Josefov (Joseph's City) is the Jewish quarter in Prague today. It is named after the Austrian Emperor Josef II. It is a completely new city quarter constructed where the medieval "Jewish Town" was located. Jewish Town was partly destroyed and rebuilt between 1893 and 1913 as part of an initiative to model the City of Prague after the City of Paris. Luckily some of the original synagogues and the ancient graveyard survived this effort. Like most Jewish communities in the Middle Ages, the population experienced horrible massacres in 1096 (during the First Crusade) and in 1389 (when 1,500 Jews were massacred on Easter Sunday), and eventually they were concentrated within a walled ghetto. However, in 1262, King Premysl Otakar II (1230-1278), one of the greatest rulers of Bohemia, granted the community a degree of self-administration.

The medieval name for the lands covering most of the modern Czech Republic was Bohemia. Bohemia emerged in the late 9th Century, and was a significant regional power during the Middle Ages. It became part of the Holy Roman Empire, and after the fall of the Holy Roman Empire, Bohemia became part of the Austrian Empire and finally part of Austria–Hungary. Following the collapse of the Austro-Hungarian Empire after World War I, the independent Republic of Czechoslovakia was created in 1918. This new country incorporated the regions of Bohemia, Moravia, Silesia, and Slovakia.

Moravia is today located in the eastern part of the modern Czech Republic. During the 9th Century, however, it was an independent kingdom called "Great Moravia" (830-896). It was overrun by the Magyars in 896, reconquered by Bohemia in 1029, and in 1849, it became part of Austria. In 1918, it became a province of Czechoslovakia.

The Republic of Czechoslovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992. From 1939 to 1945, Czechoslovakia was forced to divide and was partially incorporated into Germany. During this occupation the Czech government-in-exile continued to exist, while Slovakia was an independent satellite of Germany.

Before 1939, Czechoslovakia consisted of a three parts, the third part was called Subcarpathian-Ruthenia. In 1938, the Sudetenland was annexed by the Third Reich. What remained of Czechoslovakia seemed to be up for grabs and Slovakia and Subcarpathian-Ruthenia both attempted to declare their independence. In 1939, Germany annexed the remainder as the "Reichsprotektorat" (Bohemia and Moravia), while Hungary annexed Subcarpathian-Ruthenia and some more parts of Slovakia, and Poland annexed the Teschen area. What little remained declared its independence as Carpatho-Ukraine.

The Protectorate of Bohemia and Moravia (Reichsprotektorat Böhmen und Mähren) was the majority ethnic-Czech protectorate which Nazi Germany established in the central parts of Bohemia, Moravia and Czech Silesia. It was established in 1939 by proclamation of Adolf Hitler from Prague Castle following the declaration of establishment of the independent Slovak Republic. Bohemia and Moravia were autonomous Nazi-administered territories which the Nazi government considered part of "Greater Germany."

Bohemia and Moravia were autonomous Nazi-administered territories which the German government considered part of the Greater German Reich. It was established on March 15, 1939 by proclamation of Adolf Hitler from Prague Castle. Although absolutely controlled by means of a German "Reichsprotektor" (the first was Konstantin von Neurath), it was found useful to have a kind of President for the so called "Protectorate". The former president of the Czech rumpstate, Emil Hácha, remained as technical head of state with the title of State President. Although he protested against the German policies and Germanization of former Czechoslovakia, that was to little effect. Nevertheless, Hácha continued to hold the position of State President until the end of the war, when he was arrested on May 14, 1945. He died on June 26, 1945 under mysterious circumstances.

At first Czechoslovak President Emil Hácha remained as technical head of state with the title of State President, but German officials manned departments analogous to cabinet ministries, and small German control offices were established locally. A kind of German "special deputy" of the Führer called the Reichsprotektor of Bohemia and Moravia held all real power. The Gestapo assumed police authority. Jews were dismissed from the civil service, political parties were banned, and many Communist Party leaders fled to the Soviet Union. Eventually, President Hácha was arrested and died under mysterious circumstances in prison.

The car command flag was similar to that of a Commanding General of the Army with the difference of an added National Eagle that was placed in the center of the flag in white. The second flag was only used as vehicle flag.

Slovakia seceded from Czechoslovakia in 1939 and allied with Hitler's coalition. The government of the First Slovak Republic, led by Jozef Tiso and Vojtech Tuka, became a puppet regime of Germany. Most Jews were deported from the country and taken to Nazi concentration camps during the Holocaust, although thousands of Jews remained to labor in Slovak work camps in Sered, Vyhne, and Nováky. President Tiso, using his presidential powers, has been credited with saving as many as 40,000 Jews during the war, although a total of 75,000 died in the Slovakian concentration camps.

The Sudetenland, the historical region near border between Czechia and Germany, was settled by Germans and from 1938 to 1945 was connected to Hitler's Third Reich. The Sudeten Germans (Sudetendeutschen) used the colors black-red-black, which date back from the republican symbols of the national convention in Frankfurt, on their tricoloured flag.

The "Sudetendeutsche Partei," led by Konrad Henlein was not the Nazi party in Sudetenland. It was a national Czechoslovakian far-right political party that tried to pressure the Czechoslovakian government into allowing the German population of the Sudetenlan to join with Germany.

The failure of the Sudeten German Party's first attempt resulted in discontent and strong support among some of the Czechoslovakian minorities for a complete break from Czechoslovakia. Adolf Hitler took advantage of this opportunity and, supported by the exciled Konrad Henlein and his Sudeten German Party, gained the largely German speaking Sudetenland through the 1938 Munich Agreement.

In 1948, the Communist controlled Czechoslovak Republic was proclaimed, and was later in 1960 renamed the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. In reality, all the Czech had done was merely to exchange one totalitarian invader for another.

In 1993, Czechoslovakia split into the Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Slovak Republic used their traditional plain tricoloured flag dating back to 1848 with the addition of their new coat-of-arms, which is a white cross of Lorraine on a blue mount composed of three hills, on a red background. The new Slovak coat-of-arms, based on the existing historical patterns, was designed by the painter Ladislav Cisarik in 1993. The official interpretation is that the Lorraine cross symbolizes the three important saints, St. Benedict, St. Constantine and St. Method.

Like the Czech Republic, the less industrialized Slovakia is still going through economic and social reforms trying to create a healthy capitalist economy.

In 1784, the Austrian Emperor Josef II by Imperial decree incorporated the four separate towns of Prague ( Old Town, New Town, Lesser Town and Hradschin-Castle ) into one city ruled by a single Magistrate. The Magistrate offices were located in the Old Town hall and the arms and flag of Old Town became those of a new capital. The Old Town flag then consisted of two horizontal stripes, black and yellow, which were the colors of the municipal arms in 1622. Unfortunately, they were identical with colors of the Habsburg dynasty which made the Prague "landesfarben" not very popular among Czech citizens.

Liberec is a city in the north of the Czech Republic with a population of 100,000 inhabitants. This makes it the sixth largest city in the Czech Republic. In the Middle Ages it was famous for its textile industry and glass production. In 1657, Liberec was granted a coat-of-arms by the Holy Roman Emperor Rudolph II. It is described as "Argent two towers gules with gates, united by the embattled wall of the second." The escutcheon with wheel is that of the ruling von Redern family at the time.

City of Liberec Flag 1906-1920		City of Liberec Flag 1960-1978

Two different versions of the modern flag (shown at the left) with their coat-of-arms are reported in use. One with the arms centered and one with the arms closer to the hoist.

Ješted is a 1012 meter-high mountain near Liberec in the Czech Republic. On its summit is the Ješted Tower restaurant, hotel, ski resort, and television tower. It is reachable by road and the special Ješted cable car. The unusual cone-shaped hotel and TV transmitter attempts to architecturally extend the silhouette of mountain. It was designed by Karel Hubáèek in 1973 and considered a jewel of modern architecture and a symbol of the City of Liberec.

The Regional Administration Act of 2000 authorized the Czech Republic's regions to have both a coat-of-arms and a flag. The flag designs are proposed by the regional governments, then approved by the Chairman of the Czech House of Deputies.

The Czechoslovak Legionary Association's mission is to unite Czech and Czechoslovak veterans from both world wars with modern Czech veterans who were involved in more recent conflicts. The association's goals include: peace preservation, supporting humanitarian and democratic traditions, Czech patriotism, education, and veterans' rights.