 In the first years after the change, both flags were officially flown for a long time.Between 1995 and 1998, in the municipalities where then-opposition party VMRO-DPMNE ruled, only the old flag was flown from institution buildings.Popular opinion was divided about the merits of changing the flag; a survey carried out before the Assembly's vote found that a majority of the population, 56.33 percent, supported the adoption of a new flag.