Flag of The Republic of Macedonia

Flag Of The Republic Of Macedonia

The national flag of the Republic of Macedonia (Macedonian: Знаме на Република Македонија) depicts a stylised 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 colours representing Macedonia, probably because of the colours 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, Denes nad Makedonija ("Today over Macedonia"):

Today over Macedonia, is being born

the new sun of liberty.

The Macedonians fight,

for their own rights!

The change of the flag was firstly not accepted by conservative Macedonians and self-proclaimed patriots. In the first years after the change, both flags were officially flown for a long time. Between 1995 and 1998, in the municipalities where then-opposition party VMRO-DPMNE ruled, only the old flag was flown from institution buildings. Popular opinion was divided about the merits of changing the flag; a survey carried out before the Assembly's vote found that a bare majority of the population, 56.33 percent, supported the adoption of a new flag. Nonetheless the Assembly voted for the new flag by an overwhelming majority, with 110 of the 115 delegates voting in favour, one voting against and four abstaining.