The flag :
The Croatian National flag is red-white-blue tricolor (arranged in this order perpendicularly to the staff), with the coat of arms (13 red squares and 12 silver squares arranged intermittently in a 5 times 5 pattern). This coat of arms was affirmed by 15th century documents. It is a very old symbol of Croatia resembling a red-white chess table. Now it also has a crown composed of five regional symbols representing 1) The oldest known Croatian coat of arms, 2) Dubrovnik, 3) Dalmatia, 4) Istria and 5) Slavonia. The coat of arms : 
The coat of arms of the Republic of Croatia is a historical weapon in the form of a shield. The chess pattern has twenty-five alternating red and white (silver) fields, with the upper left field being red. Above the shield is a crown with five peaks (five smaller coats of arms) representing from left to right, the oldest known Croatian coat of arms and the coats of arms of Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria and Slavonia.
The height of the coats of arms in the crown are 2.5 times the height of the chess fields, the width of all the fields are the same. The oldest known Croatian coat of arms has a blue background with a yellow (golden) six-pointed star and a white (silver) new moon. The coat of arms of Dubrovnik has a navy blue background with two red lanes. The coat of arms of Dalmatia has a blue background with three yellow (golden) lions heads. The coat of arms of Istria has a navy blue background with a yellow (golden) goat with red hooves and horns. The coat of arms of Slavonia has a blue background with a yellow (golden) six-pointed star and two white (silver) lanes with a red track with a marten in between. The entire crown is red outlined. The Croatian coat of arms was shown for the first time in Habsburg between 1508 and 1512 and used at the coronation of Ferdinand the First, King of Croatia in 1527. |