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Last modified: 2006-06-17 by ivan sache
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Flag of Macedonia - Image by Željko Heimer, 26 June 2005
Flag adopted 5 October 1995, coat of arms adopted 31 December 1946.Colour approximate specifications (as given in Album des Pavillons [pay00]):
On this page:
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Since its creation as a state in 1945, the Republic of Macedonia has
used three flags.
The first flag dates back to 1945 and the People's Republic of Macedonia, part of the People's Federative Republic of Yugoslavia; it is red with a red five-pointed star outlined in yellow in the canton.
The "Sun of Vergina" flag, dated 1992, is red with a yellow 16-pointed sun, that Greece claimed is the "Sun of Vergina", found on the sarcophagus believed
to belong to Filip, King of Macedonia.
After the controversy with Greece, the flag was replaced in 1995 by the present one, called the "Macedonian Sun", again yellow on red. The (then) biggest opposition party VMRO-DPMNE did not accept this change and continued to use the old flag, which was flown in every municipality with a
VMRO-DPMNE majority in its councils, till the local election in 1998.
Jovan Jonovski (President of the Macedonian Heraldry Society), 24 June 2004
Today [20 September 1995]'s Nova Makedonija writes that the Republic of
Macedonia will have a new national flag as soon as 5 October [1995], when
the Parliament session on the issue is to take place. The paper states
two options for the flag, both having red color as a background and a
golden-yellow symbol as a central figure. The first solution for the
symbol would be a rising or setting half-sun, while the second will
be a sun with rays going horizontally, vertically or diagonally
across the flag.
The paper also says that parties included in Parliament are already
discussing the possible look of the new flag.
Sources close to the Macedonian Parliament presidency say that
next Thursday or Friday, a procedure is to begin at Parliament to
adopt a new flag. Along with the flag, the Parlament will discuss
about the already forgotten law on a national coat of arms.
The dynamics of activities at the session has not yet been precisely
determined, but the procedure will be designed so that it is
completed before the 30-day deadline, defined in last week's
agreement Macedonia signed with Greece in New York.
As days are numbered, the 16-sun-rays flag
that represented Macedonia since August 1992 will be replaced in a
short procedure. Meaning, the proposal to pass a new law on the flag,
as a first stage, will be presented at the same time with the
definite version of the suggested law, which is a third stage. In
this way, the Parliament will skip over the usual practice to debate
over a draft law. Thus shortened, the procedure will enable the
Parliament to get the entire matter completed in a single day. Under
the current procedural regulations, however, a Parliament session
cannot be scheduled before 15 days after the procedure has been
started.
As far as the procedure goes, there are announcements that the
Government will not be the one to come up with a suggested solution,
but the proposal is to come from a group of parliamentarians. The
intention is to have a group of members of Parliament including
elements from all the parliamentary groups. The suggestion will first
of all be discussed by the Constitutional Commission and will then be
proceeded to the Parliament. Another option is to have the Parliament
signatories proposing a solution determined by the Constitutional
Commission.
The basis for deciding on the new flag, sources inform, will be
the suggestions that were chosen during the open competition three
years ago, when independent national symbols were designed for the
first time. The following six ideas were then bought out: MAKO
by Dimko Krstevski, Phoenix 92 by Kostadin Tancev, 5222
by Branko Kostovski, A-OPULSI 68 by Ilija Spasovski,
Makedonija 992 by Aco Mitrevski and 08002 by Milivoj
Gruevski.
Over 100 ideas entered the competition in 1992, with the red and
golden-yellow colors as predominating features. The most frequently
suggested symbol was the sun, drawn in all kinds of stylized shapes.
Upon a proposal of the jury, the Constitutional Commission members
voted by a majority of votes in favor of the suggested red flag with
a many-rayed sun in the middle. It is these two elements that have
led many spectators to believe the new flag will also have red color
as a basic one and again a golden sun as a center symbol, only this
time in quite a different shape than the current one. Some even point
out to three suggestions as the most serious candidates.
The opening of the procedure for replacement of the national flag
will also be used to decide on a national
coat of arms. The previous Parliament
failed to provide the required 80 votes in favor to adopt this
symbol. The matter then stopped at an argument between the
Constitutional Commission and the
VMRO-DPMNE parliamentarian group. The
Commission's suggestion was to have a golden many-rayed sun in the
middle (an application of it's suggestion for the flag), whereas the
VMRO-DPMNE deputies insisted on a lion as a central figure. Neither
suggestion was given the necessary two-thirds majority of votes and
the issue was dropped and left for better times in the future.
It should be pointed out here, however, that the SDSM member of
Parliament Nikola Popovski did initiate a procedure on the
coat o arms as early as last spring. His idea was to keep the old
coat of arms but without the five-pointed star. Some say that his
suggestion will be in the race along with the most successful ideas
of the 1992 open competition. Unofficial sources even say that the
new flag symbol will also appear on the national coat of arms.
As A1 TV informs, calling on its sources, the new symbol on the Macedonian flag most probably will be a sun with eight sunrays on a red base. Meantime, there are two possible variants for the flag, the difference being the length of the sunrays. Proposers of the new symbol are a group of delegates of the election coalition Alliance for Macedonia and their number may be over 80 parliamentarians.
Source: MIC reports, 20 September 1995 (searchable database), quoted by Andrej Brodnik, 21 September 1995
According to Constitutions: What they tell us about national flags and coats of arms [vap00], the national flag, arms and anthem of Macedonia are prescribed in the Constitution as follows:
Article 5.
The state symbols of the Republic of Macedonia are the coat of
arms, the flag and the national anthem. The coat of arms, the flag
and the national anthem of the Republic of Macedonia are adopted by
law by a two-thirds majority vote of the total number of Assembly
Representatives.
Ivan Sache, 5 March 2002
Article 1.
This Act establishes the flag of the Republic of Macedonia.
Article 2.
The flag of the Republic of Macedonia is red with a golden-yellow
sun. The sun has eight rays, emerging from the sun disk, thickening
towards the end. The sun rays are crossing diagonally, horizontally
and vertically.
The diameter of the sun-disk is equal to one-seventh of the length of
the flag.
The centre of the sun coincides with the intersection of the
diagonals of the flag.
The ratio between the width and the length of the flag is one to two.
Article 3.
The design illustration of the flag of the Republic of Macedonia is a
constitutent part of this Act.
Article 4.
On the day this Act comes into effect the Act on the Flag of the
Republic of Macedonia (Official Gazette of the Republic of
Macedonia No 50/92) ceases to exist.
Article 5.
This Act comes into effect on the day of its publication in the
Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia.
Unoffical translation of Decree 08-3359/1, as published in Služben vesnik na Republika Makedonija (Official Gazette of the Republic of Macedonia), 6 October 1995.
Jos Poels, 21 November 1995
![[Construction sheet]](../images/m/mk'.gif)
Construction sheet of the flag of Macedonia - Reconstruction after the law by Željko Heimer, 26 June 2005
Using a flag sheet of 140 x 280 units, so not to have
fractions in dimension numbers, the overall dimensions and the sun
disk diameter being 1/7 of the length (i.e. 40 units) are the only
explicitly prescribed by the Law, the others have to be assumed from
the drawing, so all others are reconstructions.
Unfortunately, the law does not say anything
about the width of the fimbriation around the disk, nor on the points
where the sunrays end nor where they come to the flag edge.
Apparently, the lines forming the edges of the sun rays that touch
the hoist and fly edges do go through the sun disk center, while the
remaining four lines crossing the top and four at bottom do not pass
through the center, but rather touching concentric circles smaller
then the sun disk.
The width of the vertical rays at the edges, as well as the ose of
the horizontal ray at their edges is 1/10 of the legth, i.e. 28
units. While the horizontal rays imaginary prolonged end in the
center of the flag, the vertical rays end touching an imaginary circle
with diameter half that of the sun dimaeter, i.e. 20 units.
The diagonal sun rays have one edge matching the flag diagonals,
while the other imaginary prolonged ends touching an other imaginary
circle with diameter 1/8 of the sun disk diameter, i.e. five units. The
width of the diagonal sun rays along the top and the bottom edges of
the flag is 1.5 times the width of the vertical edges, i.e. 42 units.
Finally, the diameter of the imaginary circle forming the outer edge
of the red fimbriation around the sun disk is 50 units.
Željko Heimer, 26 June 2005
The first two stanza of the Macedonian national anthem (Denes nad Makedonija - Today in Macedonia) say:
Today on Macedonia, is born
the new sun of liberty
The Macedonians fight
for their own rights!
The Macedonians fight
for their own rights!For now on, the flag flies
(that) of the Kručevo Republic
Goče Delčev, Pitu Guli
Dame Gruev, Sandanski!
Goče Delčev, Pitu Guli
Dame Gruev, Sandanski!
According to Vele Samak, the anthem was composed and created in 1944 or 1943 by Vlado Maleski, a poet from Struga. It was adopted as an anthem of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia when it was established after the Second World War. Later the song was selected to be the anthem of the newly established independent Republic of Macedonia.
Source: Balkan Info website
Ivan Sache, 28 February 2002
The city of Delčevo was named after
the Macedonian revolutionary Goče Delčev, who was one of the leaders
of the Ilinden uprising against the
Ottomans.
Pitu Guli (1865-1903), a military leader (duke) in
Kručevo led a band of rebels
ocassionally since 1885. He was later the main military leader of the
Ilinden uprising.
Dame (Damjan) Gruev (1871-1906) was a close Gočoe Delčev's
coworker. Imprisoned by the Turks in 1900, he was one of the leaders
of the Ilinden uprising, killed in Turkish pursuit.
Jane Sandanski (1872-1915) was a Macedonian liberation fighter.
Active in fight against the Vrhovists, he cooperated much with
the Young Turks and led a military group that helped the Young
Turkish Revolution in Istanbul. In 1909, he was appointed leader of
the National Federative Party, established that year. After the
Balkan Wars, he fought for favourous solution of the Macedonian
question and was killed by deceit by the Vhrovists.
Željko Heimer, 13 March 2002