Flags from Our World

KOSOVO

The Flag history of Kosovo

Kosovo was part of the Ottoman Empire from 1455 to 1912. The Ottoman Empire adopted a flag identical to the present flag of Turkey in 1844; until then variants with different shaped crescents and an eight pointed star had been used. In late 1918 a new state was formed by the just united Kingdoms of Serbia and Montenegro and the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs that encompassed the southern Slavic lands of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. It was called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes; in 1929 it was renamed Jugoslavija (in Serbian Cyrillic: Југославија); "jugo" means "south", hence "the land of the Southern Slavs".

During the Second World War the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was abolished and Tito's partizans established a communist federal state, "Democratic Federative Yugoslavia". This was renamed "Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia" in 1946 and, in 1963, "Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia". A flag with a red star just inside the white field was used during the war. The version with the yellow outlined red star was officially adopted 31 January 1946. The Serbian tricolour dates from 1835, and is based on the Russian colours. On 17 January 1947 the red-blue-white flag with a communist star was adopted for the "People's Republic of Serbia". In 1963 it was renamed "Socialist Republic of Serbia".

The Albanian ethnic minority of Yugoslavia had a flag from the late 1940s to the late 1980s. It was in fact an Albanian flag in proportions 1:2 with the Yugoslav communist yellow outlined red star at the hoist. This was NOT a flag of Kosovo, though. But 2 July 1990, a parallel parliament representing the ethnic Albanian population of Kosovo declared Kosovo an independent country, the Republic of Kosova. On 2 September 1991, the Parliament of the Republic of Kosova adopted the Resolution of Independence. The flag used was the Albanian flag, the "Flamur e Skënderbeut" (Skanderbeg's flag): a red field with a black double-headed eagle, identical to the flag of Albania. The state was only recognised by Albania.

On 27 April 1992 the word "Socialist" was dropped and the communist star removed from the Yugoslav flag. On 14 March 2002, after all former Yugoslav republics except Montenegro had become independent, an agreement on the Union of Serbia and Montenegro was signed and the state was henceforth called "Serbia and Montenegro". This lasted until Montenegro declared independence 3 June 2006. Meanwhile the Kosovo Liberation Army or KLA (Albanian: Ushtria Çlirimtare e Kosovës or UÇK), a Kosovar Albanian guerilla group which sought the independence of Kosovo from Yugoslavia in the 1990s, campaigned against Serbian security forces, precipitating a major Yugoslav military crackdown which led to the Kosovo War of 1998-1999. At the end of the war in 1999 the KLA was officially disbanded under the United Nations Administration and their members entered the Kosovo Protection Corps (KPC).

During the United Nations Administration from 1999 until 17 February 2008 the flag of the United Nations (adopted 20 October 1947) was used for official and government purposes in Kosovo. Ibrahim Rugova, the first president of the Republic of Kosova introduced the "flag of Dardania" as a Presidential State Flag on October 29, 2000. Dardania is the name of an ancient region in the same general area as Kosovo. This flag did not gain much popularity,but was occasionally used at cultural and sports events during the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) period and was also used at Rugova's funeral to cover his coffin. Meanwhile In August 2004 a new flag was raised for Serbia, of which Kosovo was still officially a province, displaying a coat of arms based on that of the Kingdom of Serbia of 16 June 1882. Following the dissolution of "Serbia and Montenegro" with the independence of Montenegro, Serbia was declared the successor state of Yugoslavia on 5 June 2006.

On 17 February 2008, the Parliament of Kosovo declared independence from Serbia over its objections and adopted a flag and arms. The flag of Kosovo is blue with a yellow geographical map of Kosovo and six white five-pointed stars forming an arch above it. The blue colour represents the goals of the people of Kosovo for Euro-Atlantic integration. The golden yellow coloured map represents Kovoso as a rich and peaceful country, while the white stars above the map represent the communities living in Kosovo: Albanian, Serb, RAE (Roma, Ashkali and Egyptian), Bosniak, Turkish and Goran (Macedonian). A former KLA leader, Hashim Thaçi, became Prime Minister of an independent Kosovo.

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