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The flag of Austria

The flag of Austria
Three equal horizontal bands of red, white and red.
Ratio 2:3 · current design adopted 1945
Austria

The legend, first recorded in the thirteenth century, has Leopold V returning from the siege of Acre in 1191 with his surcoat entirely soaked in blood except for a white stripe where his belt had been. Whatever its origin, the design is documented from 1230, which makes it one of the oldest national flag patterns in use. Austria and Latvia have the same three-band arrangement, and the distinguishing features are the shade and the proportions: Latvia's red is a dark carmine and its white band is only a fifth of the height. The state flag adds the black eagle with its broken chains, added in 1945.

Flags it gets confused with

Flag How to tell them apart
Latvia Latvia's red is a dark carmine, its white band is much narrower, and it is longer at 1:2.
Lebanon Lebanon has the same bands but a green cedar in the centre and a wider white band.

What the colours mean

  • Red #ED2939 Traditionally the blood-soaked tunic of Duke Leopold V
  • White #FFFFFF Traditionally the band left clean beneath his sword belt

Flag laws usually specify a Pantone chip, a CMYK mix or just a colour name. Converting any of those to sRGB is lossy, which is why published hex values disagree.

Ratio
2:3
Current design adopted
1945
Colours
red, white

Common questions

What does the flag of Austria look like?
Three equal horizontal bands of red, white and red.
What do the colours of the Austria flag mean?
Red: traditionally the blood-soaked tunic of Duke Leopold V. White: traditionally the band left clean beneath his sword belt.
How do you tell the Austria flag from the Latvia one?
Latvia's red is a dark carmine, its white band is much narrower, and it is longer at 1:2.
When was the Austria flag adopted?
The current design dates from 1945, and its official ratio is 2:3.

Related pages

Sources

  1. Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (CC0 1.0)

How these figures are compiled and checked