Hungarian Flag

Hungarian Flag

Hungarian Flag

During the 9th century, the Magyars established a dynasty in Hungary under a chieftain named Arpad, who used a plain, red flag. The first Magyar king, Stephen (who was later canonized as St Stephen), established a kingdom in 1001 and converted the population to Christianity, causing the flag's design to be altered to a cross on a white field. Successive rulers struggled to keep the Turkish forces of the Ottoman Empire at bay from 1396, by which time the national colors of red, white and green had become established. In 1526, following the Hungarian defeat at the Battle of Mohacs, the south and centre of the country came under Turkish rule. By the end of the 17th century, however, Hungary had come under Austrian rule, prompting a national renaissance in 1815 under the leadership of Louis Kossuth.

Following the revolution of 1848 to 1849, a short-lived republic was declared (which remained part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until 1918), whereupon today's horizontally banded tricolor of red, white and green was adopted. A royal crown featured in the centre of the Hungarian flag until 1945, when the new republican regime replaced it with the 'Kossuth' coat of arms until 1949. When Hungary fell under communist rule, the arms were replaced by a Soviet emblem. After the national uprising against the Stalinist government and subsequent Soviet invasion (1956), in 1957 Hungary adopted the plain tricolor as its national Hungarian flag. Following the fall of the communist regime in 1990, the arms of the kingdom were restored, although they were not added to the national flag.