Flag of Slovenia

1:2 Flag of the Slovene nation, first flown during the spring of nations of 1848.

The white-blue-red Slovene flag was first raised on 7 April 1848, on a building between Congress Square and Prešeren Square in Ljubljana, by a group of nationally minded students led by the prominent liberal nationalist activist and poet Lovro Toman. Despite opposition from the local ethnic Germans it was subsequently recognized by the Austrian Government as the official flag of Carniola. This formal recognition, albeit on a regional level, was an exception to the policy of the Austrian Government which tended to persecute national symbols of the non-German nationalities in the Empire.

In addition, Austrian authorities saw all tricolors as basically nationalist and potentially revolutionary symbols, so Austrian provinces (as the Empire itself) were only allowed to use bicolors (the only exception being the flag of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia, since it was interpreted to be a combination of the Croatian and Slavonian bicolors). So the official recognition of the Carniolan white-blue-red tricolor instead of the traditional white-blue bicolor was seen as a major achievement by the Slovenes and it quickly became the symbol representing the idea of United Slovenia. In the second half of the 19th century, the Slovene national tricolor became the only truly all-Slovene symbol, representing all Slovenes, regardless of the historical region in which they lived.

The tricolor flag continued to be associated with Slovenia during the country's incorporation into Yugoslavia, although officially the whole kingdom including Slovenia had the same flag, in this case, the blue-white-red. In the interwar period, it was also used by the Slovenes of the Julian March that were annexed to Italy, where it was prohibited and persecuted by the fascist regime.

1:2 Flag used by Slovene Home Guard 1941–1945.

1:2 Flag used by Slovene Partisans that was adopted on 26 September 1941 at the Stolice meeting of the Yugoslav Partisans.

1:2 Flag of SR Slovenia, 1945–1991.

During World War II The Slovene national colors were used both by the Partisan Resistance Movement (usually with a red star in the middle) and by the Slovene Home Guard, the voluntary anti-Communist militia sponsored and supported by the Nazi German occupation forces.

In 1945 a red star was officially placed on the flag of the Socialist Republic of Slovenia, a constituent of the Socialist Yugoslavia.

1:2 Flag proposal in 1990 before independence by the Party of Democratic Reform.

2:3 Civil ensign.

Following Slovene independence from Yugoslavia, the red star was removed and the new coat of arms, designed by Marko Pogačnik, was added. The flag was officially adopted on 27 June 1991, following a long and controversial dispute about the coat of arms of the new Republic.