Flag of Kosovo
Kosovo’s flag is dark blue with a gold map of Kosovo in the centre under an arc of six white five-pointed stars. Store norske leksikon says the stars stand for the country’s six largest peoples: Albanians, Serbs, Turks, Gorani, Roma and Bosniaks.
Easily confused with
- Flag of CyprusCyprus’s flag is white with a copper-coloured map of the island above two green olive branches. The white and the olive branches stand for peace between the island’s Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities, and the copper colour for the metal that shares the island’s name, according to Store norske leksikon and the Centre of Visual Arts and Research in Nicosia.
- Flag of Bosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina’s flag is blue with a yellow right triangle and a line of white stars along its long side. The flag law gives no meaning; when the flag was chosen in 1998, the spokesman of the Office of the High Representative said the triangle stands for the country’s three constituent peoples and the stars and the blue for Europe.
How to read it
Kosovo declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008; Serbia’s constitution of 2006 counts the Province of Kosovo and Metohija as part of its own territory. The flag was adopted that day and first raised the same day, the Croatian Heraldic and Vexillological Association records. Article 6 of Kosovo’s constitution names the flag, the seal and the anthem as the state symbols, all of which “reflect its multi-ethnic character”, and leaves their appearance, display and protection to law. Store norske leksikon gives the flag’s height to width as 2 to 3. The state emblem has the same map and stars on a triangular shield with a gold frame.
Also searched as: flag of kosovo, kosovan flag, kosovan flag meaning, kosovar flag, kosovo flag, kosovo flag meaning.
A flag chosen by competition
The government opened a public competition for the flag and coat of arms on 13 June 2007, the Croatian association records. Its rules said the flag must not carry an image belonging to any one ethnic group and should be politically neutral, the Christian Science Monitor reported in February 2008, and almost 1,000 designs were sent in. Three reached the shortlist, and the one adopted needed two thirds of the Assembly’s votes.
Telling it from Bosnia and Herzegovina’s flag
Bosnia and Herzegovina’s flag is also blue with white stars and a yellow shape, and was chosen in 1998. It has a yellow triangle with a straight diagonal line of stars beside it; Kosovo’s has the gold map of the country with six stars in an arc above it.
Read next
- Next in Flags of partially recognised statesFlag of Taiwan (Republic of China)Taiwan’s flag, the national flag of the Republic of China, is red with a blue canton holding a white sun of twelve rays: “Blue Sky, White Sun, and a Wholly Red Earth”. The Office of the President says the twelve rays are the twelve two-hour periods of the day, for unceasing progress, and the blue, white and red stand for the Three Principles of the People: nationalism, democracy and social well-being.
- The same shape in African flagsFlag of the African UnionThe African Union’s flag shows a map of Africa on a green field, surrounded by rays of light and a ring of stars. The African Union says the stars, 55 of them, represent its 55 member states; the Assembly’s 2007 decision asked for a green background to symbolise Africa’s hope.
The same shape elsewhere
Browse symbols drawn with squares and rectangles or stars.
Sources
- Kosovo 2008 (rev. 2016) Constitution, Constitution of the Republic of Kosovo, 2008 (rev. 2016), Article 6 (English translation), Constitute Project, Article 6
- Kosovos flagg og våpen (Store norske leksikon), Nora Tessem, “Kosovos flagg og våpen”, Store norske leksikon, Store norske leksikon, Article text
- Competition for New Symbols of Kosovo (Croatian Heraldic and Vexillological Association), Hrvatsko grboslovno i zastavoslovno društvo (HGZD), news item of 14 June 2007, updated 22 November 2014, Croatian Heraldic and Vexillological Association, News item
- With independence looming, Kosovo to pick a flag (Christian Science Monitor), Andrew Wander, The Christian Science Monitor, 8 February 2008, The Christian Science Monitor, Article text
- Serbia 2006 Constitution, Constitution of the Republic of Serbia, 2006, Preamble and Article 7 (English translation), Constitute Project, Preamble
- Odluka o nametanju Zakona o zastavi BiH (Office of the High Representative), High Representative’s Decision No. 01/98 imposing the Law on the Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina, 4 February 1998, with the text of the law (Bosnian), Office of the High Representative, Law, Article 3
Researched, edited and approved by Rory Hansen before publishing. Last reviewed October 13, 2026. How we research
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