Europe

Flag of Slovenia

Slovenia is one of the smallest and most prosperous countries in Central Europe, known for its alpine terrain, pristine lakes, medieval old towns, and remarkable biodiversity packed into a small area. It was the first former Yugoslav republic to join the European Union in 2004. Lake Bled, with its island church and clifftop castle reflected in turquoise glacial waters, is one of Europe's most photographed and widely recognised landscapes.

CapitalLjubljana
RegionEurope
Current flag since1991
Main coloursBlue, White, Red
Populationabout 2.1 million
Areaabout 20,000 km²
Flags in history3

Population and area are rounded.

What the flag of Slovenia means

Slovenia's tricolour dates from the 1848 revolution and the colours of the historic land of Carniola. The shield added in 1991 shows Mount Triglav, the country's highest peak, in white above two wavy blue lines for the sea and rivers, with three golden six-pointed stars from the arms of the Counts of Celje. It is often confused with Slovakia's flag.

How to recognise it

Horizontal white-blue-red with a shield showing Mount Triglav and stars on the left.

Did you know?

Slovenia was the first former Yugoslav republic to join both NATO and the EU.

Easily confused with

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

Russia

Slovakia

Flag history of Slovenia

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

1991–present

Flag of Slovenia

Adopted at independence in June 1991, it replaced the red star with the national arms in the upper hoist: Mount Triglav, wavy lines for sea and rivers, and three gold stars of the Counts of Celje.

1945–1991

SR Slovenia

The Socialist Republic used a white-blue-red tricolor with a gold-bordered red star centered on it.

1836–1918

Carniola (Slovene lands)

The Slovene white-blue-red tricolor was born in 1848, when Slovene nationalists adopted the colours of the Duchy of Carniola (Krain) — the historic Slovene heartland within the Habsburg Empire. It was the first distinctly Slovene flag, raised in defiance of Austrian-German rule, and is the direct ancestor of every Slovenian flag since.

Related historical states

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

1867–1918

Austria-Hungary

The civil ensign split 50/50, joining the Austrian red-white-red with Hungary's colors and both shields — the Dual Monarchy never agreed on a single flag for the whole empire.

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.

1500–1918

County of Gorizia (Görz)

A white-and-red bicolour for the Habsburg princely county on the Adriatic frontier, whose arms feature a gold lion. Its land is now split between Italy and Slovenia.