Macedonian Flag
Macedonian Flag
The ancient
region of Macedonia - of which the present-day republic comprises only a
part - was settled by the Slays during the 6th century. It was
subsequently conquered by the Bulgars, Byzantium, Serbia and the Ottoman
Empire before being divided up between Greece, Bulgaria and Serbia in
1913. After World War I, Serbian Macedonia - which constitutes today's
present state - became part of the federal state of Yugoslavia.
As part of Yugoslavia, the Macedonian flag was red, with a gold-fimbriated,
red star in the canton. The first flag to be adopted by Macedonia on its
declaration of independence in 1991 was a red flag charged with the 'Star
of Virjina', which was based on a symbol found in the tomb of Philip of
Macedonia (the father of Alexander the Great) at Virjina. Following
objections from Greece (which claimed that It was a wholly Greek symbol),
in 1995 Macedonia adopted its current flag, which consists of a red field
bearing a golden-yellow sun from which emanate eight rays that thicken
towards the ends.
