Kosovo (Province, Yugoslavia [Serbia])

Metohija

Last modified: 2002-05-31 by ivan sache
Keywords: kosovo | metohija | eagle: double-headed (black) | star (red) | republic of kosova | uck | defense corps of kosovo | ushtria clirimtare e kosovoes | dardania | star: 6 points (yellow) | wheel (black) |
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• Use of the Albanian flag in Kosovo
• Flag erroneously reported for Kosovo
• Republic of Kosova
• Defense Corps of Kosovo
• Democratic Party of Kosovo (Partia Demokratike e Kosovës)
• Kosovo Liberation Army (UCK)
• Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja Liberation Army (UPMB)
• Dardania (flag of uncertain status)

See also:

• Yugoslavia
• Albania
• Municipal flags in Kosovo
  • Istok
  • Strpce

Use of the Albanian flag in Kosovo

Kosovo Albanians still use no other flag that the normal Albanian national flag, even if their position on joining Albania is not very clear, and there are no immediate plans of joining (nor some in near future).

Circumstancial reports of other flags (with eagle offset to hoist, with inscriptions and other variations) are only examples of home-made flags without any meaning to superpose the Albanian national flag.

Until now, no political or military authority (or body claiming to be authority) presented anything else for the flag of Albanians in Kosovo (or indeed of Kosovo Republic) other then the "normal" Albanian flag.

Zeljko Heimer, 6 May 1999

In the 1999 book fair of Francfort, Kosovo stand was represented by a pink square flag with Albanian eagle for Republik Kosove.

Gvido Petersons, 21 October 1999

Flag erroneously reported for Kosovo

by Mark Sensen

The Albanian flag with the red star outlined in yellow is not the flag of Kosovo, and it has never been so. The flag was the flag of the Albanian ethnical community (similarly to other national flags defaced with the red star) in late-1940's to late 1980's period. The fact that the Albanian community was mostly represented on Kosovo made this flag to be considered as the flag for Kosovo by some vexillological literature, but Kosovo had no flag of its own (neither did Vojvodina, the other Authonomous Region of Socialist Yugoslavia). This flag was official probably until 1992 (when Yugoslavia removed the star), but it was rarely used since mid-80's. Though, it has been reported since on occasions, probably used due to the lack of flag without star, and I would not doubt that there are still some of such flags to be seen around.

Zeljko Heimer, 6 May 1999

Republic of Kosova

The website of the Republic of Kosova shows on the first page the normal Albanian flag, and there is no other information on the flag.

Some dates mentioned:

The Republic of Kosova was established on July 2nd, 1990. It is currently held under virtual occupation by Serbia.

Based on the Constitution of September 7 1990, Kosova is a Presidential Republic and an Independent and a Sovereign state.

The Parliament of Kosova gathered in Kacanik on September 7, 1990, and on the bases of the Constitutional Declaration of July 2, 1990, declared the Constitution of the Republic of Kosova, that defines Kosova as a sovereign state within the Former Yugoslav Federation.

On September 2, 1991, after some of the republics of the former Yugoslav federation declared their independence, the Parliament of the Republic of Kosova adopted the Resolution of the Independence that proclaimed the Republic of Kosova as a Sovereign and Independent State.

 

Mark Sensen, 11 March 1998

Defense Corps of Kosovo

by Antonio Martins 1999

The emblem of the Defense Corps of Kosovo (former UCK) shows a black map of the region on a red field.

Antonio Martins , 7 November 1999

Democratic Party of Kosovo (Partia Demokratike e Kosovës)

The Wednesday 14th November issue of Madrid's local newspaper 20 minutos de Madrid y mas shows on page 4 a picture of a Democratic Party of Kosovo demonstration with a single Albanian flag and many clear (possibly white, but maybe yellow or very light blue) flags with what appears to be the logo of the PDK, a large sans-serif 'V' (possibly in red ) and the serif letters 'PDK' (possibly in black).
The PDK of Hashim Thaci (former commander of the UCK) is the second party in Kosovo with 27.3% of the votes cast in the October 28th, 2000 local elections.

Santiago Dotor, 19 November 2001

Kosovo Liberation Army

by Muhamed Mesic

The Bosnian daily newspaper Dnevni Avaz showed a photo of a tank with this flag, presumably of the UCK being mounted on it. The flag is red, with the Albanian eagle, a yellow stripe and above it the letters UCK.
UCK is the Albanian acronym for Ushtria Clirimtare e Kosovoes, or KLA, the Kosovo Liberation Army, a movement for the independence of Kosovo, a region in what nowadays is Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, mainly inhabited by ethnic Albanians.

Muhamed Mesic , 15 December 1998

by Ivan Sarajcic

I saw the UCK symbol on a red background only as mini-flag on uniform sleeves of their uniforms.

Ivan Sarajcic, 3 February 1999

Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja Liberation Army

Spanish newspaper El Païs published on 3 January 2001 an article about the Presevo, Bujanovac and Medvedja Liberation Army, showing a picture of that group's leader, Shefquet Musliu, with two other members at a press conference. Behind them appeared an Albanian flag and the flag of PBMLA, apparently red with the group's seal in the middle.

Santiago Dotor, 15 March 2001

Dardania (flag of uncertain status)

by Mello Luchtenberg

Derkwillem Visser (Vlaggen Dokumentatie Centrum Nederlands/VDCN) wrote in Info-Bulletin [inf] #102 (Winter 2000):
"Ibrahim Rugova, leader of the Democratic League of Kosovo, shows a flag he introduces as the flag of Kosovo, at a press conference at his residence in Pristina, Sunday October 29,2000. The flag bears the legend "Dardania", the ancient word for Kosovo, but is not officially recognized by any international power, but Rugova asked for recognition of independance for Kosovo, which officially remains part of Yugoslavia."

Jens Pattke, 6 April 2001

According to Czech radio, Ibrahim Rugova presented as a presidential standard a flag is slightly different from the flag shown above. The flag is dark blue with a red circle (outlined in yellow), there is a black double-headed eagle and a yellow six-pointed star above the eagle's heads in the red field.

Jan Zrzavy, 30 October 2000

The flag includes a yellow sixpointed star bordered black above the heads of the eagle (no doubt in reference to the star in the historical flag of 1912 Kemal uprising, that was first rised in Pristina anyway), The eagle is bearing an escutcheon "beneath" the ribbon, the shield outlined in gold being quartered in 1 and 4 Or a wheel Sable, 2 Gules, 3 Sable. The red and black fields are no doubt based on the flag colours, but I am not sure what is the wheel for.

Zeljko Heimer, 31 October 2000

Dardania is a commonly used name for Kosovo among Albanians (also a neighborhood in the capital, Prishtina) but I don't think anybody thinks it would replace the name of Kosovo, which is rendered as Kosova in Albanian even though the word itself (from kos, blackbird) is Slavic in origin.

Stephen Schwartz, 5 April 2001