Croatian flag was officially accepted by the Parliament on December 21, 1990
Exactly 25 years ago, on December 21, 1990, Croatian Parliament brought forth the Law on the Coat of Arms, the Flag and the National Anthem of the Republic of Croatia. In case you didn’t know, the crown on the flag consists of 5 shields with historical Croatian coats of arms and they are, from left to right: the oldest known coat of arms of Croatia, the Dubrovnik Republic, Dalmatia, Istria and on the far right, Slavonia. The flag was designed by Miroslav Šutej and it was accepted by a commission led by prof. dr. sc. Nikša Stančić.
Since the use of the Croatian flag with any form of the historic coat of arms was forbidden from 1945 until 1990, the day when the new flag was accepted and proudly raised on the mast was a day that will always hold a special place in Croatian history.
And where did the red and white checkers come from? Well, no one is entirely certain, some reports say it comes from Iraq, but we will stick to an interesting legend that is said to be the reason why we have the checkers on our flag and coat of arms. According to that legend, Croatian king Držislav, who fought a fierce war over Dalmatia with the Doge of Venice Peter II Orseolo was captured by the enemy and soon thrown into a dungeon. The Doge of Venice learned that Držislav too was a passionate chess player and made a wager: should the king beat him three times in a row, he would release him from the dungeon and of course, Držislav accepted so the two royals took their battle to the chess board. Držislav won and was subsequently released so to commemorate his victory Držislav added the chessboard to the existing Croatian insignia.
Whether it is true or not, it is a legend will be told for generations to come. In the meantime, we will keep proudly waving the Croatian flag.
