Croatia: Flag and Facts
Croatia's flag has red, white and blue horizontal stripes with a coat of arms in the middle: a red and silver checkerboard shield topped by a crown of five small shields.
- Official name
- Republic of Croatia
- Capital
- Zagreb
- Region
- Southeast Europe
- Population
- 4.1 million (2025)
- Languages
- Croatian
- Currency
- Euro
- Area
- 56,594 km² (21,851 sq mi)
- People
- Croatian
- Calling code
- +385
- Highest point
- Dinara 1,831 m
- Independence
- 25 June 1991 (from Yugoslavia)
- National symbols
- red-and-white checkerboard
- Borders
- Bosnia and Herzegovina, Hungary, Montenegro, Serbia, Slovenia
About Croatia
Those five little shields stand for historic regions: Croatia, Dubrovnik, Dalmatia, Istria and Slavonia. The red, white and blue are pan-Slav colors, which trace back to Russia's 19th-century flag. The checkerboard itself has 13 red squares and 12 silver ones, and it doubles as a national symbol.
A Kingdom of Croatia existed by about 925. Centuries later the land belonged to Austria-Hungary, then joined Serbs and Slovenes in a kingdom that took the name Yugoslavia in 1929. Croatia declared independence on 25 June 1991, but fighting went on for four years, and the last Serb-held area in eastern Slavonia came back in 1998. NATO membership followed in 2009 and the EU in 2013, and the euro arrived in 2023.
Did you know?
- Dinara, the highest peak in Croatia, stands 1,831 meters tall.
- The national anthem's title translates to Our Beautiful Homeland.
- Zagreb, the capital, has about 684,000 residents.
Want to test yourself? The random flag generator has a quiz mode, and the full flags of the world page shows every flag at once.
Questions about Croatia
What currency does Croatia use?
Croatia uses the euro, which it adopted in January 2023.
What is the climate like in Croatia?
Inland areas get hot summers and cold winters, while the Adriatic coast sees mild winters and dry summers.
Sources
- CIA World Factbook, checked October 8, 2026
- REST Countries data (mledoze/countries), checked October 8, 2026
- Flag artwork: flag-icons (MIT), checked October 8, 2026
Facts are compiled from these open sources and rewritten in our own words. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.