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Principality / Kingdom of Montenegro (1782-1918)

Knjaževina / Kraljevina Crna Gora

History of the Montenegrin flag
Civil ensign
War flag
Coat of arms

See also:

Montenegro
Kingdom of Montenegro: Princely and Royal standards
Unofficial flags of modern Montenegro, based on historical flags

External links:

Official information on the national symbols of Montenegro

History of the Montenegrin flag

Montenegro gained independence as a Principality in 1852, and was proclaimed a Kingdom in 1910. On 10 August 1910. the day of golden jubilee for his 50 years of rule and 50 years of marriage with Princess Milena, Nikola I proclaimed himself King.

Flags as the state symbols were introduced only in the time of Petar II Petrović Njegoš. Before him, the principal Montenegrin flag was the alaj-barjak (regimental color) with a single symbol on it - the cross (krst). The Montenegrins gathered around krstas either at meetings or before battles. The first written description of the Montenegrin flag dates from the time of Scepan Mali (the Imposter): white, with a red frame and a golden cross on top of the spear. The next comes from 1838: pale yellow with a small red cross, and in 1876 the flag was described as being red with the white cross.

In the time of Prince Danilo, the cross on the alaj-barjak was replaced by the double-headed eagle with the initials in Cyrillic Д. I., that is D. I. (Danilo I) on its breast, with the lion passant underneath.

Prince (1860) then King (1910-1917) Nikola made many different flags in his time. The first of the variants was the same as Danilo's, differing only in the initials in Cyrillic Н. I., that is N. I. (Nikola I). Around 1910, two new variants appeared: one tricolor (red, blue and white) with the double-headed eagle bearing the initials Н. I. on its breast and the lion passant on the sinister, the other with the double-headed eagle above the initials Н. I..

Source: Official information on the national symbols of Montenegro

Željko Heimer, 2 February 2004

Civil ensign

Civil ensign of Montenegro, 1878-1880 - Image by Željko Heimer, 14 July 2006

The early Montenegrin merchant fleet used a white flag with a red cross.

Source: A. Ziggioto. Armi e bandiere del Montenegro: molte ombre e poche luci, Archivum Heraldicum [arh], II, 1989.

Civil ensign of Montenegro, 1880 - Image by Željko Heimer, 14 July 2006

In 1880, the civil ensign was horizontally divided red-white-red with the cross from the war flag set in canton.

Sources: A. Ziggioto (op. cit.) and a coloured chart in the Naval Museum of Kotor

Civil ensign of Montenegro, late 1880 - Image by Željko Heimer, 14 July 2006

The cross from the war flag was set in the canton of a tricolour flag in 1880, but this flag did not survived for long either.

Sources: A. Ziggioto (op. cit.) and a coloured chart in the Naval Museum of Kotor

Civil ensign of Montenegro, 1881-1916 - Image by Mario Fabretto, reconstructed from CISV archives, 25 November 1998

Source: A. Ziggioto (op. cit.) and a coloured chart in the Naval Museum of Kotor

McCandless and Grosvenor's Flags of the World (1917) [gmc17a] claims that this was the war ensign while the civil ensign was the plain tricolour. However, it is very doubtful that Montenegro then had a war fleet.

Željko Heimer, 14 July 2006

The Encyclopedia of Flags [zna99] says:

In 1880 Montenegro adopted a merchant ensign, a tricolor similar to that of Serbia with a white cross in the center (sic) of the red stripe. A year later the cross had been removed, and a crown with the royal cypher H.I., for Nikola I, placed in the center.

Internationaal Seinboek (1920) [isb20] also shows the flag with the crown and the royal cypher.

Jarig Bakker, 18 August 2000

War flag

War flag of Montenegro - Images by Mario Fabretto, reconstructed from CISV archives, 25 November 1998
Left, c. 1861
Right, c. 1882

Nikola I's cross appeared on flags in Montenegro around 1860. The cross is white, with Nikola's' cypher, in Cyrillic Н. I., that is N. I., in a shape similar to the German Iron Cross. The war flags (or flags of military units) had a large cross on a red field. They had a golden or white border and were square.

Željko Heimer, 23 May 1999

The Montenegro Heritage website shows the war flag from the battle of Vucji Do, described as follows:

One of especially valuable exhibits kept in the Historical Museum of Montenegro is a famous flag from Vucji Do. This warriors' flag, riddled with shots, symbolises a heroic struggle and victory of the Montenegrins in one of the last battles for liberation (1876), which preceded the recognition of independence of Montenegro at the Congress of Berlin in 1878. As a symbol of freedom the flag waved at Montenegrin Pavilion, at the Balkans exhibition in London in 1910.

Dov Gutterman, 8 April 2000

Coat of arms of Montenegro

The history of the state coat of arms begins with the Crnojević's dynasty in XVth century. Their family arms, a golden crowned double-headed eagle on a red background (Gules a crowned double-headed eagle or), laid the foundation of the Montenegrin state heraldry: the double-headed eagle became the standard symbol of the state. After gaining the power, the Petrović Njegoš dynasty took the golden double-headed eagle as the state symbol.

Vladika [Governor] Danilo (1696-1735) charged on its breast the greater arms of the Petrović Njegoš family (shield, crown, mantling), while his successor vladika Sava made major changes to the coat of arms: he removed the family greater arms from the eagle's breast, and added the scepter and saru ("the imperial egg") in its claws. He also added another symbol retained until present day [except the period of 70 years of ex-Yugoslavia], the golden lion passant, below the golden eagle.
With Petar I (1782-1830), further rearrangement of the coat of arms took place: he removed the royal insignia from the eagle and charged the eagle's breast with the middle arms of the Petrović Njegoš (the shield with the crown) while leaving the lion passant.

Prince Danilo (1852-1860) also reorganized the coat of arms: he charged the golden eagle's breast with the shield where on the blue background the golden lion passant was on green ground. In one claw the eagle held the saru, and in the other a sword and the scepter. The coat of arms was therefore:
Gules a double headed eagle displayed or crowned with one crown proper holding in dexter claw a sword and a sceptre and in sinister the orb, and on escutcheon azure a lion passant or on a mount vert.

In the time of Prince (1860) then King (1910-1917) Nikola, the sword was removed and later, in conformity with the Constitution of 1905, the color of the eagle was changed from golden to silver, as well as the colour of the background of the shield with the lion, to red instead of blue.

The Constitution of 1993 maintained King Nikola's "tradition": the coat of arms is a crowned silver eagle with the saru in one claw and the scepter in the other claw, charged on its breast with a red shield with the lion passant.

Source: Official information on the national symbols of Montenegro

Željko Heimer, 2 February 2004