Flag of the Republic of Macedonia

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The Flag of the Republic of Macedonia represents a rising yellow sun with eight rays extending to the edges of the red field. It represents "the new sun of Liberty", evoked in the national anthem of the Republic of Macedonia Denes nad Makedonija (Today Over Macedonia):

Today over Macedonia, is being born

the new sun of liberty.

The Macedonians fight,

for their own rights!

As part of SFR Yugoslavia, Macedonia was the only region not to use the Pan-Slavic colours. Its flag was red with a gold-edged red star in the canton. At independence in 1992, Macedonia retained the red flag but added a gold star in a gold sun. This was soon changed to the Star of Vergina, an ancient Macedonian emblem from the tomb of Philip II of Macedon, father of Alexander the Great. Greece objected to this, claiming the star as a Greek emblem. In 1995 the star was replaced by a radiant sun.

Contents 1 Previous flags 2 See also 3 Footnotes 4 External links

[edit] Previous flags

From 1991 until 1995, the flag used the Vergina Sun, which led to protests from neighboring Greece due to an ongoing dispute over the name and symbols of the country.

In July 1995, Greece lodged a request with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) for exclusive copyright to the Vergina Sun.^[1] The dispute was partially resolved in October 1995 under a compromise brokered by the United Nations. The symbol was removed from the flag of the Republic of Macedonia as part of an agreement to establish diplomatic and economic relations between the two sides. It was replaced by a new flag, which is currently in use, displaying a stylized eight-pointed sun.

From 1946 until 1991, when the Socialist Republic of Macedonia was part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the flag was a red flag with a gold-edged red star in the canton.

[edit] See also

• Flags of the Republic of Macedonia
• Vergina Sun
• Flag of Macedonia (Greece)

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] External links

• My Macedonia: Macedonian flag
• Republic of Macedonia at Flags of the World
• When archaeology gets bent

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