Czech flag (Flag of the Czech Republic)

What the flag of the Czech Republic looks like

The flag of the Czech Republic is a bicolor of two equal horizontal bands, white at the top and red at the bottom. A blue isosceles triangle is placed on the hoist side. It reaches from the edge of the flag to the middle, so the point of the triangle touches the center of the flag, where the white and red bands meet. The proportions are 2:3.

The flag has no emblem, which makes it simple to reproduce. You can see the flat version in the Czech flag emoji, and print-ready files are available on the download page.

Czech flag meaning and symbolism

White and red are the traditional colors of Bohemia, the largest historic region of the country, and they come from its coat of arms, a white two-tailed lion on a red shield. In the same way, the blue triangle was added to represent Moravia and Slovakia: blue and red appear in the arms of those lands. In modern terms, the colors are given a more general meaning. White is often said to stand for peace and honesty, red for courage and bravery, and blue for vigilance, loyalty and truth.

These readings are popular rather than official. The triangle itself is sometimes described as a wedge that points to the center and connects the two older colors.

History of the Czech flag

The white and red colors were used in the Bohemian lands for centuries. After the end of the First World War and the creation of Czechoslovakia in 1918, the first state flag was simply white over red. This was almost the same as the flag of Poland, so the state needed a different one. The blue triangle was added in 1920 to set the flag apart and to represent Slovakia and Moravia.

The flag was used through the interwar republic, and again after 1945. It was kept during the communist period. During the Second World War, Bohemia and Moravia was a German protectorate and used a different flag, and the Czechoslovak flag was flown by exile forces.

When Czechoslovakia dissolved peacefully on 31 December 1992, the two successor states went in different directions. Slovakia adopted a new flag, while the Czech Republic kept the old one. Parliament confirmed the flag in law with effect from 1 January 1993. In 2016 the country introduced the short name Czechia for official use. The flag did not change.

Flags that look like the Czech flag

A white and red bicolor with a triangle is rare, but other flags share parts of it. The flag of Poland uses the same white and red order without a triangle. The flags of the Philippines and Cuba also have a triangle on the hoist side, though in different colors.