Flag of Latvia

What the flag of Latvia looks like

The flag of Latvia has two red bands, one on top and one at the bottom, divided by a thin white stripe in the center. The stripes are in the ratio 2:1:2, so the white stripe takes up only one-fifth of the height. The flag is twice as long as it is high, with a ratio of 1:2.

The red is a dark shade, often called Latvian red or carmine, closer to maroon than to the bright red of many other flags. This dark red is a defining part of the Latvian flag. It is shown in simplified form in the Latvia flag emoji, and you can find files for printing on the download page.

Latvia flag meaning and symbolism

The colors are linked to a well-known legend. It tells of a Latvian tribal leader who was wounded in battle and wrapped in a white sheet. The parts of the sheet on each side of his body were stained with his blood, and the middle, where his body had lain, stayed white. His followers took this as a banner, and so the red-white-red pattern was born. In the usual version the leader is a chief of the Latgalians, one of the ancient tribes of the region.

The red-white-red flag is first mentioned in the Rhymed Chronicle of Livonia, which describes a battle around 1279 in which Latgalian tribes from Cēsis carried a "red flag with a white stripe". The red is also described as symbolizing the readiness of Latvians to give their blood for freedom and to defend their sovereignty. An alternative story is similar to the legend of the flag of Austria.

History of the Latvian flag

The banner of red with a white stripe is among the oldest flags in the world. Latvian nationalists began to use it again in the 19th century. In 1917 a design by the artist Ansis Cīrulis was accepted, and the red-white-red flag was used by Latvian military units such as the Latvian Riflemen. After Latvia became independent in 1918, the flag became the national flag, and it was officially affirmed by a decree of the Constitutional Assembly on 15 June 1921.

In 1940 the Soviet Union occupied Latvia. The national flag was banned, and the Latvian SSR used a red flag with a gold hammer and sickle, and from 1953 a Soviet-style flag with blue wavy bands at the bottom. Producing or displaying the old flag was treated as a crime punishable by law, and Latvia restored the red-white-red flag as the national flag in February 1990, before the formal recognition of independence by the Soviet Union on 6 September 1991. Latvia is one of the Baltic states, together with Estonia and Lithuania.

Latvia flag vs Austria flag

The flag of Austria also has red-white-red horizontal stripes, which is why the two are often confused. The Austrian bands are of equal width, with a ratio of 2:3, and the red is brighter. In the Latvian flag, the white stripe is much narrower and the red is darker. A legend about the origin of the Austrian flag is similar to the Latvian one, but the two flags are unrelated.