During John Hunyadi's campaign in Niš in 1443, Skanderbeg and a few hundred Albanians defected from the Turkish ranks; for twenty-five years he scored remarkable victories against the Ottomans. He adopted the similar Estern Roman imperial flag, with the double-headed eagle and the red background, and his victories brought him the papal title Athleta Christi.^[5] The eagle was used for heraldic purposes in the Middle Ages by a number of noble families in Albania and became the symbol of the Albanians.^[6] The Kastrioti's coat of arms, depicting a black double-headed eagle on a red field, became famous when he led a revolt against the Ottoman Empire resulting in the independence of Albania from 1443 to 1479. This was the flag of the League of Lezhë, which was the first unified Albanian state in the Middle Ages and the oldest representative political body in the country with extant records.^[7]^[8]^[9]^[10]

Double-headed eagle found in a mural inside the Shën Ndoji church in Rodon, possibly dating from the 15th century

The symbol of the double-headed black eagle on a red background was re-used by Albanian nationalists during the 19th and early 20th centuries as a symbol of their campaign for their country's independence from the Ottoman Empire.^[11]^[6]^[12] In Ottoman territory, the first time it was raised in possibly over 400 years is the Battle of Deçiq (6 April) in the Albanian revolt of 1911. It was raised by the rebellion leader Ded Gjo Luli on the peak of Bratila (present-day Tuzi Municipality) after victory was secured. The phrase Tash o vllazën do t’ju takojë të shihni atë që për 450 vjet se ka pa kush (Now brothers you have earned the right to see that which has been unseen for 450 years) has been attributed to Ded Gjo Luli by later memoirs of those who were present when he raised the flag.^[13] It was one of three banners brought to Malësia by Palokë Traboini, student in Austria. The other two banners were used by Ujka of Gruda and Prelë Luca of Triepshi.^[14]

Albanian flag on a pole at the entrance of Krujë Castle

The Albanian flag has gone through a number of changes over the years as different regimes have modified it. During the reign of King Zog (r. 1928–1939), a crown was added to the flag and was replaced by two fasces during the Italian occupation of Albania. After World War II, the communist regime added a five-pointed golden star, which was removed on 7 April 1992 after the communist government in Albania collapsed.

Albania's maritime flags—the civil ensign and the naval ensign—are both different from the national flag. The civil ensign consists of three horizontal bands of red, black, and red. The naval ensign is similar to the national flag, except that the eagle is on a white field, and the lower portion of the flag has a red stripe. The eagle of the flag of Albania is depicted on the reverse of the Albanian five lekë coin, issued in 1995 and 2000.^[15]

Beginning in 1969, the flag of Albania was widely unofficially flown in Kosovo by the country's ethnic Albanian population.^[16] The flag was the symbol of the self-declared proto-state Republic of Kosova during the 1990s. Kosovo uses a different flag that was designed to avoid any symbols associated with a particular ethnic group, similarly to the flags of Bosnia and Herzegovina and Cyprus.

S11-SL1-0001-M13 Albanië 1 Lek 2013 MS63 KM75a