Last modified: 2003-04-19 by ivan sache
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![[Flag of F.R. Yugoslavia]](../images/y/yu.gif)
by Zeljko Heimer
Flag adopted 27 Avril 1992, coat of
arms adopted 29 December 1993.
Proportion: 1:2
Description: Horizontally divided blue-white-red.
Use: on land, civil, state and war flag.
Colour approximate specifications (as given in Album des Pavillons [pay00]):
See also:
On 14 March 2002, the
Agreement
on the Union of Serbia and Montenegro was signed by the president
of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, the Federal Deputy Prime
Minister, the President of the Republic of Montenegro, the Prime
Ministers of the governments of Serbia and Montenegro as well as the
High Representative of the European Union, as an observer.
The Agreement stated that the new state should be called "Serbia and
Montenegro".
On 6 December 2002, the 27-member commission on constitutional reform presented a first draft of the new federal constitution for Serbia and Montenegro.
On 4 February 2003, the Parliament of the Federal Republic of
Yugoslavia adopted "The Constitutional Charter of the State Community
of Serbia and Montenegro", together with the law on its
implementation.
By so adopting the Charter, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was
renamed Serbia and Montenegro.
The new unicameral parliament of the federation will have 126 seats
(Serbia: 91, Montenegro: 35), filled by nominees of the two state
parliaments for the first two years until public elections are taking
place. After three years, both states are allowed to unilaterally
leave the federation on public referendum. Full independence of
Montenegro, therefore, is still a possibility.
The law on the implementation of the constitutional charter of the state union of Serbia and Montenegro says:
Article 23
The Law on the Flag of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro shall be passed within 60 days from the date on which the Parliament of Serbia and Montenegro is constituted. The Law on the Coat-of-arms and the anthem of the State Union of Serbia and Montenegro shall be passed by the end of the year 2003.
Therefore, the national flag, arms and anthem of Serbia and Montenegro are still those of the former Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
Ivan Sache, 16 April 2003
The flag of the former Yugoslavia (as well as its coat of arms and anthem) is still both de facto and de jure the official flag of the subsequent new state of Serbia and Montenegro.
De facto, it was seen in use in several instances, including among other the official hoisting in several places in connection with the assasination of the Prime Minister Djindjic and the Council of Europe session acknowledging Sertbia and Montenegro as the 45th member of the Council (Strasbourg, 3 April 2003).
De jure, the Constitutional Charter and the Law on its implementation have provisions that make all the legislation of Yugoslavia valid for the new state until the adoption of the new appropriate legislation replacing it. This naturally also include the legislation on the flag, as demonstrated by the usage practice.
The law of the new flag should be adopted, according to the Charter and the Law on Implementation, within 60 days of the constitution of the new Parliament. Therefore, the new flag should be adopted sometime around the 1st May, if the Parliament observes the time table provided by its own legislation, which might have not been the case, especially considering the situation after Djindjic's assassination.
Zeljko Heimer, 10 April 2003