---
title: "Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina: colours and meaning"
description: "What every colour and symbol on the Bosnia and Herzegovina flag stands for, its official 1:2 ratio, and the year the current design was adopted."
url: https://atoneplace.net/flag/bosnia-and-herzegovina/
site: "At One Place"
---

# The flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina

**The flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina: A blue field with a yellow right triangle along the top edge and a diagonal line of white stars along the triangle's hypotenuse, the top and bottom stars cut off by the flag's edges.**

Ratio 1:2 · current design adopted 1998

The design was imposed in 1998 by the international High Representative, Carlos Westendorp, after parliament failed to agree on anything — which is why it uses no colour or symbol associated with any of the three constituent peoples. The triangle is usually explained as the rough shape of the country and as the three peoples; the blue and stars are borrowed from European institutions. The two stars at the corners are deliberately cut off by the flag's edge to suggest the sequence continues indefinitely. It is the clearest example anywhere of a flag designed by elimination rather than by symbolism.

## What the colours mean

*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.*

- **Blue** (#002F6C) — Europe; taken from the Council of Europe flag
- **Yellow** (#FECB00) — The sun, and the shape of the country
- **White** (#FFFFFF) — The stars

- **Ratio:** 1:2
- **Current design adopted:** 1998
- **Colours:** blue, yellow, white

## Common questions

### What does the flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina look like?

A blue field with a yellow right triangle along the top edge and a diagonal line of white stars along the triangle's hypotenuse, the top and bottom stars cut off by the flag's edges.

### What do the colours of the Bosnia and Herzegovina flag mean?

Blue: europe; taken from the Council of Europe flag. Yellow: the sun, and the shape of the country. White: the stars.

### When was the Bosnia and Herzegovina flag adopted?

The current design dates from 1998, and its official ratio is 1:2.

## Related pages

- [Bosnia and Herzegovina](https://atoneplace.net/country/bosnia-and-herzegovina/)
- [Every flag with blue in it](https://atoneplace.net/flag/colour/blue/)
- [The flag of United States](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-states/)
- [The flag of India](https://atoneplace.net/flag/india/)
- [The flag of United Kingdom](https://atoneplace.net/flag/united-kingdom/)
- [The flag of France](https://atoneplace.net/flag/france/)
- [The flag of Russia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/russia/)
- [The flag of Brazil](https://atoneplace.net/flag/brazil/)
- [The flag of Australia](https://atoneplace.net/flag/australia/)
- [The flag of South Korea](https://atoneplace.net/flag/south-korea/)

## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]