Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The national flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina contains a wide medium blue vertical band on the fly side with a yellow right triangle abutting the band and the top of the flag. The remainder of the flag is medium blue with seven full five-pointed white stars and two half stars top and bottom along the hypotenuse of the triangle. The three points of the triangle stand for the three constituent peoples of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Bosniaks, Croats, and Serbs. The triangle represents the approximate shape of the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina. The stars, representing Europe, are meant to be infinite in number and thus they continue from top to bottom. The flag features colors often associated with neutrality and peace – white, blue, and yellow. They are also colors traditionally associated with Bosnia. The blue background is suggestive of the flag of Europe.

This is the flag of the future. It is a flag that belongs in Europe. ~ Duncan Bullivant

Quotes

• This is the flag of the future. It is a flag that belongs in Europe.
  • Duncan Bullivant, as quoted in "New flag imposed on Bosnians" (4 February 1998), BBC News, UK: BBC

• I respect the official flag in the way I respect all laws, but for me this flag has no meaning... I am not sure what those stars and colours are representing at all, and I preferred the old one that we used with the lilies.
  • Vedad Nezirovic, as quoted in "Bosnia's 'Foreign Flag' Still Draws Mixed Feelings" (6 December 2017), by Mladen Lakic, Balkan Insight

• Some people told me that I shouldn’t have the flag with me in Banja Luka because it might be seen as a provocation but I told them – this is a flag for all of us. Why should I make exception here? ... Carrying the national flag meant a lot to me. I feel like I am doing something for my country, and I have a flag with me whether I am abroad or in Bosnia and Herzegovina
  • Nudzejma Softic, as quoted in "Bosnia's 'Foreign Flag' Still Draws Mixed Feelings" (6 December 2017), by Mladen Lakic, Balkan Insight

• I am not sure I know anyone here who likes the state flag enough to use it on cars on wedding days or similar... In most such cases, the Republika Srpska flag is used or sometimes Serbia’s flag... We didn’t choose this flag. Someone just decided that we need to use it, and I believe this is why we are in this situation... I am not sure what the colors or the stars on the flag mean, probably something connected with the EU.
  • Milica Tolj, as quoted in "Bosnia's 'Foreign Flag' Still Draws Mixed Feelings" (6 December 2017), by Mladen Lakic, Balkan Insight

• That flag just doesn’t make any sense. It looks like some EU flag and for sure we are not in the EU. If you have three nations, it is hard to hope they will respect only one flag... I am not saying that I like or dislike the flag … but we can see that this flag isn’t that popular.
  • Edin Topic, as quoted in "Bosnia's 'Foreign Flag' Still Draws Mixed Feelings" (6 December 2017), by Mladen Lakic, Balkan Insight

• Back then, you wouldn’t even ask questions about the national flag, but today I can understand that for many people the flag has no meaning at all since we devaluated everything.
  • Obren Zivadinovic, as quoted in "Bosnia's 'Foreign Flag' Still Draws Mixed Feelings" (6 December 2017), by Mladen Lakic, Balkan Insight

External links

• Encyclopedic article on Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wikipedia
• Media related to Flags of Bosnia and Herzegovina on Wikimedia Commons