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Hungary
UseCivil and state flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag
Proportion1:2
Adopted23 May 1957 (as state flag)
19 June 1990 (reaffirmed)
DesignA horizontal tricolour of red, white and green
UseCivil flag and ensign Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag
Proportion2:3
Adopted18 August 1957 (as civil ensign)
DesignA horizontal tricolour of red-white-green
UseUnofficial state flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag
Proportion1:2
Adopted10 October 1995
DesignA horizontal tricolour of red, white and green with the state coat of arms in the centre.
UseUnit colour Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag
Proportion6:7
Adopted15 March 1991
UseNaval ensign Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag Small vexillological symbol or pictogram in black and white showing the different uses of the flag
Proportion3:4
Adopted1991

The national flag of Hungary (Magyarország zászlaja) is a horizontal tricolour of red, white and green. In this exact form, it has been the official flag of Hungary since 23 May 1957. The flag's form originates from national republican movements of the 18th and 19th centuries, while its colours are from the Middle Ages. The current Hungarian tricolour flag is the same as the republican movement flag of the United Kingdom (used since 1816) and the colours in that form were already used at least since the coronation of Leopold II in 1790, predating the first use of the Cispadane Republic's tricolour in 1797.

Current flag

The modern flag of Hungary originated from the national freedom movement from before 1848, which culminated in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The revolution was not only in opposition against the monarchy but also the Habsburg Empire, as well as to form an independent republic. Accordingly, the flag of Hungary features a tricolour element which is based on the flag of France as a reflection of the ideas of the French Revolution of 1848; while red, white, and green are colours derived from the historical Hungarian coat of arms, which have essentially remained in the same form since the mid-15th century, with exception to some minor differences, and were marshalled from arms that first appeared in the late 12th and early 13th century as arms of the Árpáds, Hungary's founding dynasty. The stripes are horizontal rather than vertical to prevent confusion with the Italian flag despite the banner in that form predating the Italian tricolour by at least 7 years but unlike in Italy, the Italians adopted it as the flag of an Italian state in 1797. According to other data, but no evidence of, the recent form of the Hungarian tricolour had been already used from 1608 at the coronation of Mathias II of Hungary and following coronations. Folklore of the romantic period attributed the colours to virtues: red for strength, white for faithfulness and green for hope. Alternatively, red for the blood spilled for the fatherland, white for freedom and green for the land, for the pastures of Hungary. The new constitution, which took effect on 1 January 2012, makes the ex-post interpretation mentioned first official (in the semi-official translation: strength (erő), fidelity (hűség) and hope (remény)).

Evolution

Hungarian national colours on the wall, Hungarian coronation of Leopold II in Pressburg (Pozsony, today's Bratislava) in 1790, 58 years before the Hungarian revolution

As described above, the red, white and green tricolour clearly emerged as a sign of national sovereignty during the 1848–1849 revolution against the Habsburgs. Hungarian volunteers and Émigrés fought for the social movement and wars of Italian unification under the banner for Garibaldi. After the revolution in Hungary was defeated, the tricolour flag was prohibited by the Austrian Emperor. After the Compromise of 1867, however, the tricolour became not only legal, but also the official flag of Hungary. The flag had the so-called minor arms (also known as the Kossuth coat of arms) of Hungary with archangels as supporters were used as a badge on the flag. This configuration was used until the end of the Habsburg Empire in 1918.

After the fall of the Habsburg Empire, the years 1918 to 1920 were highly turbulent, and several hard-to-trace minor changes took place. The red-green-white tricolour stayed the same, but small differences emerged in terms of the badge. A short interlude and exception was the 1919 Hungarian Soviet Republic, which lasted for four-and-a-half months; it used a solid red banner.

It seems that from 1920 to 1944–1945 the tricolour displayed the minor arms of Hungary, but the version without them was also used.

Between 1946 and 1949 the crown was removed from the top of the arms serving as the badge.

With the onset of Communist rule in 1949, a new coat of arms featuring a Communist red star was placed on the flag as the badge.

During the anti-Soviet uprising in 1956, revolutionaries cut out the Hammer and Wheat emblem and used the resulting tricolour with a hole in the middle as the symbol of the revolution. For some months the new government changed the flag to bear the minor arms without the crown as the badge again.

In 1957, after the revolution was defeated by the Soviet Red Army, the new government created a "new" coat of arms, which however was never officially put onto the flag. Therefore, the official flag of Hungary has been a pure red-white-green tricolour since 1957.

After the fall of communism in 1989 there was no need to change the flag, as like the flags of Poland and Czechoslovakia, it did not bear any communist insignia.

There was a recommendation of the Committee of Symbols in the 2000s, that the coat of arms should be part of the state flag, while the national flag should remain plain (as is the status quo). This has not been implemented in law, though in case of most state use the arms are legally permitted on the flag (see below).

Exact description and legislature

The Hungarian Constitution does not explicitly state anything about the width:length ratio of the flag; but, there is a law from 1957 that is in force stating that seagoing merchant vessels shall hoist the red, white and green tricolour in 2:3 ratio.

By a government decree from 2000, the ratio (which is neither defined in the Constitution nor in 1995 or 2000 legislation) of flags used on government building is 1:2.

Summarized, this would mean:

  • A red–white–green tricolour. Actually many variations might be used though according to 1995/LXXXIII §11 (3) "(3) In cases specified in paragraphs (1) and (2), the arms and the flag can be used also in their historical forms.", as (1) reads as: 1995/LXXXIII §11 (1) "(1) For the purpose of declaring their belonging to the nation, private persons can use the arms and the flag, subject to the limitations in this law."
  • red–white–green tricolour, ratio 1:2 (by decree from 2000). According to 1995/LXXXIII §11 (4), the official coat of arms of Hungary might be placed onto it as a badge.
  • White background with green red alternated flammulette ("flame tongues", triangles with wavy edge) border, coat of arms in the center, embraced by oak branches from the left, olive branches from the right. Ratio not defined. ( 1995/LXXXIII §8 (1) )
  • 2:3 (ratio defined by 1957 law) red-white-green tricolour (there is a merchant fleet)
  • Unknown or unspecified;
  • White background with green red alternated triangle border, coat of arms at 1/3 of the flag, nearer to the pole. Ratio not defined. ( 1995/LXXXIII §8 (2) )

Colours

The colours of the flag of Hungary are defined in the official document MSZ 1361:2009:


Colors scheme 		Crimson red White Dark green
Pantone 18-1660 TCX Tomato Not available 18-6320 TCX Fairway
CIELAB 44.0, 60.0, 32.0 100.0, 128.0, 128.0 37.5, 26.0, 144.0
RGB 206, 41, 57 255, 255, 255 71, 112, 80
Hexadecimal #CE2939 #FFFFFF #477050

Gallery

Further information: List of Hungarian flags and Flags of Hungarian history

  • Unofficial civil flag of Hungary

  • Unofficial state flag of Hungary

  • State flag of Hungary (vertical version)

  • Unofficial state flag of Hungary (vertical version)

Historical flags

Head of state standards

  • Ensign of the Regent, used between 1921 and 1939.

  • Standard of the Regent as supreme warlord of the Royal Hungarian Army, used between 1939 and 1944.

  • Ensign of the President, used between 1948 and 1950.

  • Standard of the President, used between 1990 and 2012.

  • Standard of the President, used from 2012.

See also

Notes

  1. The official Hungarian state flag does not contain the Hungarian coat of arms, but the variant defaced with the coat of arms is often used during solemn occasions.

References

  1. "1957. évi II. törvény a Magyar Népköztársaság Alkotmányának módosításáról" [Act II of 1957 on the Amendment of the Constitution of the Hungarian People's Republic]. hu.wikisource.org (in Hungarian). Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  2. "1990. évi XL. törvény a Magyar Köztársaság Alkotmányának módosításáról" [Act XL of 1990 on the Amendment of the Constitution of the Hungarian Republic]. Törvények és országgyűlési határozatok (in Hungarian). Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  3. "51/1957. (VIII. 18.) Korm. számú rendelet a magyar tengeri kereskedelmi hajók lobogójáról" [Decree of the Government No. 51/1957. (VIII. 18.) on the Ensign of the Hungarian Maritime Merchant Vessels]. hu.wikisource.org (in Hungarian). Retrieved 23 February 2017.
  4. "1995. évi LXXXIII. törvény a Magyar Köztársaság nemzeti jelképeinek és a Magyar Köztársaságra utaló elnevezésnek a használatáról" [Act LXXXIII of 1995 on the usage of the national symbols and name of the Hungarian Republic]. Törvények és országgyűlési határozatok (in Hungarian). Retrieved 14 March 2018.
  5. ^ "A Magyar Honvédség új felségjelzése és hadilobogói" [The new insignia and war ensigns of the Hungarian Defence Forces]. Haditechnika. 25 (3): 3–4. 1991.
  6. Examples of original surviving medieval charters of the Kingdom of Hungary where the seal was attached to the charter using braided cords of red, white and green silk:
  7. "the Streets, through which the King is to go, being Boarded and covered with White, Green, and Red Cloth" "Of the Ceremonies observed in the Coronations of the Kings and Queens of Hungary", The Present State of Hungary (1687). United Kingdom: (n.p.). at Google Books
  8. The Weakening of Absolutism: The War in Italy and the Hungarian Émigrés.
  9. Halasz, Ivan; Schweitzer, Gabor (16 March 2011). "National and State Symbols in the Hungarian Legal System (Excerpts)" (PDF). Legal Compass: 3.
  10. "The Fundamental Law of Hungary" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-06-29. Retrieved 2016-08-07.
  11. Magyarország Alaptörvénye
  12. "The Constitution of the Hungarian Republic". Archived from the original on 2006-02-09. Retrieved 2011-05-26.
  13. ^ Law 1995/LXXXIII
  14. Law 2000/XXXVIII
  15. Volker Preuß. "Flagge Ungarns" (in German). Retrieved 2002-12-10.
  16. "Megújult a nemzeti zászlóra és lobogóra vonatkozó nemzeti szabvány" (PDF) (in Hungarian). 2020-06-18. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2022-03-20. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  17. ^ "PANTONE 18-1660 TCX Tomato". Archived from the original on 2021-07-24. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  18. ^ "PANTONE 18-6320 TCX Fairway". Archived from the original on 2021-09-18. Retrieved 2020-06-18.
  19. ^ Horváth, Zoltán (1995). A zászlók kialakulása és fejlődése a kezdetektől napjainkig [The formation and development of flags from the beginning to the present day] (in Hungarian). Budapest: Zászlókutató Intézet. pp. 13–14.
  20. ^ Csákváriné Kottra, Györgyi (2011). Magyar zászlók a honfoglalástól napjainkig (in Hungarian). Budapest: Hadtörténeti Intézet és Múzeum. pp. 18–19. ISBN 978-963-09-6494-4.
  21. "Árpád-házi királyi zászló a 12. sz. végétől". Magyar Nemzeti és Történelmi Jelképek (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 7 April 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  22. "Az Árpád-házi királyok családi zászlaja". Magyar Nemzeti és Történelmi Jelképek (in Hungarian). Archived from the original on 19 May 2022. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  23. Csákváriné Kottra, Györgyi (2011). Magyar zászlók a honfoglalástól napjainkig (in Hungarian). Budapest: Hadtörténeti Intézet és Múzeum. pp. 19–21. ISBN 978-963-09-6494-4.
  24. Miniature in Chronicon Pictum (c. 1370).
  25. "Anjou-királyi zászló". Magyar Nemzeti és Történelmi Jelképek (in Hungarian). Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  26. "Anjou Kings Flag (1301-1382)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 15 March 2019.
  27. Somogyi, Győző (2011). Magyar hadizászlók (in Hungarian). Budapest: Cser Kiadó. p. 22. ISBN 978-963-278-194-5.
  28. Somogyi, Győző (2011). Magyar hadizászlók (in Hungarian). Budapest: Cser Kiadó. p. 25. ISBN 978-963-278-194-5.
  29. ^ Somogyi, Győző (2011). Magyar hadizászlók (in Hungarian). Budapest: Cser Kiadó. pp. 27–28. ISBN 978-963-278-194-5.
  30. Horváth, Zoltán (1995). A zászlók kialakulása és fejlődése a kezdetektől napjainkig (in Hungarian). Budapest: Zászlókutató Intézet. p. 14.
  31. Somogyi, Győző (2011). Magyar hadizászlók (in Hungarian). Budapest: Cser Kiadó. p. 38. ISBN 978-963-278-194-5.
  32. Csákváriné Kottra, Györgyi (2011). Magyar zászlók a honfoglalástól napjainkig (in Hungarian). Budapest: Hadtörténeti Intézet és Múzeum. p. 33. ISBN 978-963-09-6494-4.
  33. "Rákóczi fejedelem zászlaja". Magyar Nemzeti és Történelmi Jelképek (in Hungarian). Retrieved 15 March 2019.

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