Like the present national emblem of the Czech Republic, the national flag of the CR, too, has had an eventful history (though not quite so complicated).

Flag of Czechoslovakia 1918-1920The country's original colours were white and red as a symbol of the country's sovereignty. For a brief period of time following the coming into existence of independent Czechoslovakia in 1918, these were used as a new national flag of the newly established state. Owing to reluctance mainly on the Slovak political scene and to the similarity to the national colours of Poland and the Republic of Austria, this original symbol of the Czech Lands was replaced by a new national flag designed by Jaroslav Kursa, who also authored the new Czechoslovak national emblems.

Flag of CzechoslovakiaAs such, the national flag of the Republic of Czechoslovakia was, by constitutional law, made up of a lower red field and an upper white field with a blue wedge situated between the two from the flagpole towards the middle of the flag; the flag width-to-length ratio being 2 to 3, and the length of the wedge equal to half the whole flag length.

Flag of Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia After the German occupation, the occupation authorities had the national colours replaced by a new Protectorate flag made up of three horizontal, equally broad stripes in the following order: white, red and blue.

The resistance movement abroad, though, retained the original Czechoslovak national flag, the appearance of which remained the same regardless of any of the future political or constitutional changes that would plague the state of Czechoslovakia in the coming period. In the end, it also became the national flag of the independent Czech Republic.

The Czech Republic's national flagIn the year 1990, though, while the constitution of the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic was in progress, both the Czech National Council and the Slovak National Council (CNR in its Act No.67/1990 Sb., SNC in its Act No.50/1990 Sb) introduced the national flags of the two constituent republics so that each would take up the continuity of the original symbols of the lands. Hence, the Czech Republic brought into use its national flag made up of two equally broad stripes, a lower red one, and an upper white one, with the width:length ratio equal to 2:3. The same ratio of 2 to 3 was laid down for the national flag of the Slovak Republic made up of three equally broad horizontal stripes arranged as follows: upper - white, middle - blue, lower - red.

Documents attached