History of the national flag of Albania

The eagle dates back to George Castriota, an Albanian Christian who became an Ottoman general in the XVth century under the name of Iskander Bey, or Skanderbeg. He later returned to the Christian faith and led the fight of the Albanians against the Turks in the 1440s. He used the Byzantine double-headed eagle on his seals, hence the modern flag.

Francois Velde, 30 June 1995

In 1443, during the battle against the Hungarians of Hunyadi in Nis (today in Serbia), Skenderbeg abandoned the Ottoman Army. He captured Kruja, the seat of his father's domain in middle Albania. He hoisted the Albanian flag, a red flag with the black double-headed eagle similar to the present-day Albanian flag, over the fortress of Kruja, and pronounced to his countrymen the famous words:

"I have not brought you liberty, I found it here, among you".

In 1444, Skanderbeg managed to unite under his command all Albanian princes gathered in the town of Lezha, and formed the League of Lezha to fight against the Turks.

During the next 25 years he fought with forces rarely exceeding 20,000 against the most powerful army of that time and defeated it for 25 years. In 1450, the Turkish army was led by Sultan Murad II in person, who died after his defeat in the way back. Two other times, in 1466 and 1467, Mehmed II, the conqueror of Constantinople, led the Turkish army himself against Skenderbeg and failed too. The Ottoman Empire attempted to conquer Kruja 24 times and failed all 24 of them. Skanderbeg died in 1468 and Kruja was eventually seized on 16 June 1478.

The fortress of Kruja has been partially rebuilt and is now a museum (Muzeu i Gjergji Kastriotit Skenderbeut). In one of the halls are shown the reconsituted standards of the lords who faught with Skanderbeg. The history of the siege of Kruja is depicted in Ismail Kadare's novel "The rain drums".

Ivan Sache, 1 May 1999

During its history, Albania has used several flags which are variations of the basic design, a black double-headed eagle on a red background.

1912. Albania gained independence as a principality. In the flag the eagle had golden beak and claws and was holding golden arrows. Above its heads a white five-pointed star.
1920. The (first) republic was proclaimed. The flag was changed to a plain black eagle on red.
1928. The president and dictator Amet Zogu proclaimed himself king Zog I. Now the eagle in the flag is surmounted by Skanderbeg's helmet in gold, which served as the royal crown.
1939. Albania was occupied by the Italians, officially it continued to be an independent kingdom under the Italian king Vittorio Emanuele III. The flag was changed to plain red with the arms: black eagle on a red shield. The shield was set between two black fasces, above it Skanderbeg's helmet in black. Below the shield a scroll with the motto "fert".
1944. The provisional government formed by the partisans re-introduced the pre-war flag. In the upper corner near the hoist a golden star was added, later replaced by a hammer and sickle.
1946. With the proclamation of the people's republic in 1946 the symbol in the corner was removed and a red five-pointed star with golden border was set above the heads of the eagle.
1992. Albania again became a republic, and the star was removed from the flag. We are back at the basic design, black eagle on red.

(The flag descriptions are taken from Karl-Heinz Hesmer)