Flag of Bulgaria

Flag of Bulgaria
	; ;
Vexillological symbol :	?
Aspect ratio:	3: 5
Officially accepted:	April 16, 1879

The flag of Bulgaria consists of three horizontal stripes of equal size: white above, green in the middle and red below. These colors stand for freedom and peace (white), the fertility and nature of Bulgaria (green) and for the blood that was shed in the struggle for freedom (red).

The flag in its current form was first introduced on April 16, 1879 and lasted until 1944. In 1947 the national coat of arms was inserted in the upper left corner. It got its old form back on November 27, 1990.

history

First and Second Bulgarian Empire

According to current knowledge, the Proto-Bulgarians used a cut ponytail as a flag. After Christianization, flags similar to those in the Byzantine Empire began to be used in the First Bulgarian Empire . There is no precise information about the flags in the Second Bulgarian Empire. During the Ottoman rule, the Haiduks and Voivodes used a green flag with a golden lion in the middle and the words "Свобода или смърт." (Freedom or death)

Flag of the Haiduken during the 19th century.

During the Bulgarian Revival

The first flag with the colors green, white and red (horizontal tricolor in this order) was first used in 1861–1862 by the " First Bulgarian Legion " founded by Georgi Rakowski in Belgrade. The first flag with the current arrangement of colors was sewn in the Romanian city of Brăila for the Bulgarian volunteers in the "Russo-Turkish War".

After the liberation

After the liberation, the First Bulgarian Constitution of April 16, 1879 stipulated the colors and their arrangement in today's Bulgarian flag. In 1947 the coat of arms of the People's Republic of Bulgaria was inserted in the white field in the top left corner. On November 27, 1990, this was removed from the flag; The flag in its current version was established in the Fourth Bulgarian Constitution.

^?Flag of the Principality of Bulgaria (1879–1908), the Kingdom (Tsarist Empire) of Bulgaria (1908–1946) and the People's Republic of Bulgaria (1946–1947)
Flag of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (1947-1948)
Flag of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (1948-1967)
Flag of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (1967–1971)
Flag of the People's Republic of Bulgaria (1971-1990)