National Identity in the Political Party Flags in Croatia

In 1989 the first new political parties were formed in Croatia after almost half a century of the single-party system and in 1990 the multiparty elections were held. The re-born democracy quickly produced dozens of new parties, most of which started using logos and symbols and many of them flags. In the last 20 years some of the parties were disbanded, others newly established, some have united, others split—the total number of parties registered at any given time has averaged about 100, although probably only a score or two had any significant influence in the country’s political life. With the different ideologies and interests, parties chose different flags and emblems depicted in them, some based on the national flag, on the chequy arms, on other national symbols, while other chose elements of regional and local identity, European and global symbols as well as other more particular ones. This paper systematically presents the flags of various parties in Croatia in the last 20 years with an emphasis on the identity symbols they use.

[IVI.CID] 70d7799b-57c7-4e99-9d5e-f5423e9426a3