Flag of Latvia

What the flag of Latvia looks like

The flag of Latvia has two red bands, one on top and one at the bottom, divided by a thin white stripe in the center. The stripes are in the ratio 2:1:2, so the white stripe takes up only one-fifth of the height. The flag is twice as long as it is high, with a ratio of 1:2.

The red is a dark shade, often called Latvian red or carmine, closer to maroon than to the bright red of many other flags. This dark red is a defining part of the Latvian flag. It is shown in simplified form in the Latvia flag emoji, and you can find files for printing on the download page.

Latvia flag meaning and symbolism

The colors are linked to a well-known legend. It tells of a Latvian tribal leader who was wounded in battle and wrapped in a white sheet. The parts of the sheet on each side of his body were stained with his blood, and the middle, where his body had lain, stayed white. His followers took this as a banner, and so the red-white-red pattern was born. In some versions of the story the leader is from the Latgalians, one of the tribes that later formed the Latvian nation.

The legend is first connected with a chronicle of the 13th century, which mentions a red banner with a white stripe used by Latvian tribes in a battle around 1280. Whether this is a true record of the flag is debated by historians, but it is the origin that Latvians usually cite. More generally, the red is read as the readiness to defend the homeland, and white as the justice, honor and freedom of the people.

History of the Latvian flag

The banner of red with a white stripe is believed to be among the oldest flag designs in the world. It was revived in the 19th century during the national awakening and was used by students and in song festivals. In 1917, the artist Ansis Cīrulis drew the design in its present form, and Latvian army units used it in the First World War. After Latvia declared independence on 18 November 1918, the flag became the state flag, and it was confirmed by the Constituent Assembly in the early 1920s, and its exact description was fixed by law in 1923.

In 1940 the Soviet Union occupied Latvia. The national flag was banned, and the Latvian SSR used a red flag with a hammer and sickle and a blue-and-white wave pattern. Displaying the old flag could lead to punishment, and it was kept as a sign of resistance by many families and by exile communities abroad. Latvia restored the national flag as the official state flag on 27 February 1990, before the country regained full independence in 1991. Latvia is one of the Baltic states, together with Estonia and Lithuania.

Latvia flag vs Austria flag

The flag of Austria also has red-white-red horizontal stripes, which is why the two are often confused. The Austrian bands are of equal width, with a ratio of 2:3, and the red is brighter. In the Latvian flag, the white stripe is much narrower and the red is darker. Austria's flag comes from the Babenberg dynasty and is traditionally dated to the 13th century, so the two flags have unrelated origins.