The national flag of Hungary, also known as the Red-White-Green (Hungarian: Piros-fehér-zöld), is an equal horizontal tricolour of red, white and green. In this exact form, it has been the official flag of Hungary since 23 May 1957. The flag's form originates from national republican movements of the 18th and 19th centuries, while its colours are from the Middle Ages. The current Hungarian flag is similar to the 1816 version of the British republican tricolour, differing only in the shades used. The colours in that form were also already used since at least the coronation of Leopold II in 1790, predating the first use of the Cispadane Republic's tricolour in 1797. Following the removal of the coat of arms in 1957, it became one of only three flags of a socialist state in Europe to not incorporate socialist symbolism, alongside the Polish and Czechoslovak flags.

The modern flag of Hungary originated from the national freedom movement from before 1848, which culminated in the Hungarian Revolution of 1848. The revolution was not only in opposition against the monarchy but also the Habsburg Empire, as well as to form an independent republic. Accordingly, the modern flag of Hungary features a tricolour element based on the flag of France as a reflection of the ideas of the French Revolution of 1848; while the red, white, and green colours are derived from the historical Hungarian coat of arms, which have essentially remained in the same form since the mid-15th century, with exception to some minor differences, and were marshalled from arms that first appeared in the late 12th and early 13th century as arms of the Árpáds, Hungary's founding dynasty. The stripes are horizontal rather than vertical to prevent confusion with the Italian flag despite the banner in that form predating the Italian tricolour by at least 7 years but unlike in Italy, the Italians adopted it as the flag of an Italian state in 1797. According to other data, but no evidence of, the recent form of the Hungarian tricolour had been already used from 1608 at the coronation of Mathias II of Hungary and following coronations. Folklore of the romantic period attributed the colours to virtues: red for strength, white for faithfulness and green for hope. Alternatively, red for the blood spilled for the fatherland, white for freedom and green for the land, for the pastures of Hungary. The new constitution, which took effect on 1 January 2012, makes the ex-post interpretation mentioned first official (in the semi-official translation: strength (erő), fidelity (hűség) and hope (remény)). Wikipedia