Before independence, the lands that now comprise the Czech Republic was incorporated into the Austro-Hungarian Empire as the provinces of Bohemia, Moravia, and Silesia. The dominant region was Bohemia, which flew a Hapsburg flag of white on red. After the empire's dissolution at the end of World War I, Bohemia became the dominant region of a new multi-cultural state known as Czechoslovakia. Because Bohemia was the dominant region, its flag became the first national banner of this state. The problem, however, is that it was flown in a country that was wedged between two countries that flew very similar flags. In fact, the flags of Bohemia and Poland (the region's northern neighbor) are identical to one another. The flag of Austria, to the south is also very similar. Therefore, two years later, in an attempt to create a unique flag, the National Assembly of Czechoslovakia accepted and adopted a new design proposed by a Czech vexillologist named Jaroslav Kursa, who worked as an archivist in the government's Department of Home Affairs. Kursa's proposal inserted a blue wedge at the flag's hoist. The insertion of the blue into the Czechoslovakian flag is important for two reasons. The first is that the colors of white, blue, and red are recognized as Pan-Slavic colors. During these early years of independence from the German dominated Austro-Hungarian Empire, Pan-Slaviic patriotism in Czechoslovakia was very prominant. Secondy, it is said that Kursa wished for the flag to represent the influence of the Moravians in the life of the country and therefore he made the inserted wedge blue, taken from the Moravian quarter of the Greater Arms (see above). As a result, the new and unique Czechoslovakian flag flew the colors of both Bohemia (white and red) and Moravia (red, white, and blue). Of course, the problem with this was that it left the Silesians unrepresented.
Except during the years of the Nazi occupation, the red, white, and blue flag of Czechoslovakia flew over the unified country. The " Velvet Revolution" of 1989 overthrew the communist government that was imposed on the country by the Soviet Union. This was followed by the "Velvet Divorce" during which Czechoslovakia was divided into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Czechs and the Slovaks, though closely related to one another, agreed to the seperation because the Slovaks felt that they were economically and politically oppressed by the more prosperous Czechs in Bohemia. On the date of the separation, 1 January 1993, the new Czech Republic retained the old national emblems and the new Slovakia chose new symbols. |
