The modern flag of Hungary originated from the national freedom movement of before 1848, which culminated in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The revolution was not only in opposition to the monarchy but also to the Habsburg Empire, as well as to form an independent republic. Consequently, the Hungarian flag features a tricolor element, which is based on the French flag, reflecting the ideas of the French revolution; while red, white, and green are colors derived from the historic Hungarian coat of arms, which has remained essentially the same since the mid-15th century, with the exception of a few minor differences, and were arranged from arms they first appeared in the late 12th and early 13th centuries as arms of the Árpáds, the founding dynasty of Hungary. The stripes are horizontal rather than vertical to avoid confusion with the Italian flag even though the banner in that form predates the Italian tricolor by at least 7 years, but unlike Italy, the Italians adopted it as a state flag Italian in 1797. According to other data, but no evidence, the recent form of the Hungarian tricolor had already been used as early as 1608 at the coronation of Mathias II of Hungary and subsequent coronations. The folklore of the romantic period attributed colors to virtues: red for strength, white for fidelity, and green for hope. Alternatively, red for the blood shed for the fatherland, white for freedom, and green for the land, for the pastures of Hungary. The new constitution, which entered into force on January 1, 2012, makes the first-mentioned ex post interpretation official.

As described above, the red, white, and green tricolor clearly emerged as a sign of national sovereignty during the 1848-1849 revolution against the Habsburgs. Hungarian volunteers and émigrés fought for the social movement and the wars of Italian unification under the banner of Garibaldi. After the defeat of the revolution in Hungary, the Austrian emperor banned the tricolor flag. However, after the Compromise of 1867, the tricolor became not only legal, but also the official flag of Hungary. The flag had the so-called lesser arms (also known as the Kossuth coat of arms) of Hungary with archangels as supporters used as insignia on the flag. This configuration was used until the end of the Habsburg Empire in 1918.

With the start of communist rule in 1949, a new coat of arms with a communist red star was placed on the flag as the insignia. During the anti-Soviet uprising of 1956, the revolutionaries cut out the hammer and sickle emblem and used the resulting tricolor with a hole in the middle as a symbol of the revolution. For a few months the new government changed the flag to once again carry the minor arms without the crown as a badge.

After the fall of communism in 1989 there was no need to change the flag, as like the flags of Poland and Czechoslovakia, it did not carry any communist insignia.

OTHER FLAGS

state flag

Ratio: 1 x 2