Flag of Macedonia

Flag of Macedonia

Macedonia's long history stretches back to the classical period, but the history of the Macedonian flags only reaches back to the middle of the 20th century. The flag's emblem does have a significantly longer history, which serves to link the modern Republic of Macedonia to the days when Alexander and his army shaped the ancient world.

The national flag of the Republic of Macedonia depicts a stylized yellow sun on a red field, with eight broadening rays extending from the centre to the edge of the field. It was created by Pr. Miroslav Grčev and was adopted on 5 October 1995 after a one-year economic blockade imposed by Greece in order to force the Republic of Macedonia to remove the ancient Macedonian Vergina Sun from the flag. Red and yellow have always been considered the main colors representing Macedonia, probably because of the colors of the historical coat of arms of Macedonia. The new eight-rayed sun represents "the new sun of Liberty" referred to in the national anthem of the Republic of Macedonia.

• Capital of Macedonia: Skopje
• Area of Macedonia: 24,856 sq. km
• Languages used in Macedonia: Macedonian, Albanian, Turkish, Roma, Serbian
• Religions in Macedonia: Macedonian, Orthodox, Christian, Muslim

Colors and Symbolism in the Macedonia flag

Macedonia flags feature a yellow sun with rays streaming forth from it on a solid red field. The sun has been associated with Greek art since the classical period, where it was commonly included in depictions of the gods. It was also found on a golden box that in a Macedonian tomb. The box held human ashes, which probably belonged to a member of Macedonia's ruling family slightly prior to the reign of Alexander the Great. The sun has been a symbol of Macedonia ever since then, although political concerns have prevented modern Macedonian flags from displaying a sun of the same style as the ones found in ancient art. The use of the sun emblem on the Macedonian flag represents the country's ancient heritage, while the new variation on the emblem can be taken as a sign of the nation's willingness to change while still respecting its past.

History of Macedonia Flags

Several Macedonia flags have been authorized for use since the middle of the 20th century. The first was authorized by the Anti-Fascist Assembly of the National Liberation of Macedonia in 1944. It was a communist government, and it adopted a flag that followed the pattern set by other such nations. The flag had a solid red field with the outline of a gold star in the center. Both the color and the star were common symbols of communism that served to emphasize the government's political leanings.

Macedonia became part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946, at which time it adopted a new flag. It used a variation on its previous flag which shrank and repositioned the star rather than adopting the Pan-Slavic colors associated with the rest of Yugoslavia.

Macedonia adopted the Vergina flag in 1992. It resembled the modern flag, but it used the classical form of the star instead of the modern emblem. The flag led to political difficulties with Greece, which were largely resolved when Macedonia adopted the modern flag in 1995.