There is no law in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) explicitly prohibiting the display of any flag, no matter what period it is from.
This means that a group of women was legally allowed to take a photograph with the flag of the Republic of BiH (RBiH) in the center of Banja Luka on Statehood Day, November 25th.
However, one of them received a misdemeanor charge under the Law on Public Order and Peace, as the police stated that displaying the flag caused “public unrest.”
The flag of the RBiH, featuring golden lilies on a blue shield on a white background, was the internationally recognized state flag from 1992 to 1998 before being replaced by the current flag.
In Republika Srpska (RS), one of BiH’s two entities, it is referred to as a “wartime flag of BiH,” according to the police statement. The display of this flag has previously led to misdemeanor charges.
The wartime flag of the Army of the RBiH (ARBiH) is similar to the state flag of the time, except it includes crossed swords behind the shield with lilies and the inscription “Amija Republike Bosne i Hercegovine” above.
On the other hand, in the Federation of BiH (FBiH), each of the 10 cantons has its own, often similar, laws on public order and peace.
The display of the RS flag – a red, blue, and white tricolor – has also been targeted by police in this entity, with flags being confiscated and misdemeanor charges issued.
Order, peace, and flags
Although the flags themselves are not illegal, police penalize citizens for their display, citing public disorder, incitement of ethnic intolerance, or offense to national sentiments.
The Law on Public Order and Peace in RS prescribes fines for carrying or displaying symbols deemed “indecent, offensive, or disturbing,” as well as for insulting others “on political, religious, or national grounds.”
Fines range from 100 to 800 BAM (approximately 50 to 400 euros).
In August 2022, police in Banja Luka fined three individuals for displaying the ARBiH flag on their cars during a wedding convoy, according to the Ministry of Internal Affairs of RS.
Meanwhile, near Sanski Most in January 2021, police stopped two vehicles displaying flags of RS and neighboring Serbia and confiscated them.
In the Una-Sana Canton (USC), where Sanski Most is located, fines between 500 and 1.200 BAM (250 to 600 euros) are imposed for “offending the religious, national, or racial feelings of citizens in public spaces.”
In January 2021, a man near Odzak in the Posavina Canton in northern BiH displayed the Serbian flag on his tractor during a celebration of an Orthodox holiday.
He was fined 200 BAM (100 euros) according to the cantonal law, which stipulates penalties for displaying flags or coats of arms “not prescribed by the Constitution and laws of BiH, the FBiH, or the Canton.”
Which flags are allowed and which are not?
In addition to the state flag, RS and eight of the ten cantons in the FBiH have their own legal flags.
In 2007, the Constitutional Court of BiH declared the flag and coat of arms of the FBiH, featuring lilies and a chessboard pattern, unconstitutional because they did not include symbols of the Serbian people.
By the same decision, the coat of arms of the RS with a double-headed eagle and the anthem “Boze pravde” (God of Justice) were declared unconstitutional, because they “violated the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination.”
However, the RS flag remained valid, a new anthem was adopted, and a temporary emblem (with Cyrillic letters “RS” on the tricolor) was introduced until a new coat of arms was adopted.
To this day, the FBiH has not enacted a new law on entity symbols.
The flags and other symbols of the West Herzegovina Canton and Canton 10 were declared invalid by the entity’s Constitutional Court back in 1998. However, the authorities in these cantons, predominantly populated by Croats, still use them.
These symbols belong to the so-called Herzeg-Bosnia, a wartime Croatian entity in BiH that was dissolved following the signing of the Washington Agreement in 1994.
Flags of military units from the war in BiH – such as the ARBiH, the Army of RS (VRS), and the Croatian Defence Council (HVO) – are commonly displayed at commemorations and celebrations in areas predominantly populated by Bosniaks, Serbs, or Croats.
In November of this year, the RS adopted amendments to the Law on the Use of the Anthem, Coat of Arms, and Flag, according to which entity institutions may display flags and coats of arms and perform the anthems of countries with which the RS has an agreement on the establishment of special parallel relations.
The imposed state flag
In 1998, BiH received its current flag through a decision by then-High Representative Carlos Westendorp.
The Law on the Flag, imposed after politicians failed to reach an agreement, prescribes that the flag of BiH is blue, with a yellow triangle to the right of its center, alongside a row of white five-pointed stars.
The triangle symbolizes the country’s geographic shape, its corners representing the constituent peoples (Bosniaks, Serbs, and Croats), while the stars signify Europe.
The law mandates that the flag must be displayed on state institutions, the buildings of BiH’s diplomatic and consular missions, and during international visits, competitions, and other events in which BiH participates.
In such instances, no other flags from BiH may be displayed alongside the state flag, Radio Slobodna Evropa writes.
E.Dz.
