REPUBLIC OF CROATIA
CURRENT NAVAL ENSIGNS & FLAGS
The national flag of the Republic of Croatia, a horizontal tricolor of red, white and blue, charged with the arms of the state, was officially adopted in 1990, shortly before the proclamation of Croatian independence in 1991. The colors of the flag are derived from ancient coats of arms representing the various regions of Croatia. The tricolor flag, without any coat of arms, first appeared in the revolutionary year of 1848 and was subsequently outlawed by the Habsburg authorities. Despite this it became a potent symbol of Croatian nationalism and finally in 1867 the ban on its display was rescinded. Since then the red-white-blue tricolor has been recognized, either officially or unofficially, as Croatia’s national flag.
The Croatian arms—checky, argent and gules—date from the sixteenth century and seem to derive from sources going back to the eleventh century. These arms represented Croatia in the achievement of the House of Habsburg until 1918, were used by Croatia within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1918, by the Independent State of Croatia during the Second World War and by Croatia within socialist Yugoslavia from 1946. The crest of the contemporary arms is formed by five shields bearing historical coats of arms: from left to right, the oldest known arms of Croatia, the arms of the Republic of Ragusa, the arms of Dalmatia, the arms of Istria and the arms of Slavonia.
Since 1991 Croatia has adopted a range of naval ensigns and flags. The ensign is the national flag with crossed anchors added behind the arms, while the naval jack displays the arms and anchors on a blue field within a red-white frame. The ensign and jack both have 2:3 proportions, and the latter is usually half the size of the latter. The commission pennant is striped in the national colors with the arms and anchors at the hoist. Flags for admirals and commodores are square, somewhat resembling those used by Yugoslavia in times past. The command pennants are also similar to those used by Yugoslavia.
Credit: the drawings presented here are based on information from Zeljko Heimer's outstanding vexillological website, The Flags & Arms of the Modern Era (FAME)
