Europe

Flag of North Macedonia

North Macedonia is a small landlocked country in the southern Balkans that was part of Yugoslavia until 1991. A prolonged dispute with Greece over the use of the name 'Macedonia' was resolved in 2019 when it officially became the Republic of North Macedonia. Skopje, the capital, was largely destroyed by a devastating earthquake in 1963 and was rebuilt over subsequent decades, and is home to one of the largest and oldest bazaars in the Balkans.

CapitalSkopje
RegionEurope
Current flag since1995
Main coloursRed, Yellow
Populationabout 2.1 million
Areaabout 26,000 km²
GeographyLandlocked
Flags in history3

Population and area are rounded.

What the flag of North Macedonia means

The golden sun with eight broadening rays on red stands for “the new sun of liberty” sung of in the national anthem. It replaced the Vergina Sun flag in 1995, after Greece objected to that ancient Macedonian symbol and imposed a trade embargo. Under the 2018 Prespa Agreement the country changed its name to North Macedonia in 2019, but kept this flag.

More about the flag

North Macedonia became independent from Yugoslavia in 1991 and first used a red flag with the Vergina Sun, a symbol found in the tomb of Philip II of Macedon in Greece. After Greek objections and a trade embargo, the current flag was adopted in October 1995 as part of an agreement between the two countries. The country's name was changed from the Republic of Macedonia to North Macedonia in February 2019.

How to recognise it

Red field with a golden sun with eight rays emanating from the centre.

Did you know?

North Macedonia is home to Mother Teresa, who was born in Skopje in 1910.

Easily confused with

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

Montenegro

Flag history of North Macedonia

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

1995–present

Flag of North Macedonia

Adopted in 1995 to end the dispute with Greece, it shows a stylized golden sun with eight broadening rays on red. The flag was unchanged by the 2019 renaming to "North Macedonia".

1992–1995

Star of Vergina flag

The first independence flag bore the golden 16-rayed Star of Vergina, an ancient Macedonian symbol. Greece considered it theft of Hellenic heritage and imposed a blockade until it was changed.

1946–1991

SR Macedonia

A plain red field with a gold-bordered red star in the canton — unusual among Yugoslav republics for being entirely red rather than a tricolor.

Related historical states

Empires, kingdoms and republics that once covered part of North Macedonia.

1918–1941

Kingdom of Yugoslavia

The blue-white-red Pan-Slavic tricolor symbolized the union of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, flown by the Kingdom until the Axis invasion of 1941.

1945–1992

Socialist Yugoslavia

Tito's Partisans added a red, gold-bordered star to the tricolor; it marked the country's communist character until the federation's violent breakup in the 1990s.