site.btaOriginal Prototype of Bulgarian Tricolour to Be Displayed on March 3 at National Museum of Military History

On March 3 only, visitors to the National Museum of Military History (NMMH) will have the opportunity to see the original flag regarded as the prototype of the Bulgarian tricolour and one of the most valuable symbols of Bulgarian statehood. The relic, which rarely leaves the museum’s storage facilities, will be exhibited especially for the Bulgaria's National Day, observed on March 3. The museum will operate during its regular working hours with standard admission fees, the NMMH team said. 

The tricolour designed by Ivan Paraskevov, made by his daughter Stiliyana Paraskevova, and intended for the Bulgarian volunteer detachments during the Russo-Turkish War is considered the prototype of Bulgaria’s modern national flag. On May 8, 1877, the flag was presented to the commander-in-chief of the Russian Danube Army with a request that it be handed over to one of the Bulgarian volunteer units. Due to the Russian command’s reluctance to allow the Bulgarian Volunteer Corps to carry their own flags bearing national symbolism, this did not occur. As a result, the flag was never flown in battle, but it remains in history as the precursor of the national tricolour, the museum said. 

“It is among the first flags in which the colours white, green and red are arranged in the same order as in the later adopted Bulgarian national flag. This sequence received legal recognition in 1879, when the Constituent Assembly adopted Article 23 of the Tarnovo Constitution, which states: ‘The Bulgarian national flag is tricolour and consists of white, green and red colours, placed horizontally.’ It is believed that Stiliyana’s flag served as inspiration in formulating this text. The colours and their order have remained unchanged in Bulgarian state symbolism to this day,” the NMMH added.