National flag of the Republic of Bulgaria
(Law for the State Seal and National Flag of the Republic of Bulgaria, Prom. SG. 47/24.04.1998, amend. SG. 33/9.04.1999, amend. SG. 69/3.08.1999)


National flag of the Republic of Bulgaria Art. 15. (1) The national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria is a national symbol which expresses the independence and sovereignty of the Bulgarian state.
(2) The national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria is tricolor: white, green and red fields, placed horizontally from the top downwards. On fixing the national flag in a vertical situation of the carrying body the colors shall be arranged from left to right - white green, red, regarded opposite the flag.
(3) The national flag is of a rectangular shape. The fields of the individual colors shall be equal in size and shall be situated along the horizontal of the rectangular.
(4) The sizes of the national flag, the structure of the cloth, the quality and color characteristics and the requirements to the materials shall be specified in Supplement No. 2 which is inseparable from this law.

Art. 16. (1) The national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria shall be constantly hoisted on:
1. the buildings in which the National Assembly, the Presidency, the ministries and the other state establishments, the regional structures of the ministries and the district administrations, the Constitutional court, the judicial power bodies, the National Bank of Bulgaria, the Bulgarian National TV, the Bulgarian National Radio carry out their basic activities, on the buildings of the municipalities, regions and mayoralties, as well as on the state and municipal schools;
2. the entry and exist border and customs check-points;
3. ports, railway stations and airports;

(2) (Amend., SG 69/99) The national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria shall be temporarily hoisted on the buildings where sessions of the National Assembly or sittings of the municipal councils, international conference or sittings, all-national or international sports and other events of national significance are held throughout their duration.

Art. 17. The national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria shall be placed in the front part to the right of the transport vehicles and on the front mast of the navigation vessels when present there are the president of the Republic, the vice-president, the chairman of the National Assembly or the prime minister.

Art. 18. The national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria shall be hoisted in the front part of:
1. the sea and river ships and other navigation vessels, entered in the ship registered of the Bulgarian ports;
2. the ships purchased by the Republic of Bulgaria from abroad - with the permit of the respective Bulgarian diplomatic or consular official till their entry in the ship registers of the Bulgarian ports.

Art. 19. The national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria shall be hoisted on the Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions and shall be placed on the transport vehicles of the Bulgarian diplomatic and consular missions under the terms envisaged by the international treaties and customs.

Art. 20. The national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria shall be hoisted in the units of the Bulgarian army and on the vessels of the Naval fleet according to the military statutes.

Art. 21. (1) On hoisting the national flag together with a flag of another state the honorary place shall be given to the national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria which shall be placed to the left of the building as looked from the opposite.
(2) On hoisting the flags of several states the national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria shall be placed in the middle, if the number of the rest of the flags is even, or at the beginning or the end if the number of the rest of flags is not even. The flags of foreign states shall be arranged in an equal height, in an alphabetic order according to the Bulgarian alphabet.
(3) On official visits to the Republic of Bulgaria of a head of state, prime minister, head of parliament or of a government or parliamentary delegation of a foreign country, the honorary place shall be given to the flag of the respective foreign state which shall be placed to the left of the building as looked from the opposite.
Art. 22. On a Council of Ministers declared mourning the national flag shall be half-lowered to the carrying body.

Art. 23. (1) On marching the flown flag shall be carried on the left shoulder and shall be held with the left hand, stretched along the handle.
(2) On passing in a ceremonious march the flag shall be carried in front with an upright handle which shall be supported from the bottom by the left hand to a height below the waist, and in the middle it shall be supported by the right hand which is to the height of the shoulder.

Art. 24. The flags shall be maintained in an excellent aesthetic condition and shall be replaced in accordance with the requirements envisaged in supplement No. 2.

Art. 25. The order of depicting the national flag or of reproducing it shall be determined by the Council of Ministers.