SOCIALIST YUGOSLAVIA
NAVAL ENSIGNS, FLAGS & PENNANTS • 1949-91
Socialist Yugoslavia (known as the Federative People's Republic of Yugoslavia from 1949 to 1963 and as the Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia from 1963 to 1991), adopted as its flag the Yugoslavian blue-white-red horizontal tricolor, charged with a red star, during World War II. Wartime flags often had a plain red star on the white stripe only, but in 1946 the design was regularized with a large yellow-bordered red star that extended into the blue and red stripes.
In 1949 a naval ensign was adopted and in 1950 a range of naval rank flags was introduced. The ensign was red with the national flag as a canton, but the star was bordered with white and red, and enclosed within a yellow wreath. A special ceremonial naval ensign was also adopted, with the arms of the state replacing the star in the canton. This ensign seems to have been abandoned in the mid-1950s. The naval jack was red, charged with the full arms of the state. When the name of the state was changed in 1963, these arms were slightly modified to display six instead of five torches. Distinctive ensigns were also adopted for naval auxiliary vessels and for vessels operated by the Ministry of Defense (principally the Border Guard). The former seems to have been abandoned in the mid-1950s, but the latter was still in use at the beginning of the 1990's. The naval rank flags adopted in 1950 bore a marked resemblance to those of the USSR, but in 1956 new designs of the traditional Yugoslavian pattern were introduced. The commissioning pennant, introduced in 1950, was unusual in that it featured a blue-white red tassel at the tip of the fly.
In 1991 Yugoslavia ceased to be a communist state, and the nation's flags were changed accordingly. For the most part this involved the removal of communist symbols such as the red star and the 1956-91 coat of arms, but the basic patterns were not altered. See also National Flags of Yugoslavia.
Flag Proportions: Naval ensigns and jacks of socialist Yugoslavia were made in 2:3 proportions. The 1950-56 rank flags for admirals were also 2:3, while those adopted in 1956 were square.
Credits: Many of my drawings are based on images and information posted to the FOTW Mailing List by Zeljko Heimer (Croatia).
Images Added June 2002
1956-91 Naval Rank Flags & Pennants
