HIGH REPRESENTATIVE DETERMINES NEW BH FLAG

( Editorial: --> 9348 ) SARAJEVO, 4 Feb (Hina) - As of Wednesday, Bosnia-Herzegovina has a new flag. Carlos Westendorp, High Representative for implementation of the Dayton peace agreement, has decided that the new Bosnian flag should have a dark blue background and on it a yellow triangle, with white five-pointed stars running along its hypotenuse. Westendorp's spokesman Duncan Bullivant said the High Representative made the decision after the Bosnian Parliament on Tuesday failed to reach agreement on the design of the new flag. Bosnian MPs were offered three models, designed by an independent expert commission, but none of them received a sufficient number of votes. The new flag is a modified design of one of the three original proposals which received most support by the MPs. According to Bullivant, the dark blue colour of the flag and white stars symbolise the connection between Bosnia-Herzegovina and the European Union and the fact that the country belongs to Europe. The triangle stands for the three constituent peoples in Bosnia- Herzegovina and its golden yellow is the colour of the sun. This is a flag of the future and it represents unity, not division, said Bullivant, stressing the Office of the High Representative expected all state institutions to start using the flag immediately. (hina) mm rm 041351 MET feb 98