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Flag of Yugoslavia

national flag

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 13, 2026
Entity authorityQ381988 ↗
Source-derived summary

The flag of Yugoslavia was the official flag of the Yugoslav state from 1918 to 1992. The flag's design and symbolism are derived from the Pan-Slavic movement, which ultimately led to the unification of the South Slavs and the creation of a united south-Slavic state in 1918.

The flag had three equal horizontal bands of blue, white, and red and was first used by the Kingdom of Yugoslavia from 1918 to 1941. A red star was added in its center by the victorious Yugoslav Partisans in World War II and this design was used until the breakup of Yugoslavia in the early 1990s, whereupon the changes where reverted. This version continued to be used by the direct successor state to Yugoslavia, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, until its own dissolution in 2006. Today, the flag still holds meaning to those nostalgic for Yugoslavia or who admire its anti-fascist symbolism.

Design and symbolism

The flag of Yugoslavia is a horizontal tricolour of blue (top), white (middle) and red (bottom). The design and colours are based on the Pan-Slavic flag adopted at the Pan-Slavic Congress of 1848, in Prague. Following the end of the First World War in 1918, the Southern Slavs united into a single unitary state of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, later known as Yugoslavia. The monarchy selected the pan-Slavic design to symbolise the new founded unity of all Southern Slavs.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Flag of Yugoslavia” as national flag. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA dependable orientation record for establishing vocabulary, names and a first evidence trail. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1918, 1992, 1941, 2006—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1946-01-31. The account is most persuasive where Flag, Yugoslavia and national can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as national flag. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 13, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q381988. None of the 1 selected statements returned an explicit reference. The first chronological checks are 1918, 1992, 1941 and 2006.

Critical limits

A concise general-reference account can conceal disagreements about scope, terminology or the weight assigned to individual sources. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Flag of Yugoslavia”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Flag of Yugoslavia primary sources, Flag of Yugoslavia archive and Flag research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Flag of Yugoslavia”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Flag of Yugoslavia” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.