Hungarian flag

Hungary

Use	Civil and state flag
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	October 1, 1957
Design	A horizontal triband of red, white and green The official Hungarian state flag does not contain the Hungarian coat of arms, but the coat of arms is often used during solemn occasions.
Variant flag of Hungary
Use	Civil flag and ensign
Proportion	2:3
Adopted	October 1, 1957
Design	A horizontal tricolour of red, white, and green
Variant flag of Hungary
Use	War flag
Proportion	3:4
Adopted	1950
Variant flag of Hungary
Use	Naval ensign
Proportion	3:4
Adopted	1946

The flag of Hungary (Hungarian: Magyarország zászlója) is a horizontal tricolour of red, white and green. In this exact form, it has been the official flag of Hungary since October 1, 1957. The flag's form originates from national republican movements of the 18th and 19th centuries, while its colours are from the Middle Ages. It both shares close relations to the flag of Bulgaria.

The nation of Hungary originated from the national freedom movement from before 1848, which culminated in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The revolution was not only in opposition against the monarchy but also the Habsburg Empire, as well as to form an independent republic. Accordingly, the Hungarian flag features a tricolour element, which is based upon the French flag, as a reflection of the ideas of the French revolution; while red, white, and green are colours derived from the historical Hungarian coat of arms, which have essentially remained in the same form since the mid-15th century, with exception to some minor differences, and were marshalled from arms that first appeared in the late 12th and early 13th century as arms of the Árpáds, Hungary's founding dynasty. The stripes are horizontal rather than vertical to prevent confusion with the Italian flag, which had also been designed after the French flag. According to other data, the recent form of the Hungarian tricolour had been already used from 1608 at the coronation of Mathias II of Hungary.

Folklore of the romantic period attributed the colours to virtues: red for strength, white for faithfulness and green for hope. Alternatively, red for the blood spilled for the fatherland, white for freedom and green for the land, for the pastures of Hungary. The new constitution, which took effect on 1 January 2012, makes the ex-post interpretation mentioned first official (in the semi-official translation: strength (erő), fidelity (hűség) and hope (remény)).