The national flag of the Republic of Croatia, also known in Croatian as the Tricolor () or the Red-white-blue (Crven-bijeli-plavi), is one of the state symbols of Croatia. It consists of three equal size, horizontal stripes in colors red, white and blue anchored by the coat of arms of Croatia.
This flag has been continuously in use since 1868 using pan-Slavic colors with the white and red checkboard shield added from 1939; which was then replaced by a red star during communist rule before the modern iteration of the Croat flag was adopted in 1990, one year before its independence.
The flag combines the colors of the flags of the Kingdom of Croatia (red and white), the Kingdom of Slavonia (blue and white) and partially of the Kingdom of Dalmatia (blue and yellow).
The red-white-blue tricolor has been used as the Croatian flag since 1848, and the pan-Slavic colors are widely associated with romantic nationalism. While the Banovina of Croatia existed within the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, it had a similar flag without the modern crown above the Croatian checkerboard. After the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded and Croatia became the Independent State of Croatia, the crown was removed and a "U" was placed at the top left of the flag. Also, the first field of the Croatian checkerboard was white. After Nazi Germany was superseded by the SFR Yugoslavia, Croatia's flag had a five-pointed red star with a yellow border in place of the coat of arms. The star was replaced by the coat of arms in May 1990, shortly after the first multiparty elections. The current flag and the coat of arms were officially adopted on December 21, 1990, about six (de facto) or ten (de jure) months before the proclamation of independence from Yugoslavia and a day before the Constitution of Croatia on December 22, 1990.
The shield depicts the red and white Croatian checkerboard. Above the shield is a crown consisting of shields of its various regions. From dexter to sinister (left to right) they are the historical arms of Croatia, Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria and Slavonia.
The following colors are specified for use in the flag:
The national flag of Croatia is represented as the Unicode emoji sequence and .