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Kingdom of Serbia (1882-1918): Army flags

Royal Guard
Infantry
Cavalry
Serbian-Americans volunteers (1917)
Unidentified flag

See also:

Royal Guard

Royal Guard flag, reverse and obverse - Images by Milan Jovanović, 24 November 2007

The Royal Guard flag, adopted in 1904, is a square Serbian tricolor flag with a golden fringe. On the obverse is portrayed St. Demetrius, the patron saint of Thessalonica, born in Smirnium, today Sremski Mitrovica; on the reverse is shown a Serbian eagle on a red oval background. On both sides is written in church Slavonic letters:
- above the saint / emblem: ЗА КРАЉА И ОТАЧАСТВО ("For the King and our Nation")
- below the saint/emblem: С ВЕРОМ У БОТА ("With faith in God"); this was added in 1908 and is not shown on the images.

Source: Serbian military flags up to 1918, by Dragana Samaržić [szd83]

Milan Jovanović, 24 November 2007

Infantry

Infantry flag, reverse and obverse - Images by Milan Jovanović, 24 November 2007

The Infantry flag, adopted in 1906, is a square Serbian tricolor flag with a golden fringe. On the obverse is portrayed St. Andrew, the patron saint of the Karađorđević dynasty; on the reverse is shown a Serbian eagle on a red oval background. On both sides is written in golden Cyrillic letters:
- above the saint / emblem: ЗА КРАЉА И ОТАЧАСТВО ("For the King and our Nation")
- below the saint/emblem: С ВЕРОМ У БОТА ("With faith in God"); this was added in 1908.

Source: Serbian military flags up to 1918, by Dragana Samaržić [szd83]

This flag was used on 14 July 2007 in a ceremony at the Monument to France, which was erected in 1930 in Belgrad as a symbol of gratefulness to France for aid during the First World War.

Milan Jovanović, 24 November 2007

Cavalry

Cavalry flag, reverse and obverse - Images by Milan Jovanović, 24 November 2007

The Cavalry flag, adopted in 1904, is a square Serbian tricolor flag with a golden fringe. On the obverse is portrayed St. George; on the reverse is shown a Serbian eagle on a red oval background. On both sides is written in church Slavonic letters, above the saint / emblem: ЗА КРАЉА И ОТАЧАСТВО ("For the King and our Nation").

Source: Serbian military flags up to 1918, by Dragana Samaržić [szd83]

Milan Jovanović, 24 November 2007

Serbian-American volunteers (1917)

Flag of the Serbian-American volunteers, 1917 - Image by Ivan Sarajčić, 5 June 1999

This is another military flag from the Military Museum in Belgrade. It was used by Serbian-American volunteers in 1917.
Inscription reads: Third St. Vitus' Day Company of Serbian volonteers from the United States of America.

Ivan Sarajčić, 5 June 1999

Unidentified flag

The International Geography (London, 1911) shows a very complicated flag of Serbia, which can be described as follows:

Tricolore: red - blue - white
Center: armorial drape and crown; in the middle of that the coat of arms of Serbia.
Around the flag alternating triangles in red and blue.
Above and below: four blue, four red.
Left and right: four blue, two red.
In the four corners: four red lozenges (elongated).
The source is a small image in black and white, so I might have missed something. It looks like the flag of the reigning monarch.

Regarding the coat of arms, I noticed three differences with the state flag:
- The crown on top is larger
- The crown on top of the shield is smaller
- The drapings between the crowns are a bit wider.

Jarig Bakker, 11 December 1998

The Serbian military unit flags from the First World War did include some ornamented border, but were square, and with the state arms on a disc.

Željko Heimer, 10 December 1998