Bulgaria Flag - Republic of

The flag of Bulgaria consists of three equal horizontal bands of white (top), green, and red. The white represents peace, green represents the fertility of the Bulgarian lands, and red stands for the courage of the people.

Originally the flag used the Pan-Slavic colours, which were derived from the Pan-Slavism of 19th century Europe. The central band was blue, and so the flag was similar to the flag of Russia. However after Bulgarian Independence in 1878, the central band was replaced with green due to Bulgaria's development as an agricultural country. The flag of Eastern Rumelia, a former Turkish province now part of Bulgaria, also originally consisted of the same colours.

The former coat of arms on the left side of the white stripe was removed after 1989. It had contained a rampant lion within a wreath of wheat ears below a red five-pointed star and above a ribbon bearing the years 681 and 1944. These represented the year of establishment of the first Bulgarian state, and the start of Communist occupation.