#ustase

Independent State of Croatia, 1941-1945

The Independent State of Croatia (Nezavisna Država Hrvatska), often referred to simply by the abbreviation NDH, was a World War II puppet state of Nazi Germany and Italy. It consisted of most of modern day Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with some parts of modern-day Serbia.

The flag combines the colors of the flags of the Kingdom of Croatia (red and white), the Kingdom of Slavonia (white and blue) and the Kingdom of Dalmatia (red and blue). The šahovnica (“chessboard”) first attested as an official symbol of the kingdom of Croatia in 1495.

The “U” in the top left corner is the symbol of the Ustaša Movement, a fascist and terrorist organization active, in its original form, between 1929 until 1945. As German forces withdrew from Yugoslavia in 1944/1945, the Ustaše mostly left the country.