Last modified: 2004-12-29 by jarig bakker
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2:3~
by Zeljko Heimer, 18 Jan 2003
White over blue over red tricolour with the coat of arms off-set to the hoist fimbriated white. The Album2000 gives construction details as (15~+5~+20+5~+15~):(27+63), that I shall show are quite correct, and even the ~ could be removed altogether. The construction of the flag is simply but efficiently described in the legislation on the State Symbols of the Slovak Republic ("Zákon o štátnych symboloch Slovenskej republiky a ich používaní", Zbierka zákonov č. 63/1993; relevant extract available, also Pascal Vagnat's translation present at FOTW). The size of the CoA is key here, and it is not expresly stated in the legislation (maybe it is in the annexes? can anyone confirm?). However, from several official images of the CoA I have seen, it seems that it fits well in square 4x5 (also, not that the width is meximal around the middle of the height).
To avoid any quotient in the construction sheet, and because of the
requirement that the fimbriation around the shield is 1/100 of the flag
length, one needs to make flag consisting of 600x900 units. The height
of the CoA is half the hoist, i.e. 300, the width 4/5 of it, i.e. 240.
The law determines that the distance of the CoA from top, bottom and hoist
edge is equal, that would make it 150. The white fimbriation in the blue
and red stripes is 9 units wide. As these units are exactly 10 times smaller
then those used in Album, the analogy is obvious, however I decided to
show different parts on my sheet. And as it is shown, there is no need
for ~ in the sheet in the Album.
Zeljko Heimer, 18 Jan 2003
A vertical flag/banner is also prescribed in the legislation mentioned
above. This is understandably not included in Album (that
concentrates primarly on naval usage, however whide). The height of
the flag is prescribed as maximally triple the width, while minimum is
not prescribed at all. I guess that 2:3 would somehow be reasonable minimum
and that rarely would vertical flags reach that short sizes anyway. The
vertical banner should always be hoisted hanging on a crossbar. Distance
of the shield from left, top and right edges is still to be equal.
Zeljko Heimer, 18 Jan 2003
The present-day state flag of the Slovak Republic is described in article
9, paragraph 2 of the Slovak Constitution, which was enacted on 1st September
1992. It was hoisted for the first time on 3rd September 1992 at 20:22
CET in front of the Bratislava Castle. But its exact form was determined
by law of 18th February 1993, enacted by the National Council of the Slovak
Republic. According to this law, height of the shield with Slovak state
coat of arms is equal to half of width of the flag. The shield is separated
from the blue and red stripes by the white stripe. Its width is equal to
the one hundredth of the flag's length.
Source: Ales Brozek - Lexikon vlajek a znaku sveta, Kartografie
Praha 1998
Jan Kravcik, 6 June 2000
Before the separation of Slovakia and the Czech Republic, a resolution
was passed by the Czechoslovak government that neither of the two "new"
states could continue to use the red white and blue flag of Czechoslovakia.
Upon separation, Slovakia adopted the White/Blue/Red flag with the shield
of arms in the upper hoist. The "new" Czech Republic adopted the flag of
former Czechoslovakia, in direct violation of the resolution mentioned
above. Slovakia was ticked off over this, but the Czech folks said "The
country that made that rule doesn't exist any more" and refused to change.
Nick Artimovich 31 October 1996
The Constitution of 1990 set up the Czech Lands and Slovakia as two
equal nations. Each was to have its own arms, seal, flag and anthem, and
these were laid down in laws of 1990. The Czech Republic
adopted a greater and lesser coat of arms and the flag of white over red
on 13 March 1990. The Slovak Republic legislation was dated 1 March 1990,
and laid down the arms (almost identical with those of pre-Communist era),
the flag (the plain tricolor), seal and anthem. The flag of the state was
unchanged. As indicated before, the agreement was made by two countries
upon separation not to adopt the previous state's emblems, but the Czech
Republic adopted flag with blue triangle as its flag on 17 December 1992.
Zeljko Heimer, 1 November 1996