Last modified: 2024-10-26 by rob raeside
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2:3~ image by Zoltan Horvath, 27 September 2024
This is indeed regulated by law, namely "Vyhlaska 220/2001 Z. z." which states
that:
1) A naval ship shall use the state flag with the dimensions of 1.5 x 1
meters.
2) Boats belonging to a ship shall use a state flag with the
dimensions of 0.75 x 0.5 meters.
Here is a link to the full text of the
law but unfortunately I couldn't find any English translation. Maybe you'll have
some luck with the online translator:
http://www.epi.sk/zz/2001-220
Regarding the flag itself, its design
is described in the Slovak Constitution (part 2, article 9):
http://www.vop.gov.sk/constitution-of-the-slovak-republic
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f3/Flag_of_Slovakia%2C_construction_sheet.png
In printed versions of the Constitution, there seems to be a
"construction sheet" for both the state flag and the coat of arms. There are two
versions in use, one vertical and one horizontal. The idea is that the coat of
arms must never appear rotated or tilted.
Milos Bazelides, 25 May
2018
The Constitution defines the flag, but doesn’t give any specification:
https://www.slov-lex.sk/pravne-predpisy/SK/ZZ/1992/460/
The Act of
the National Council of the Slovak Republic on state symbols of the Slovak
Republic and their use (Act No. 63/1993) gives details and construction details
with illustrations:
https://www.epi.sk/zz/1993-63
Zoltan Horvath, 27 September 2024
The protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flags and Anthems
Manual London 2012
For Slovakia: PMS 293 blue, 032 red. The vertical flag is the horizontal version
turned 90 degrees anti-clockwise, but the shield remains upright towards the top
There is no official source that gives exact colors of the national flag; those
below are all approximate colors from the documented sources. Zoltan Horvath, 27 September 2024 White over blue over red tricolour with the coat of arms off-set to
the hoist fimbriated white. The Album2000
gives construction details as (15~+5~+20+5~+15~):(27+63), that I shall
show are quite correct, and even the ~ could be removed altogether. The
construction of the flag is simply but efficiently described in the legislation
on the State Symbols of the Slovak Republic ("Zákon o štátnych symboloch
Slovenskej republiky a ich používaní", Zbierka zákonov č. 63/1993;
relevant extract available,
also
Pascal Vagnat's translation present at FOTW). The size of the Coat
of Arms is key here, and it is not expressly stated in the legislation (maybe
it is in the annexes? can anyone confirm?). However, from several official
images of the Coat of Arms I have seen, it seems that it fits well in square
4x5 (also, note that the width is maximal around the middle of the height).
To avoid any quotient in the construction sheet, and because of the
requirement that the fimbriation around the shield is 1/100 of the flag
length, one needs to make flag consisting of 600 x 900 units. The height
of the Coat of Arms is half the hoist, i.e. 300, the width 4/5 of it, i.e.
240. The law determines that the distance of the Coat of Arms from top,
bottom and hoist edge is equal, that would make it 150. The white fimbriation
in the blue and red stripes is 9 units wide. As these units are exactly
10 times smaller then those used in Album, the analogy is obvious, however
I decided to show different parts on my sheet. And as it is shown, there
is no need for ~ in the sheet in the Album.
A vertical flag/banner is also prescribed in the legislation mentioned
above. This is understandably not included in Album (that concentrates
primarily on naval usage, however wide). The height of the flag is prescribed
as maximally triple the width, while minimum is not prescribed at all.
I guess that 2:3 would somehow be reasonable minimum and that vertical
flags would rarely reach that short sizes anyway. The vertical banner should
always be hoisted hanging on a crossbar. Distance of the shield from left,
top and right edges is still to be equal.
Images of vertical flag: In fact, in front of the Slovak Embassy in Belgrade, a vertical 2:3
flag with rotated arms is hung from a crossbar, (looking a bit short).
The present-day state flag of the Slovak Republic is described in article
9, paragraph 2 of the Slovak Constitution, which was enacted on 1st September
1992. It was hoisted for the first time on 3rd September 1992 at 20:22
CET in front of the Bratislava Castle. But its exact form was determined
by law of 18th February 1993, enacted by the National Council of the Slovak
Republic. According to this law, height of the shield with Slovak state
coat of arms is equal to half of width of the flag. The shield is separated
from the blue and red stripes by the white stripe. Its width is equal to
the one hundredth of the flag's length.
Before the separation of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, a resolution
was passed by the Czechoslovak government that neither of the two "new"
states could continue to use the red white and blue flag of Czechoslovakia.
Upon separation, Slovakia adopted the White/Blue/Red flag with the shield
of arms in the upper hoist. The "new" Czech Republic adopted the flag of
former Czechoslovakia, in direct violation of the resolution mentioned
above. Slovakia was ticked off over this, but the Czech folks said "The
country that made that rule doesn't exist any more" and refused to change.
The Constitution of 1990 set up the Czech Lands and Slovakia as two
equal nations. Each was to have its own arms, seal, flag and anthem, and
these were laid down in laws of 1990. The Czech Republic
adopted a greater and lesser coat of arms and the flag of white over red
on 13 March 1990. The Slovak Republic legislation was dated 1 March 1990,
and laid down the arms (almost identical with those of pre-Communist era),
the flag (the plain tricolor), seal and anthem. The flag of the state was
unchanged. As indicated before, the agreement was made by two countries
upon separation not to adopt the previous state's emblems, but the Czech
Republic adopted flag with blue triangle as its flag on 17 December 1992.
Ian Sumner, 11 Oct 2012
The Album
des Pavillons 1990 [pay98] (Corr. No. 29.)
gives approximate color values in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Blue: Pantone
286c, CMYK 100-60-0-0
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK 0-90-80-5
The Flag
Manual - Beijing 2008 gives Pantone colors: PMS 032 (red), and PMS 293 (blue).
The Album des Pavillons 2000 [pay00] (Corr.
No. 3.) gives approximate colors in Pantone and CMYK systems:
Blue: Pantone
286c, CMYK 100-60-0-5
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK 0-90-80-5
The Album des
Pavillons 2023 already specifies the colors of the flags in three color systems:
Blue: Pantone 286c, CMYK 99-80-0-0, RGB 0-53-173
Red: Pantone 186c, CMYK
10-100-74-2, RGB 210-16-52
Vexilla Mundi gives colors in Pantone
system: PMS White, PMS 186C (red), and PMS 286C (blue).
Wikipedia illustrates the flag, and
construction details, and gives color values as follows:
White: CMYK 0-0-0-0,
Hex #FFFFFF, RGB
255-255-255
Blue: CMYK 98-53-0-36, Hex #0B4EA2, RGB 3-77-163
Red: CMYK 0-91-87-7, Hex #EE1C25, RGB 238-22-32
Flag Color Codes gives the following color
values:
White: Hex #FFFFFF, RGB 255-255-255, CMYK 0-0-0-0, Pantone N/A, RAL
N/A
Blue: Hex # 0B4EA2, RGB 11-78-162, CMYK 100-76-0-9, Pantone 293, RAL 5017
Red:
Hex # EE1C25, RGB 238-28-37, CMYK 0-90-76-0, Pantone
032, RAL 3026
Flag construction sheet
image by Željko Heimer, 18 Jan 2003
Željko Heimer, 18 Jan 2003
Law on national symbols
Document here, supplied by Linda Boudová, Chancellory of the National Council, 15 February 2016
Vertical hanging Slovakian flag
image by Zoltan Horvath, 27 September 2024
Željko Heimer, 18 January 2003
https://bleskovky.zoznam.sk
https://www.facebook.com/photo
Zoltan Horvath, 27 September 2024
Short banner
image by Željko Heimer, 29 Aug 2007
Ivan Sarajcic, 29 Aug 2007
History of the Slovakian flag
The first Slovak flag was white-red bicolor
and was waved on 23rd April 1848 in Brezová during a theatre performance.
A petition signed on 10th May 1848 in Liptovský Sv. Mikulaš demanded not
only constitutional or educational rights for Slovaks but also permission
for using red and white Slovak flags. This was rejected by the Hungarians
as well as the other demands. In August 1848 the blue color was added and
in 18th September 1848 in Velká nad Veličkou on the Hungarian-Moravian
border the Slovak revolutionaries hoisted various Slovak and Slav flags
combining red, white and blue in many variations. Some of them depicted
the original Hungarian coat of arms, only the green colour of the three
hills was replaced by blue. The present order of the three stripes of Slovak
flag was established after 1868. These three colors were often used by
the Slovak associations in the United States. They were also used on the
Czechoslovak flag adopted on 30th March 1920, where the blue triangle at
the hoist represented Slovakia. After the puppet Slovak Republic was established,
the law of 23rd June 1939 enacted the white-blue-red tricolore as the state
flag. The same flag was enacted after the Velvet Revolution on 1st March
1990 by the Slovak National Council. The constitution of September 1992
added the coat of arms because the flag could be mistaken for the one of
Russia.
Source: Ales Brozek - Lexikon vlajek a znaku sveta, Kartografie
Praha 1998
Jan Kravcik, 6 June 2000
The Czechoslovak split
Slovakia adopted its triband with arms shifted to the hoist officially
on 1 September 1992 and it was first hoisted two days later.
Mark Sensen, 2 July 1996
Nick Artimovich 31 October 1996
Željko Heimer, 1 November 1996