effect the day after its publication in the Official Gazette of Montenegro. The publication occurred 12 July 2004 and the legal power of the Law occurred the day after, on 13 July 2004 - the statehood day of Montenegro.

## Description

The flag of Montenegro is red, with the coat of arms in the middle, and golden borders. The ratio of the flag is 1:2. The coat of arms takes up  2⁄3 of the flag's height. The middle point of the coat of arms matches the middle point of the flag. The width of the border is  1⁄20 of the flag's proportions. Two versions of the Montenegrin flag are in use, horizontal, mostly used outdoor; and vertical, mostly used indoor.

## Use of flag

The flag is permanently hoisted on:

* the Parliament of Montenegro;
* buildings which are official premises of the President of the Republic, the Prime Minister, the Chairman of the High Court, the Chairman of the Constitutional Court, the Supreme State Attorney and the Human Rights Ombudsman;
* the residence of the President of Montenegro.

The flag is also hoisted on:

* the statehood day of Montenegro and in days of other state holidays of Montenegro, on buildings in which are seated state bodies and other bodies of government
* buildings of the representations of Montenegro abroad;
* aircraft, ships and other vessels according to special regulations;
* voting sites during elections and referendums;
* mourning days determined by the Government, half-masted.

The flag may also be hoisted during international meetings, political, scientific, cultural, artistic, sporting and other manifestations in which Montenegro is represented, according to the rules of such events.

According to international tradition, when the flag is hoisted together with one or more flags of other states or international organizations on Montenegrin soil, the flag takes the place of honour.
The place of honour is considered the center of a circle, the top of a semicircle, the first place in a row, column or a group of flags, the central position between the flags and the left side as seen from the front from the flags of other states or international organizations.

The flag is hoisted, lowered and carried with the usual honors (standing up, saluting etc.) The flag can not be hoisted so as to touch the ground, nor should be used as a table cloth, curtain or similar.

## Historical

The historical war flags were the ***krstaš-barjak***, plain flags with crosses in the center.

* The Montenegrin war flag used in the Battle of Vučji Do (1876) was red with a white cross pattée in the center and a white border, and this flag was adopted from the Serbian war flag in the Battle of Kosovo (1389) which found itself in Montenegro after surviving knights brought it there. The same flag was used in Cetinje in 1878, upon recognition of independence by the Ottoman Empire at San Stefano.
* According to the 1905 constitution, the national flag was a tricolour of red-bluish-white, which were the colours of Montenegrin folk costume.

Flags as the state symbols were introduced only in the time of Petar II Petrović-Njegoš. Before him, the principal Montenegrin flag had been the ***alaj-barjak*** (regimental colors) with a single symbol on it - the cross (*krst*). The first written description of a Montenegrin flag dates from the time of Šćepan Mali: it was white, with a red frame and a golden cross on top of the spear. The next comes from 1838: pale-yellow with the small red cross, and in 1876 the flag was described as red with a white cross. At the time of Prince Danilo, the cross on the alaj-barjak was replaced by the two-headed eagle with the initials DI (Danilo I) on its breast, with the lion passant underneath. Prince/King Nikola used many different flags in his time. The first of the variants was the same as Danilo's, differing only in the initials - NI (Nikola I). Around 1910, two new variants appeared: one tricolor (red, blue and white) with the two-headed eagle bearing the initials *NI* on its breast and the lion passant on the sinister, the other with the two-headed eagle above the initials *NI*.[*verification needed*]

In late 1946 a new flag of the People's Republic of Montenegro, a constituent republic of the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia was adopted. It returned the traditional tricolor adding an ideological communist Red Star to its center. This flag was used until 1992, when the proclaimed flag was red, bluish and white vertical tricolor, with the size ratio of 1:3.

## Notes

* For a transitional period of 60 days after the adoption of the current flag, the proportion of the golden eagle was  1⁄3 of the flags' size, instead of  2⁄3.
* The symbols were originally adopted in 2004 by the ruling DPS-SDP coalition on an extraordinary session of the parliament, without the presence of the opposition.
* It was criticized by opposition for being non-vexilologic, originating only partially from the old military flags of Montenegro. The ruling coalition adopted it during the campaign for an independent Montenegro, which was then a part of a state union with Serbia, having a tricolor similar to the Serbian one for its flag.

## See also

* List of flags of Montenegro
* Cross pattée
* Flag of Yugoslavia
* Flag of Serbia and Montenegro

## References

1. ↑ Law of state symbols
2. ↑ Ivanović (2006). "Problematika autokefalije Mitropolije Crnogorsko-primorske". Крсташ-барјак, познатији као вучедолска застава, је у ствари косовски крсташ-барјак, који су преживјели косовски витезови донијели у Црну Гору послије боја на Косову.
3. ↑ Nenadović, Ljubomir P. (1929). *O Crnogorcima: pisma sa Cetinja 1878. godine, Volume 212* (in Serbian). Štamparija "Sv. Sava,". p. 187.
4. ↑ *Grbovi, zastave i himne u istoriji Crne Gore*. p. 66. У члану 39. стоји: „Народне су боје: црвена плаветна и бијела". Ова уставна одредба може се сматрати првим законским утемељењем црногорске државне (народне) заставе. Претхо- дним планом (38) прописан је државни грб ...
5. ↑ Historical symbols, Official Montenegrin web presentation Archived 28 June 2010 at the Wayback Machine.
6. ↑ Jovan B. Markuš: Grbovi, zastave i himne u istoriji Crnoj Gori, Cetinje : Svetigora, 2007. **105 pp.** ISBN 978-86-7660-054-0

## External links

* Montenegro at Flags of the World
* Encyclopædia Britannica, Flag of Montenegro