The adopted flag
by Jan Oskar Engene
Last modified: 2003-07-05 by dov gutterman
Keywords: bosnia and herzegovina | proposals |
Links: FOTW homepage |
search |
disclaimer and copyright |
write us |
mirrors
The adopted flag
by Jan Oskar Engene
See also:
See also:
I am facsinated by a new flag change (obviously as any
vexiollologist would be. However the most intesrting point that
strikes me about this, is beyond the actual design itself, but
the need to change in the first place! The flag of B-H is already
a compromise design made up as a symbol itself that was
politically neutral, ie the symbol of King Tvrtko rather than the
far more politcally charged green and white crescent flag.
What I have found interesting is that this specifically design
neutral flag, should receive a politcal charging which now makes
it unacceptable. Does anybody know of any more such examples? The
only two I can think of might be the flag of the Irish Republic,
and the flag of Cyprus, although is is possibly more to do with
the fact that it is predominatly flown alongside the Greek flag
today.
John Hall, 17 December 1997
The CoA used by Kotromanic dinasty was supposed to be just
such a neutral symbol, but in last several years it was adopted
entirely by Bosniaks (Bosnian Muslims), and is now representing
only one of the three nations. I agree, it is a pitty (though the
flags as it is now is not much inventive).
Zeljko Heimer, 19 December 1997
From "The Economist"; September 6, 1997; p. 52):
"Sarajevo - At the end of May, when an array of
governments involved in Bosnia met in the Portuguese town of
Sintra, they drew up a modest list of tasks, along with
deadlines, that the Bosnians were to complete in order to sustain
the notion that they were bent on putting their country together
again, however loosely. Some of these tasks were merely symbolic,
and so, it was presumed, easy to carry out. A new design for a
flag, for instance, was supposed to have been agreed upon by
September 1st. But even that has been beyond the wit of assorted
Bosnian leaders.
Several other deadlines set at Sintra have been missed too.
Bosnia's various telephone systems were to have been linked up by
July 15th. Though you can now make a call from Sarajevo, the
all-Bosnia capital, directly to Banja Luka, headquarters of one
of the two competing parts of Bosnia's Serb entity, you cannot
ring Sarajevo direct from Banja Luka. The connection is supposed
to be fixed this month.
Nor has an all-Bosnia civil-aviation authority, due to have been
in action by the end of July, materialised. Joint laws on
citizenship and passports, due for approval by August 1st, are
still being argued over. The only agreement that has actually
been struck - after the Sintra deadline - is a dishing out of
ambassadorial posts.
The flag row is particularly silly. Bosnia's existing banner,
unfurled in April 1992 after the old Yugoslavia broke up,
consists of six golden fleur-de-lys with a white diagonal band
across them. Most Serbs and Croats, however, view the design as
"too Muslim." Yet the Serbs, especially, have refused
to come up with an alternative. Instead, Momcilo Krajisnik, the
Serb member of the Bosnian presidency, who still wants Bosnia's
Serb statelet to have virtually nothing to do with the rest of
Bosnia, wants the two entities (the Muslim-Croat federation and
the Serb portion) to have two separate flags fluttering side by
side; or a different design on either side of the same flag.
Mr. Kranjisnik has been equally stubborn over such matters as
common currency. He wants one of the proposed notes to depict an
Orthodox Serb monastery that is not in Bosnia at all. When Alija
Izetbegovic, the Muslim member of Bosnia's presidency, suggested
something as uncontroversial as flora and fauna, Mr. Kranjisnik
promptly demanded a Serb eagle. Deadlock again. Anyway, Mr.
Kranjisnik has for the past three weeks refused to turn up at
meetings of the presidency.
His Muslim and Croat colleagues have meanwhile been quietly
drawing up alternative flag designs. One sets the contours of a
Bosnian map on a light blue background. Another has three
horizontal stripes, red and white for Croat, blue for Serb, with
a green "Muslim" V jutting into the middle. But even is
some such design is eventually accepted, don't expect the flag to
fly. It took two and a half years for Bosnia's Muslims and Croats
to agree on a design, just for their bit of the country. Their
federal law says the flag may be flown - though not compulsorily
- from government buildings. You can occasionally spot it in
Muslim areas, but never in Croat ones."
Randy Young, 1 September 1998
It says : "His Muslim and Croat colleagues have meanwhile
been quietly drawing up alternative flag designs. One sets the
contours of a Bosnian map on a light blue background."
However, it wasn't Bosniac and Croat colleagues who were deciding
on this. It was Carlos Westendorp, as well as when he brought a
new flag.
It also says: "Another has three horizontal stripes, red and
white for Croat, blue for Serb, with a green "Muslim" V
jutting into the middle."
In my humble opinion , this is not true. I would have been
informed on this if it was proposed. It is unchecked information.
Velidaga Jerlagic, 3 September 1998
Is it RWB tricolour with green V in the middle stripe?
Actually, I don't remember it either.
Zeljko Heimer , 4 September 1998
It leads me to believe that the Parliament of BiH simply
cannot agree on anything. This is pure speculation, but for the
High Representative to have to produce a flag so devoid of
symbolism, I would guess that there are still fundamental
differences of opinion as to whether the Peace Accords will
actually produce one country.
For example, there are, as I understand it, colours associated
with each faction: red = Croat, blue = Serbian, green = Muslim.
If you wanted to make a statement with the flag, put white in the
design to symbolize peace and just use panels of those colours.
Steve Kramer, 5 February 1998
This association is not very firm. The colours associated are
the national colours of the nations red-white-blue = Croats,
green-yellow = bosniaks, red-blue-white = Serbs. Then, since only
red and white could be associated to Croats too, and only green
for Bosniaks, the remaining blue could be thought for Serbs. But,
if you choose only one of those colours (except green) there is
no firm association.
Zeljko Heimer, 7 February 1998
From what I understand, I think the problem is very similar to
the one Vincent Morley pointed out when someone mentioned the
possibility of a new flag for N. Ireland coming out of the peace
talks there: the Unionists already have one (the white "Red
Hand" flag) and the Republicans would see no point to a flag
other than the Irish tricolor.
In Bosnia, from what I understand, politicians in the Serb state
maintain the political stance that the Republika Srpska (sorry if
I butchered that) is some sort of quasi-indepedent entity whose
ties to the Bosnian state are a temporary expediency at best. I
imagine the Croats there maintain largely the same position. The
Muslim-dominated government in Sarajevo sees itself as the
legitimate governemnt of Bosnia, and so doesn't see a need for
any flag other than the fluer-de-lys.
Any flag that containes Bosniak, Croat, or Serb symbols will be
an acknowledgement of some of those claims; but if you
acknowledge those claims, then no compromise flag is possible.
Thus we are left with the problem of coming up with some neutral
"all-Bosnia" flag, which, of course, has no meaning in
particular to any of the 3 particular groups. Since the war has
hardened those 3 groups, any such flag becomes largely
meaningless. In some ways, perhaps it would have been better to
follow the Serb member of the presidency's suggestion: a national
flag with the fluer-de-lys design on one side, and the Serb
tricolor on the other. It would have been the most difficult
national flag in the world to manufacture, but at least it would
have had the virtue of being an accurate reflection of the
national situation.
Here's a thought: the spokesperson for the UN High Representative
was quoted in the Reuters story as saying that this flag should
be considered permanent, but if the bosnian parliament votes to
change it then of course it will change. Perhaps the UNHR
deliberately designed an ugly flag to give the squabbling sides
an incentive to come up with a compromise version? :)
Joshua Fruhlinger, 5 February 1998
A few updates on the reception of the new flag of Bosnia and
Herzegovina:
In Bosnia questions have been raised about the use of the flag in
various circumstances.
The news agency of the Republika Srpska, SRNA, reported that the
mayor in the city of Zvornik refused to accept the new flag
presented to him by the deputy High Representative Jacques Klein.
In a statement to SRNA, the mayor said "In the name of
1,000 mothers of killed Serbian veterans and 1,000 war disabled
persons, I am not authorized by this people to do so."
The river Sava is now open for navigation and this raises the
question of ensigns used on ships navigating inland waterways in
Bosnia and Herzegovina. According to reports from Bosnian Serb
television, ships sailing into Brcko recently flew the flag of
Republika Srpska. Interestingly, the law on the flag adopted by
the High Representative on 4 February, does not give rules for
flying the flag on inland waterways or on the high sea for that
matter. Questioned on the matter by a journalist, the spokesman
for the OHR said that they would 'look into' the matter. The OHR
is also preparing a letter stating when and where the new flag is
to fly. This letter, it was said, will be sent out to various
institutions and authorities.
Finally, the House of Representatives in the Parliament of Bosnia
and Herzegovina is scheduled to discuss the flag law again in the
session starting 5 March.
Jan Oskar Engene, 27 February 1998
I'm confused. Jan Oskar stated in his original message that
the flag and arms were imposed by the High Representative on an interim
basis until the Bosnian Parliament passes a law on national
symbols. Correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the Parliament
already pass the white flag with blue shield/yellow fleur-de-lys
as the national flag in 1992? Is the current Parliament a
completely different legislative body than the one that passed
the old flag? Or has the High Representative banned certain
designs (such as the old one) from consideration?
Steve Kramer, 21 May 1998
Don't be Confused. Here's the explanation of the situation:
Bosnia had a parliament before the war that was made of Bosniaks,
Serb and Croat nationalist parties and opposition. That
parliament voted for a referendum in 1992, but the serbs wanted
that Bosnia stays in Yugoslavia, which was impossible since Serbs
were only 1/3 of the population, though there was a certain
amount of people among them who were not oposing independance. In
1992 the parliament tryed to pass laws on three flags, but the
Serbs were constantly veto-ing the laws. So, when the JNA
(Yugoslav Peoples Army) finally started the war on Bosnia,
encouraging local Serbs for rebellion, what was left of the
Bosnian parliament passed a law on flag - the one with the
fleur-the-lis. This flag was representing Bosnia in it's full
size (medieval kings, and so on [see the heraldical information
on the page about the flag of 1992]) -
as well as Bosniaks (muslims), Serbs (Orthodox) and Croats
(Catholics)...
After the Dayton agreement, the authorities of the Republic of
Bosnia and Herzegovina were proclaimed illegal by the contact
group, as well as Herceg-Bosna, a small satelite state in Bosnia
formed by Croats on occupied territories (the Croats turned
against Bosniaks in 1993, but now they are Federal Partners).
Republika Srpska (territories occupied by Serb rebells) has been
found legal. Now, we have the Federation and the Republika
Srpska, forming Bosnia and Herzegovina, so Westendorp, the high
representative, imposed the new flag, and we, the people of
Bosnia and Herzegovina, had to give up of our lillies... Now he
imposed a new coat of arms too, which is a piece of...
something...
Velid-aga Jerlagic, 23 May 1998
I am glad that Velid is here, giving me the opportunity not to
explain things again and again (as I used to do). But, it is
confuzing, and the legal status is not always easy to see - even
what is legal is under question, and one has to be a very good
lawer to se it trough, and even that is not enough since politics
gets in the way.
To put it simply, the former Republic of Bosnia and Herzegvina
that adopted the fleurs-de-lys flag is not considered the
predcessor of the current state of Bosnia and Herzegovina. (OK,
this is not quite so, but in practice it comes to that).
Related to this, the mentioned "state" of Herzeg-Bosnia
is officially disbanded. But it's leftovers are not easy to deal
with. Here is a flag related example that I learned lately. The
county (canton) of Herzeg-Bosnia (i.e. Hercegbosanska zupanija),
mostly populated by (guess what) Croats, one of the 10 counties
of the Federation adopted its Constitution in which it was
provided that the flag of the couty is a red-white-blue tricolour
with a 25 red-white chequy shield in the middle. Does this remind
you of anything? ;-)
The Constitution was latter proclaimed as invalid (don't know by
whom, the High Representative perhaps?) and consequentially the
flag, too. However, as I am informed, the flag is still in use.
Zeljko Heimer, 24 May 1998