Hungary’s national flag is a horizontal tricolour of red, white and green. The three colors became strongly associated with Hungarian national identity during the reform and revolutionary era of the nineteenth century.

What does the Hungarian flag look like?

The civil flag consists of three equal horizontal bands: red on top, white in the middle and green below. State and ceremonial versions may also use Hungary’s coat of arms.

Where do the colors come from?

Red and white have deep roots in Hungarian heraldry, while green also appears in the national coat of arms. The three colors were brought together as a national tricolour during the nineteenth century and became especially prominent during the 1848 revolution.

Modern history

Hungary used different state emblems on the tricolour during the twentieth century. During the 1956 uprising, protesters cut the communist emblem from the centre of the flag, creating one of the revolution’s most recognisable symbols. The modern civil flag is again the plain red-white-green tricolour.

Hungary flag facts

• Colors: red, white and green
• Design: horizontal tricolour
• Major modern association: Revolution of 1848
• 1956 symbol: flag with communist emblem removed

Reference

Reference: Hungary’s constitutional provisions on national symbols and the documented history of the nineteenth-century tricolour.