Europe

Flag of Lithuania

Lithuania is the southernmost and largest of the three Baltic states and was historically the centre of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, one of the largest states in medieval Europe. It was the first Soviet republic to declare independence in 1990 and joined both NATO and the EU in 2004. Vilnius, the capital, is known for its remarkably well-preserved Baroque old town, a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

CapitalVilnius
RegionEurope
Current flag since1988
Main coloursYellow, Green, Red
Populationabout 2.8 million
Areaabout 65,000 km²
Flags in history5

Population and area are rounded.

What the flag of Lithuania means

Yellow stands for the sun and prosperity, green for the forests and hope, and red for courage and the blood shed for the country. The tricolour was adopted in 1918 when Lithuania declared independence, banned during the Soviet occupation and legalised again in 1988. Lithuania also has a historical state flag showing the white knight, Vytis, on red, which flies at a few official sites.

How to recognise it

Horizontal yellow-green-red — the only flag in Europe with these three colours in this order.

Did you know?

Lithuania was the last country in Europe to officially adopt Christianity, in 1387.

Easily confused with

Lithuania's flag is often mixed up with these. Learn to tell them apart:

Latvia

Ethiopia

Flag history of Lithuania

Every flag that has flown over Lithuania, from today back through time.

1988–present

Flag of Lithuania (restored)

Yellow for the sun and prosperity, green for forests and hope, red for blood shed for the nation. It was the first Baltic flag readopted during the independence movement, restored in 1988.

1953–1988

Lithuanian SSR

A gold hammer, sickle, and star on a red field above white and green horizontal bands.

1940–1953

Lithuanian SSR (early)

After the 1940 Soviet occupation, a plain red flag with gold "LIETUVOS TSR" lettering and a hammer and sickle, used until the 1953 redesign.

1918–1940

Independence era

The yellow-green-red tricolour was adopted at independence in 1918, banned under Soviet rule, and restored identical in 1988.

1253–1795

Grand Duchy of Lithuania (Vytis)

For centuries Lithuania was not a small Baltic state but one of medieval Europe's largest countries — the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, stretching from the Baltic nearly to the Black Sea. Its banner was the Vytis: a white armoured knight charging on horseback against a red field. After union with Poland it shared in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth until the partitions erased both in 1795. The red Vytis flag survives today as Lithuania's official historical state flag.

Related historical states

Empires, kingdoms and republics that once covered part of Lithuania.

1922–1991

Soviet Union

The gold hammer and sickle beneath a red star stood for the worker-peasant alliance. The exact shade and proportions were fixed by Soviet law in 1955.

1920–1922

Republic of Central Lithuania

A Polish client state around Vilnius; its red field bore the Polish White Eagle and the Lithuanian Vytis knight side by side, before annexation by Poland in 1922.

1569–1795

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth

One of the largest states in Europe, an elective monarchy with an early constitution and a 'noble democracy', partitioned out of existence by Russia, Prussia, and Austria.

1953–1990

Lithuanian SSR

A red flag with white and green lower bands, flown over Soviet Lithuania until the republic became the first to declare independence from the USSR in 1990.

1236–1795

Grand Duchy of Lithuania

The red banner with the white Vytis — an armored knight on a charging horse — flew over a realm that at its height stretched from the Baltic to the Black Sea.

1920–1939

Memel Territory

A League of Nations territory around the Baltic port of Klaipėda, seized by Lithuania in 1923; Nazi Germany forced its cession in 1939, one of the last crises before WWII.