THE COLOURS OF THE FLAG

The long-term practice of Vexillology in Slovenia shows the need for a restructuring process; in the design (colours, contours and composition) of the flags as well as practical reclassification. 'The Classical' Vexillological colours which are usually found on flags which have been based on Medieval coats of arms consist of four colours and 2 'metallic' colours and are based on the main colours used for Heraldical purposes. The chromatic spectre of flag colours is made up of the Black, Red, Blue and Green colours. The two 'metallic' colours; Silver and Gold, are represented chromatically with the use of White and Yellow colours respectively. The various colours which are also used for flag design today (such as light Blue, light Green, Brown, Orange, etc …) are considered to be ‘Intermediate Colours’. These colours have not been introduced into Slovene Vexillology.
In Heraldry, each coat of arms has a specific order of colours. The first colour is the colour of the Charge which it bears. The second colour is the colour of the ‘shield’ field, upon which the coat of arms’ Charge dominates. As Vexillology was derived from Heraldry, the colours of the flags are based on the Heraldic order of colours. With horizontal flags this order is from top to bottom, and with vertical flags, this order is from left to right.

A flag should ideally (for the sake of recognition) consist of no more than three colours, which should be chosen in accordance with the Vexillological colour matching system (which is very much associated with the Heraldical colour matching system).