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Republic of Serbian Krajina (Croatia, 1991-1995)

Republika Srpska Krajina

Flag of the Republic of Serbian Krajina - Image by Željko Heimer, 16 September 1999

Presentation of the Republic of Serbian Krajina
Flag of the Republic of Serbian Krajina
Milan Martić's flag
Alleged war flag of the Republic of Krajina
Other reported flags of the Republic of Krajina
- Flags with the Serbian cross
- Flags with the coat of arms
Eastern Slavonia (Istocnja Slavonia)

See also:

Presentation of the Republic of Serbian Krajina

The self-proclaimed Republic of Serbian Krajina encompassed different Serb states in Croatia: the Serb Autonomous Region of Krayina (Srpska Autonomna Oblast Krajina, 1991), the Serb Region of Slavonia, Baranja and Western Srijem (Srpska Oblast Slavonija, Baranja i Zapadni Srem, 1991), the Serb Autonomous Region of Western Slavonia (Srpska Autonomna Oblast Zapadna Slavonija, 1991), the Region of Srijem and Baranja (Sremsko-baranjska Oblast, 1995-1996), the Region of Srijem, Baranja and Eastern Slavonia (Oblast Srema, Baranje i Istocne Slavonije, 1996).

Željko Heimer, 16 September 1999

Flag of the Republic of Serbian Krajina

The official flag of the Republic of Serbian Krajina was the simple Serb tricolour, horizontally divided red-blue-white.
Many variants of the flag, defaced with different central emblems, were indeed use. Various sources claim that some of those flags were for specific use or of limited purpose, but in most cases there was no differentiation among them nor the plain, official flag, and they could have been interchanged at the user's whim.

Željko Heimer, 16 September 1999

Milan Martić's flag

The Croatian military magazine Hrvatski vojnik, July 2009, (article) presents a flag (photo) captured from the office of Milan Martić in August 1995 and kept today in the Croatian Military Museum.
Milan (aka Mile) Martić, a leader of the Serb rebels in Croatia, held various positions in the self proclaimed Republic of Srpska Krajina (President, Minister of Defense, Minister of the Interior etc.); he was President of the Republic from February 1994 until its breakdown after the Croatian offensive and seizure of Knin, the capital of the Republic, on 5 August 1995.

According to the article, the date inscribed on the flag, 17.08.1990, is considered as the beginning of the so-called "Log Revolution", which was proclaimed the "Serb People Uprising Day" in 1992 by the authorities of the Republic. As far as I am aware, this was not any kind of officially adopted presidential flag, simply a decorated version of the "national" flag, of which many variations were in use.

Željko Heimer, 3 August 2009

Alleged war flag of the Republic of Krajina

Alleged war flag of the Republic of Krajina - Image by Ivan Sache, 10 September 1999

A red-blue-white tricolor flag with two crossed yellow swords in the middle is listed under No. 41 on the Flags of Aspirant Peoples chart [eba94], as follows:
Krajina (State of Serbian Croatia)
War flag.

What this flag exactly was for is not known, but it could easily have been a war flag. "Serbian Croatia" is rather contradictory; neither Serbs nor Croats would use these words.

Ivan Sache & Željko Heimer, 16 September 1999

Unidentified flag of the Republic of Krajina - Image by Željko Heimer, 7 September 1995

A flag with the two swords surmounted by the Serbian coat of arms and inscribed in a white shield was also reported.

Željko Heimer, 7 September 1995

Other reported flags of the Republic of Serbian Krajina

Flags with the Serbian cross

Flags with the Serbian cross - Images by Željko Heimer, 7 September 1995

From the beginning of the rebellion, flags were usually charged with a yellow cross streching both up into the red and down into the white stripes, with in each quarter a "C" facing outwards. This emblem is a simplification of the Serbian coat of arms featuring four firesteels (ocila).

Željko Heimer, 7 September 1995

Flags with the coat of arms

Flags with the coat of arms - Images by Željko Heimer, 7 September 1995

The Serbian coat of arms was often used in the middle ofthe flag. After the proclamation of the Republic of Serbian Krajina, the coat of arms was made slightly different of the Serbian coat of arms: A doubleheaded white eagle holding a blue shield with a white cross and the four Cs, beneath the word "KRAJINA". The design of the arms was quite variable. For instance, on post stamps releasd in 1993, the shield was again red.

Željko Heimer, 7 September 1995

A flag with the blue shield placed near the hoist is seen on a photo published on 25 July 2009 (but the photo must have been taken years earlier) in Bayernkurier, the newspaper of the politicla party CSU.

Jean-Patrick Fischer, 11 September 2009

Eastern Slavonia (Istocnja Slavonia)

Flag of Eastern Slaovnia - Image by Željko Heimer, 16 September 1999

A red-blue-white tricolor flag is listed under No. 42 on the Flags of Aspirant Peoples chart [eba94], as follows:
Istocnja Slavonia (Serbian state of Eastern Slavonia).

Ivan Sache, 16 September 1999

Eastern Slavonia was part of Krajina. However, it was formed somewhat before Krajina proper, so during some short time it might have been considered as a "state". But, after the western part of Krajina (Krajina was made of two unconnected parts of Croatian territory) was returned under Croatian rule in 1995, the eastern part remained officially under UN mandate, and internally the "state" changed the name (something that was universally reflected in stamps) to Sremsko-Baranjska Oblast or Oblast Istocne Slavonije, Baranje i Zapadnog Srema. The official flag was the plain Serb tricolour. One of most often used flags, as far as I have noticed, was tricolour with a blue shield with white eagle.

In news from TV Vukovar, there was a comment on the recent peace negotiations. Beside the journalist was a table flag probably representing the Republic of Serbian Krajina, or, at least, the remaining Serb-occupied territories of Croatia (some 4.6%). The flag was a red-blue-white horizontal tricolour, with a doubleheaded golden eagle in the middle, bearing no escutcheon and placed on a transparent shield bordered gold.

Željko Heimer, 16 September 1999

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