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Democratic Party (Political party, Serbia)

Demokratska stranka - DS

Emblem of the Democratic Party
Current flags of the Democratic Party
Flags of the Democratic Party used in the 1999 demonstrations
Early party flag (1990-1993)

See also:

Serbia
Alliance for Changes (Serbia and Montenegro)
Democratic Opposition of Serbia (Serbia and Montenegro)

Emblem of the Democratic Party

Emblem of the Democratic Party - Image by Tomislav Todorović & Mladen Mijatov, 10 December 2004

The emblem of the Democratic Party was adopted in 1990, shortly after its founding and before any of its flags, and was used in the campaigns before the elections in December 1990. Unlike the flags, the emblem remained unchanged ever since. It is a blue square charged with a large yellow disc, which is set off-centre, closer to the bottom right corner of the square. According to Radomir Vuković (Patria Partija, KVADART #5, p. 14; Belgrade, 1996), the colours are those of the European Union flag, the position of the disc corresponds with the geographic location of Serbia in the south-east of Europe, as seen on the map, and complete design symbolizes party's goals: building a modern democratic society in Serbia and country's eventual joining the European Union.

Tomislav Todorović, 10 December 2004

Current flags of the Democratic Party

Latest flag used by the Democratic Party - Image by Tomislav Todorović, Mladen Mijatov & Ivan Sarajčić, 3 June 2005

The latest version of the flag of the Democratic Party has appeared in summer 2004, during the campaign for local and provincial elections. I saw it in Zrenjanin, the town where I live. The flag was, and still is, hoisted on the building in which the office of the local branch of the party is placed. It differs from the basic design in alignment of the lines of text which contain the party name (ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА): while other versions of the flag are charged with the text aligned along the right edge, the text on this flag is aligned along the left edge. Currently, there is no evidence if this flag has replaced all the previous versions, not if this is meant to be done either. The existing copies of earlier flag versions can still sometimes be seen on the TV, so they are obviously still in use; the parallel use of several versions of a political flag is typical for Serbia.

Flags of the Democratic Party in present-day use - Images by Tomislav Todorović, Mladen Mijatov & Ivan Sarajčić, 3 February 2005

The present-day flag of the Democratic Party is vertically divided blue and yellow, with the aspect ratio of 1:2. The yellow stripe occupies one-third of the flag length along the fly edge and the rest of the field is blue, charged with the party name written in yellow uppercase Cyrillic letters (ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА) in two lines in the bottom part, close to the yellow stripe. The basic design of the flag appeared in 1993, with the aspect ratio of 2:3, but this has changed with time and since 2000 only the aspect ratio of 1:2 is in use.

Another version of the present design appeared in summer 2003 and was used in the election campaigns in 2003 and 2004. It differs from the basic design in addition of the party emblem in the bottom fly corner. The emblem is vertically aligned with the inscription on the blue field and its distance from the fly edge is the same as that of the inscription from the yellow stripe.

Tomislav Todorović, 3 February 2005

Flag used by the Democratic Party in 2004 - Image by Tomislav Todorović, Mladen Mijatov & Jorge Candeias, 8 March 2005

This flag was used during the campaign for presidential elections in Serbia in 2004. I had the best look at it in TV-broadcast of the final rally of Boris Tadić, presidential candidate of the Democratic Party (elected afterwards for the president), that took place in Belgrade on 2 June 2004. The rally was broadcasted by B-92 channel. The flag was carried by some attendants of the rally who were standing close to the stage. It is vertically divided blue and yellow, with the aspect ratio of 1:2. The yellow stripe occupies one-third of the flag length along the fly edge and the rest of the field is blue, charged with big yellow Cyrillic letters Д С in the bottom part, close to the yellow stripe. The letters are in the same typeface as the party name on other flag versions.

Tomislav Todorović, 8 March 2005

Flags of the Democratic Party used in the 1999 demonstrations

Flag of the Democratic Party - Image by Ivan Sarajčić, 24 September 1999

It seems that there are several possible variations of this flag: without letters, with big Д С either in white or yellow, ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА either on one or two lines, either in white or yellow.

António Martins, 23 September 1999

The flag of the party was changed from demonstration to demonstration in summer-autumn 1999, and there was plenty of them here.
The flag shown above was used during a demonstration on 23 September 1999, I had a close look at it, I measured it and even touch it.

Ivan Sarajčić, 24 September 1999

Another flag of the Democratic Party - Image by Jorge Candeias, 1 July 1999

A flag of the party seen on TV was 1:2, vertically divided blue and yellow, 2/3 blue and 1/3 yellow.

This flag might be just the reverse side of one of the flags with party name or its initials on the obverse side, as the reverse side of those flags is often plain. However, this does not exclude the possibiblity of existing of a flag with both sides plain.

Tomislav Todorović, 2 June 2005

Another flag of the Democratic Party - Image by Jorge Candeias, 4 August 1999

Another flag of the Democratic Party - Image by António Martins, 4 August 1999

Yet another version of the flag of the Democratic Party was seen on TV: blue and yellow vertically (2 to 1) as above, but now with the party name (ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА) written in white capitals Cyrillic letters on the lower part of the blue field.

Jorge Candeias, 4 August 1999

Early party flag (1990-1993)

Early flag of the Democratic Party - Image by Tomislav Todorović, Mladen Mijatov & Ivan Sarajčić, 10 December 2004

The earliest noted flag of the Democratic Party has a blue field with the party name (ДЕМОКРАТСКА СТРАНКА) in yellow letters in upper part of the field and a yellow disc in the bottom fly canton. The charges are positioned so as to achieve the similarity of the complete design with that of the emblem, on which the flag is based. I have no informations about the dates of the adoption and abandoning of this flag, but as the different versions of vertically divided blue-yellow flag, which have replaced it, have appeared in 1993, it would not be incorrect to suppose the year 1990 as the earliest possible time of adoption and 1993 as the latest possible time of abandoning. The flag was not appearing frequently during that time; I was seeing it only in the city of Novi Sad, where it was hoisted on the building where was the office of the local branch of the party.

Tomislav Todorović, 10 December 2004