1.
Glossary of vexillology
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Flag terminology is the nomenclature, or system of terms, used in vexillology, the study of flags, to describe precisely the parts, patterns, and other attributes of flags and their display. Badge A coat of arms or simple heraldic symbol, canton Any quarter of a flag, but commonly means the upper hoist quarter, such as the field of stars in the flag of the United States or the Union Jack in the Australian Flag. Charge A figure or symbol appearing in the field of a flag, emblem A device often used as a charge on a flag. It may be heraldic in origin or modern, for example the maple leaf on the Canadian Flag, field The background of a flag, the color behind the charges. Fimbriation A narrow edging or border, often in white or gold, for example the white and gold lines of the South African Flag. Fly The half or edge of a flag farthest away from the flagpole and this term also sometimes refers to the horizontal length of a flag. Hoist The half or edge of a flag nearest to the flagpole and this term also sometimes refers to the vertical width of a flag. Length The span of a flag along the side at right angles to the flagpole, width The span of a flag down the side parallel to the flagpole. Flags often inherit traits seen in traditional European heraldry designs and as a result patterns often share names, banderole or bannerol A small flag or streamer carried on the lance of a knight, or a long narrow flag flying from the mast-head of a ship. Banner Generically, a synonym for a flag of any kind, in heraldry, a flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms, but usually in a square or rectangular shape, also known as a banner of arms. Burgee A distinguishing flag of a recreational boating organisation, Civil ensign, merchant flag or merchant ensign A version of the national flag flown by civil ships to denote nationality. Civil flag A version of the flag flown by civilians on non-government installations or craft. Colour or color The flag of a military unit, courtesy flag or courtesy ensign A flag flown by a visiting ship in foreign waters as a token of respect. Ensign The flag of a ship or military unit, may also be used generically as a synonym for a flag of any kind. Fanion A small flag used by the French military, gonfalon, gonfanon or gonfalone A type of heraldic flag suspended from a crossbar. Guidon A small flag borne by a military unit, in Scots heraldry, a smaller version of the Standard. Pennon or pennant A flag larger at the hoist than at the fly, pipe banner A decorative flag for the Scottish Highland bagpipes. Prayer flag A type of flag found strung along mountain ridges and peaks in the Himalayas, rank flag or distinguishing flag The flag flown by a superior naval officer on his flagship or headquarters
2.
State flag
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There are two separate meanings for the term of state flag in vexillology, the flag of the government of a sovereign state and the flag of an individual subnational state. A state flag is a variant of a national flag specifically designated and restricted by law or custom to use by a government or its agencies. For this reason they are referred to as government flags. Scandinavian countries also use swallowtailed state flags, to differentiate them from civil flags. In addition, some countries have state ensigns, separate flags for use by government ships such as guard vessels. For example, government ships in the United Kingdom fly the blue ensign, state flags should not be confused with the national flag as used by military organisations, these are referred to as war flags and naval ensigns. To avoid confusion with the first meaning of the term, however, such a flag would be more referred to as the flag of the state of X. For this usage, see also, Flags of the Australian states and territories Flags of Brazilian states Flags of the U. S. states Flags of German states Znamierowski, the world encyclopedia of flags, The definitive guide to international flags, banners, standards and ensigns
3.
War flag
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A war flag, also known as a military flag or a battle flag, is a variant of a national flag for use by a countrys military forces when on land. The nautical equivalent is a naval ensign, under the strictest sense of the term, few countries today currently have proper war flags, most preferring to use instead their state flag or standard national flag for this purpose. And either victory, or else a grave, field signs were used in early warfare at least since the Bronze Age. The word standard itself is from an Old Frankish term for a field sign, the use of flags as field signs apparently emerges in Asia, during the Iron Age, possibly in either China or India. Early field signs that include, but are not limited to a flag, are also called vexilloid or flag-like, the Roman Vexillum itself is also flag-like in the sense that it was suspended from a horizontal crossbar as opposed to a simple flagpole. Use of simple flags as military ensigns becomes common during the medieval period, the maritime flag also develops in the medieval period. The medieval Japanese Sashimono carried by foot-soldiers are a parallel development, some medieval free cities or communes did not have coats of arms, and used war flags that were not derived from a coat of arms. Thus, the city of Lucerne used a flag as a field sign from the mid 13th century. Colours, standards and guidons Wise, Terence Military flags of the world, FIAV Flag Information Symbols at Flags of the World
4.
Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic
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The Republic comprised sixteen autonomous republics, five autonomous oblasts, ten autonomous okrugs, six krais, and forty oblasts. Russians formed the largest ethnic group, the capital of the Russian SFSR was Moscow and the other major urban centers included Leningrad, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod and Samara. The Russian Soviet Republic was proclaimed on November 7,1917 as a sovereign state, the first Constitution was adopted in 1918. In 1922 the Russian SFSR signed the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR, the economy of Russia became heavily industrialized, accounting for about two-thirds of the electricity produced in the USSR. It was, by 1961, the third largest producer of petroleum due to new discoveries in the Volga-Urals region and Siberia, trailing only the United States and Saudi Arabia. In 1974, there were 475 institutes of education in the republic providing education in 47 languages to some 23,941,000 students. A network of territorially organized public-health services provided health care, the effects of market policies led to the failure of many enterprises and total instability by 1990. On June 12,1990, the Congress of Peoples Deputies adopted the Declaration of State Sovereignty, on June 12,1991, Boris Yeltsin was elected the first President. On December 8,1991, heads of Russia, Ukraine, the agreement declared dissolution of the USSR by its founder states and established the Commonwealth of Independent States. On December 12, the agreement was ratified by the Russian Parliament, therefore Russian SFSR denounced the Treaty on the Creation of the USSR and de facto declared Russias independence from the USSR. On December 25,1991, following the resignation of Mikhail Gorbachev as president of the Soviet Union, on December 26,1991, the USSR was self-dissolved by the Soviet of Nationalities, which by that time was the only functioning house of the Supreme Soviet. After dissolution of the USSR, Russia declared that it assumed the rights and obligations of the dissolved central Soviet government, the new Russian constitution, adopted on December 12,1993 after a constitutional crisis, abolished the Soviet system of government in its entirety. Initially, the state did not have a name and wasnt recognized by neighboring countries for five months. Meanwhile, anti-Bolsheviks coined the mocking label Sovdepia for the nascent state of the Soviets of Workers, on January 25,1918 the third meeting of the All-Russian Congress of Soviets renamed the unrecognized state the Soviet Russian Republic. The Treaty of Brest-Litovsk was signed on March 3,1918, on July 10,1918, the Russian Constitution of 1918 renamed the country the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. By 1918, during the Russian Civil War, several states within the former Russian Empire seceded, internationally, in 1920, the RSFSR was recognized as an independent state only by Estonia, Finland, Latvia and Lithuania in the Treaty of Tartu and by the short-lived Irish Republic. On December 30,1922, with the creation of the Soviet Union, the final Soviet name for the republic, the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, was adopted in the Soviet Constitution of 1936. By that time, Soviet Russia had gained roughly the same borders of the old Tsardom of Russia before the Great Northern War of 1700
5.
Defacement (flag)
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Defacement is a term used in heraldry and vexillology to refer to the addition of a symbol or charge to another flag. For example, the New Zealand flag is the British Blue Ensign defaced with a Southern Cross in the fly, in the context of vexillology, the word deface carries no negative connotations, in contrast to general usage. It simply indicates differentiation of the flag from that of another owner by addition of elements, for example, many state flags are formed by defacing the national flag with a coat of arms. Such changing ideological emblems appeared over time, among others, on the flags of Italy, Hungary, Romania, Germany Ethiopia, an already defaced flag can be further defaced. For example, the Australian flag is already a defaced Blue Ensign, the Australian Border Force Flag is further defaced with the words border force. In the United States it is against the Flag Code to deface the flag with advertising or with any other sigil. Such flags are nevertheless available, depicting the seals of various branches of the U. S. military, Native American related objects such as tomahawks or war bonnets. It is common for football supporters travelling abroad for a match to bring a national flag defaced with the name of their home town or a similar local identifier
6.
Flag of the Soviet Union
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The flag of the Soviet Union, commonly known as the Soviet flag was the official national flag of the Soviet Union from 1923 to 1991. The flags design and symbolism are derived from the Russian Revolution, the flag is also an international symbol of the communist movement as a whole. The nicknames for the flag were The Hammer and Sickle and The Red Banner, the design is a solid field of red adorned with a unique gold emblem in the upper hoist quarter. The red flag was a revolutionary symbol long before 1917. The iconic hammer and sickle design was a modern touch – the union of the hammer, the famous emblem is topped by an inconspicuous red star representing the rule of the Communist Party. The first flag with the red star, hammer and sickle was adopted on 13 November 1923, in 1955, a statute on the flag was adopted which resulted in a change of the hammers handle length and the shape of the sickle. A final modification to the flag was adopted in 1980 in which the colour was brightened to a shade of red. The flag continued to be the national flag until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Its imagery is now the basis for the flags of many communist parties, the flag of the Soviet Union consisted of a plain red flag with a gold hammer crossed with a gold sickle placed beneath a gold-bordered red star. This symbol is in the upper canton of the red flag. The colour red honours the red flag of the Paris Commune of 1871, the ideology of communism can be seen from the flag. The red star and hammer and sickle are themselves symbols of communism and socialism, the hammer symbolises urban industrial workers while the sickle symbolises agricultural workers —who together, as the Proletarian class, form the state. The reverse of the flag is officially just red, without the symbols, however, in practice, the flag was usually made through and through and thus the symbols usually appeared on the reverse side and in the reverse order. The flags design was legislated in 1955, which gave a way to define. This resulted in a change of the handle length and the shape of the sickle. The adopted statute stated that, The ratio of width to length of the flag is 1,2, the hammer and sickle are in a square with sides equal to 1⁄4 of the flags height. The sharp tip of the lies in the center of the upper side of the square. The length of the hammer and its handle is 3⁄4 of the square diagonal, the five-pointed star is inscribed into a circle with a diameter of 1⁄8 of the flags height, the circle being tangent to the upper side of the square
7.
Soviet Union
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The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was a socialist state in Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. It was nominally a union of national republics, but its government. The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 and this established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and started the Russian Civil War between the revolutionary Reds and the counter-revolutionary Whites. In 1922, the communists were victorious, forming the Soviet Union with the unification of the Russian, Transcaucasian, Ukrainian, following Lenins death in 1924, a collective leadership and a brief power struggle, Joseph Stalin came to power in the mid-1920s. Stalin suppressed all opposition to his rule, committed the state ideology to Marxism–Leninism. As a result, the country underwent a period of rapid industrialization and collectivization which laid the foundation for its victory in World War II and postwar dominance of Eastern Europe. Shortly before World War II, Stalin signed the Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact agreeing to non-aggression with Nazi Germany, in June 1941, the Germans invaded the Soviet Union, opening the largest and bloodiest theater of war in history. Soviet war casualties accounted for the highest proportion of the conflict in the effort of acquiring the upper hand over Axis forces at battles such as Stalingrad. Soviet forces eventually captured Berlin in 1945, the territory overtaken by the Red Army became satellite states of the Eastern Bloc. The Cold War emerged by 1947 as the Soviet bloc confronted the Western states that united in the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in 1949. Following Stalins death in 1953, a period of political and economic liberalization, known as de-Stalinization and Khrushchevs Thaw, the country developed rapidly, as millions of peasants were moved into industrialized cities. The USSR took a lead in the Space Race with Sputnik 1, the first ever satellite, and Vostok 1. In the 1970s, there was a brief détente of relations with the United States, the war drained economic resources and was matched by an escalation of American military aid to Mujahideen fighters. In the mid-1980s, the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, sought to reform and liberalize the economy through his policies of glasnost. The goal was to preserve the Communist Party while reversing the economic stagnation, the Cold War ended during his tenure, and in 1989 Soviet satellite countries in Eastern Europe overthrew their respective communist regimes. This led to the rise of strong nationalist and separatist movements inside the USSR as well, in August 1991, a coup détat was attempted by Communist Party hardliners. It failed, with Russian President Boris Yeltsin playing a role in facing down the coup. On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states
8.
Hammer and sickle
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The hammer and sickle or sickle and hammer is a Communist symbol that was conceived during the Russian Revolution. At the time of creation, the hammer stood for industrial laborers, after World War I and the Russian Civil War, the hammer and sickle became more widely used as a symbol for peaceful labor within the Soviet Union and for international proletarian unity. It was taken up by many Communist movements around the world, farm and worker instruments and tools have long been used as symbols for proletarian struggle. A popular ancestor to the hammer and sickle was a hammer on a plough, in Ireland, the symbol of the plough remains in use. The Starry Plough banner was used by the Irish Citizen Army. James Connolly, co-founder of the Irish Citizen Army with Jack White, a sword is forged into the plough to symbolise the end of war with the establishment of a Socialist International. This was unveiled in 1914 and flown by the Irish Citizen Army during the 1916 Easter Rising, in 1917, Vladimir Lenin and Anatoly Lunacharsky held a competition to create a Soviet emblem. ” in six languages. It originally featured a sword, but Lenin strongly objected, disliking the violent connotations, the winning designer was Yevgeny Ivanovich Kamzolkin. On 6 July 1923 the 2nd session of the Central Executive Committee adopted this emblem, serp i Molot is the name of the Moscow Metallurgical Plant. Serp i Molot is also the name of a stop on the railway line from Kurski railway station in Moscow to Gorky, featured in Venedikt Yerofeyevs novel. In the Soviet Union the hammer and sickle came to take on a meaning, with the sickle coming to be associated with women. In addition, the Russian city of Oryol also uses the hammer, the former Soviet national airline, Aeroflot, continues to use the hammer and sickle in its symbol. The flag can also appear without the hammer and sickle in some circumstances, all of these use the yellow-on-red colour scheme. In Laos and Vietnam, the hammer and sickle flags party flags can often be seen flying side-by-side with their national flags. The Communist Party of Sweden, the Portuguese Communist Party and the Mexican Communist Party use the hammer, the hammer and sickle accompanied by the yellow star is used by the Communist Refoundation Party, the main Communist party in Italy. Many symbols having similar structures and messages to the original have been designed, for example, the Angolan flag shows a segment of a cog, crossed by a machete and crowned with a socialist star, while the flag of Mozambique features an AK-47 crossed by a hoe. In the logo of the Communist Party USA, a circle is formed by a half cog, a hammer is laid directly over the sickles handle with the hammers head at the logos center. The logo of the Communist Party of Turkey consists of half a cog wheel crossed by a hammer, movement, the pickaxe and rifle used in communist Albania, and the hammer and compasses of the emblem of the East German flag
9.
Russian Revolution
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The Russian Revolution was a pair of revolutions in Russia in 1917, which dismantled the Tsarist autocracy and led to the eventual rise of the Soviet Union. The Russian Empire collapsed with the abdication of Emperor Nicholas II, in the second revolution that October, the Provisional Government was removed and replaced with a communist state. The February Revolution was a revolution focused around Petrograd, then capital of Russia, in the chaos, members of the Imperial parliament assumed control of the country, forming the Russian Provisional Government. The army leadership felt they did not have the means to suppress the revolution, the February Revolution took place in the context of heavy military setbacks during the First World War, which left much of the Russian Army in a state of mutiny. During this chaotic period there were frequent mutinies, protests and many strikes, when the Provisional Government chose to continue fighting the war with Germany, the Bolsheviks and other socialist factions campaigned for stopping the conflict. The Bolsheviks turned workers militias under their control into the Red Guards over which they exerted substantial control, the Bolsheviks appointed themselves as leaders of various government ministries and seized control of the countryside, establishing the Cheka to quash dissent. To end Russia’s participation in the First World War, the Bolshevik leaders signed the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk with Germany in March 1918, soon after, civil war erupted among the Reds, the Whites, the independence movements and the non-Bolshevik socialists. It continued for years, during which the Bolsheviks defeated both the Whites and all rival socialists. In this way, the Revolution paved the way for the creation of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in 1922, the Russian Revolution of 1905 was said to be a major factor to the February Revolutions of 1917. The events of Bloody Sunday triggered a line of protests, a council of workers called the St. Petersburg Soviet was created in all this chaos, and the beginning of a communist political protest had begun. World War I prompted a Russian outcry directed at Tsar Nicholas II and it was another major factor contributing to the retaliation of the Russian Communists against their royal opponents. However, the problems were merely administrative, and not industrial as Germany was producing great amounts of munitions whilst constantly fighting on two major battlefronts, the war also developed a weariness in the city, owing to a lack of food in response to the disruption of agriculture. Food scarcity had become a problem in Russia, but the cause of this did not lie in any failure of the harvests. As a result, they tended to hoard their grain and to revert to subsistence farming, thus the cities were constantly short of food. At the same time rising prices led to demands for wages in the factories. The outcome of all this, however, was a criticism of the government rather than any war-weariness. The original fever of excitement, which had caused the name of St. Heavy losses during the war also strengthened thoughts that Tsar Nicholas II was unfit to rule, the Liberals were now better placed to voice their complaints, since they were participating more fully through a variety of voluntary organizations
10.
Reforms of Russian orthography
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In this way, no sharp distinction was drawn between the vernacular language and the liturgical, though the latter was based on South Slavic rather than Eastern Slavic norms. The printed Russian alphabet began to assume its modern shape when Peter I introduced his civil script type reform in 1708, the reform was not specifically orthographic in nature. Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries, miscellaneous adjustments were made ad hoc, as the Russian literary language came to assume its modern and highly standardized form. These included the introduction of the letter ё and the loss of ѵ, in favor of и. By 1917, the two words still usually spelled with ѵ were мѵро and сѵнодъ, and that rarely. The ѳ remained more common, though it became rare as a Western pronunciation had been adopted for many words, for example. Attempts to reduce spelling inconsistency culminated in the textbook of Grot. The most recent major reform of Russian spelling was prepared by Aleksey Shakhmatov, Shakhmatov headed the Assembly for Considering Simplification of the Orthography whose proposals of May 11,1917 formed the basis of the new rules soon adopted by the Ministry of Popular Education. The Russian orthography was made simpler and easier by unifying several adjectival and pronominal inflections, replacing the letters ѣ with е, ѳ with ф, additionally, the archaic mute yer became obsolete, including the ъ in final position following consonants. From 1 January 1918 all government and state publications, both periodical. and non periodical were to be printed in the new style, in this way, private publications could formally be printed using the old orthography. The decree forbade the retraining of people previously trained under the old norm, a given spelling was considered a misspelling only if it violated both the old and the new norms. However, in practice, the Soviet government rapidly set up a monopoly on print production, a common practice was the removal of not just the letters І, Ѳ, and Ѣ from printing offices, but also Ъ. Because of this, the usage of the apostrophe as a dividing sign became widespread in place of ъ, nonetheless, some academic printings came out in the old orthography up until 1929. Russian — and later Soviet — railroads operated locomotives with designations of І, Ѵ and Ѳ, despite the reformed orthography, the series names remained unchanged up until these locomotives were discontinued in the 1950s. Some Russian émigré publications continued to appear in the former orthography until the 1970s, the reform removed pairs of completely homophonous graphemes from the Russian alphabet, bringing the alphabet closer to Russians actual phonological system. While there have not been any significant changes since the 1918 decree, debates, during the 1930s and 40s the use of ё in printed publications increased, purportedly due to Stalins inability to distinguish between the letters, though no guidelines on usage were ever published. Committees worked throughout the 1930s to codify the rules, and following the suspension of their activities during the Second World War, a codification of the rules of Russian orthography and punctuation was published in 1956 but only a few minor orthographical changes were introduced at that time. The 1956 codification additionally included a clarification of new rules for punctuation developed during the 1930s, a notable instance of renewed debate followed A. I
11.
Cyrillic script
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The Cyrillic script /sᵻˈrɪlɪk/ is a writing system used for various alphabets across eastern Europe and north and central Asia. It is based on the Early Cyrillic, which was developed in the First Bulgarian Empire during the 9th century AD at the Preslav Literary School. As of 2011, around 252 million people in Eurasia use it as the alphabet for their national languages. With the accession of Bulgaria to the European Union on 1 January 2007, Cyrillic became the official script of the European Union, following the Latin script. Cyrillic is derived from the Greek uncial script, augmented by letters from the older Glagolitic alphabet and these additional letters were used for Old Church Slavonic sounds not found in Greek. The script is named in honor of the two Byzantine brothers, Saints Cyril and Methodius, who created the Glagolitic alphabet earlier on, modern scholars believe that Cyrillic was developed and formalized by early disciples of Cyril and Methodius. In the early 18th century the Cyrillic script used in Russia was heavily reformed by Peter the Great, the new form of letters became closer to the Latin alphabet, several archaic letters were removed and several letters were personally designed by Peter the Great. West European typography culture was also adopted, Cyrillic script spread throughout the East and South Slavic territories, being adopted for writing local languages, such as Old East Slavic. Its adaptation to local languages produced a number of Cyrillic alphabets, capital and lowercase letters were not distinguished in old manuscripts. Yeri was originally a ligature of Yer and I, iotation was indicated by ligatures formed with the letter І, Ꙗ, Ѥ, Ю, Ѩ, Ѭ. Sometimes different letters were used interchangeably, for example И = І = Ї, there were also commonly used ligatures like ѠТ = Ѿ. The letters also had values, based not on Cyrillic alphabetical order. The early Cyrillic alphabet is difficult to represent on computers, many of the letterforms differed from modern Cyrillic, varied a great deal in manuscripts, and changed over time. Few fonts include adequate glyphs to reproduce the alphabet, the Unicode 5.1 standard, released on 4 April 2008, greatly improves computer support for the early Cyrillic and the modern Church Slavonic language. In Microsoft Windows, Segoe UI is notable for having complete support for the archaic Cyrillic letters since Windows 8, the development of Cyrillic typography passed directly from the medieval stage to the late Baroque, without a Renaissance phase as in Western Europe. Late Medieval Cyrillic letters show a tendency to be very tall and narrow. Peter the Great, Czar of Russia, mandated the use of westernized letter forms in the early 18th century, over time, these were largely adopted in the other languages that use the script. The development of some Cyrillic computer typefaces from Latin ones has also contributed to the visual Latinization of Cyrillic type, Cyrillic uppercase and lowercase letter forms are not as differentiated as in Latin typography
12.
Boris Yeltsin
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Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin was a Soviet and Russian politician and the first President of the Russian Federation, serving from 1991 to 1999. Originally a supporter of Mikhail Gorbachev, Yeltsin emerged under the reforms as one of Gorbachevs most powerful political opponents. During the late 1980s, Yeltsin had been a member of the Politburo, no one had resigned from the Politburo before. This act branded Yeltsin as a rebel and led to his rise in popularity as an anti-establishment figure, on 29 May 1990 he was elected the chairman of the Russian Supreme Soviet. However, Yeltsin never recovered his popularity after a series of economic. He vowed to transform Russias socialist economy into a capitalist market economy and implemented economic shock therapy, price liberalization, due to the sudden total economic shift, a majority of the national property and wealth fell into the hands of a small number of oligarchs. The well-off millionaire and billionaire oligarchs likened themselves to 19th century robber barons, in October 1993, troops loyal to Yeltsin stopped an armed uprising outside of the parliament building, leading to a number of deaths. Yeltsin then scrapped the existing Russian constitution, banned political opposition, on 31 December 1999, under enormous internal pressure, Yeltsin announced his resignation, leaving the presidency in the hands of his chosen successor, then-Prime Minister Vladimir Putin. Yeltsin left office widely unpopular with the Russian population, Yeltsin kept a low profile after his resignation, though he did occasionally publicly criticise his successor. Yeltsin died of heart failure on 23 April 2007. Boris Yeltsin was born in the village of Butka, Talitsky District, Sverdlovsk, USSR, growing up in rural Sverdlovsk, he studied at the Ural State Technical University, and began his career in the construction industry. In 1934 Nikolai Yeltsin was convicted of anti-Soviet agitation and sentenced to hard labour in a gulag for three years, Nikolai remained unemployed for a period of time and then worked again in construction. His mother, Klavdiya Vasilyevna Yeltsina, worked as a seamstress, Boris studied at Pushkin High School in Berezniki. In 1949 he was admitted to the Ural Polytechnic Institute in Sverdlovsk, majoring in construction, the subject of his degree paper was Construction of a Mine Shaft. From 1955 to 1957 he worked as a foreman with the building trust Uraltyazhtrubstroy, from 1957 to 1963 he worked in Sverdlovsk, and was promoted from construction site superintendent to chief of the Construction Directorate with the Yuzhgorstroy Trust. In 1963 he became chief engineer, and in 1965 head of the Sverdlovsk House-Building Combine, responsible for sewerage and he joined the ranks of the CPSU nomenklatura in 1968 when he was appointed head of construction with the Sverdlovsk Regional Party Committee. In 1975 he became secretary of the committee in charge of the regions industrial development. In 1976 the Politburo of the CPSU promoted him to the post of the first secretary of the CPSU Committee of Sverdlovsk Oblast, Yeltsin was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union from 17 March 1961 to 13 July 1990, and a nomenklatura member from 1968
13.
Flag of Russia
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The flag of Russia is a tricolor flag consisting of three equal horizontal fields, white on the top, blue in the middle and red on the bottom. The flag was first used as an ensign for Russian merchant ships and it remained in use until the establishment of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in 1917. During the Soviet Unions existence, it used the flag with the red field with the hammer and sickle. With the dissolution of the Soviet Union, the tricolor was re-introduced as the flag of the Russian Federation in 1991 in the 1,2 ratio. The Tsarist tricolor was fully restored in 1993 after the crisis as the current flag. Two accounts of the flags origin connect it to the used by the Dutch Republic. The earliest mention of the flag occurs during the reign of Alexis I, in 1668, and is related to the construction of the first Russian naval ship, the frigate Oryol. A different account traces the origins of the Russian flag to tsar Peter the Greats visits to Arkhangelsk in 1693 and 1694, Peter was keenly interested in shipbuilding in the European style, different from the barges ordinarily used in Russia at the time. In 1693, Peter had ordered a Dutch-built frigate from Amsterdam, in 1694 when it arrived, the Dutch red-white-and-blue banner flew from its stern. Peter decided to model Russias naval flag after this banner by changing the sequence of colors, the Russian tricolour flag was adopted as a merchant flag at rivers in 1705. Two other Slavic countries, Slovakia and Slovenia, have similar to the Russian one. On 7 May 1883, the Russian flag was authorized to be used on land, and it became an official National flag before the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II in 1896. From that time period, a 1,2 red flag featuring the abbreviated name RSFSR was used, during the Second World War the white-blue-red tricolor has been used by the collaborationist troops of Andrey Vlasov, who was allied with Nazi Germany against the Soviet Union. It was not until the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 that the tricolor was brought back as the flag of the new Russian Federation. The modern era flag underwent a change in 1993 and has been official since 2000. A variant of the flag was authorized for use by Tsar Nicholas II before World War I. Or was never made the state flag. All of the Soviet Republics flags were created by introducing a small, for Russia, the change was an introduction of the left-hand blue band
14.
White House (Moscow)
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The White House, also known as the Russian White House, is a government building in Moscow. It stands on the Krasnopresnenskaya embankment, the building serves as the primary office of the government of Russia and is the official workplace of the Russian Prime Minister. The architects Dmitry Chechulin and Pavel Shteller designed the White House – originally called The House of Soviets, the overall design follows Chechulins 1934 draft of the Aeroflot building. Construction started in 1965 and ended in 1981, following the completion of the building in 1981, the Supreme Soviet of Russia, which had until then held its sessions in the Grand Kremlin Palace, used the White House. The Supreme Soviet of Russia remained in the building until the end of the Soviet Union in 1991, in 1991 the Soviet Union issued a 50-kopeck stamp depicting the White House and honoring resistance to the 1991 Soviet coup détat attempt. After the end of the Soviet Union, the White House continued to serve as the seat of the Russian parliament, the reformed parliament, known thereafter by its Tsarist-era title of State Duma, was elected in 1994 and moved to another building on Moscows Okhotny Ryad. As of 2016 the renovated White House houses the Russian government, an inscription at the base of the tower reads, House of the Government of the Russian Federation. White House Satellite Views by Google Maps
15.
Flag of Altai Krai
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The flag of Altai Krai, in the Russian Federation, is a vertical bicolor of light-blue and red charged with a spike of wheat on the blue band and the arms of the krai on the red band. The design follows the pattern of the flags of the Russian SFSR and this center design on the flag is the coat of arms of Altai Krai. The coat of arms was adopted on May 25,2000, the flag was adopted on June 29,2000 during a session of the Altai Krai Council of Peoples Deputies
16.
Flag of Vladimir Oblast
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The flag of Vladimir Oblast, a federal subject of Russia, was adopted 28 April 1999. The flag is a field of red with a blue band on the hoist. The band is 1/8 the length of the flag and has a hammer, the field is charged in the center with the coat of arms of Vladimir Oblast, which is 1/3 the length of the field. The ratio of the flag is 1,2, the flag design is based on the 1954 Flag of the Russian SFSR Flags of the World
17.
Oryol
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Oryol or Orel is a city and the administrative center of Oryol Oblast, Russia, located on the Oka River, approximately 360 kilometers south-southwest of Moscow. The name of the fortress is unknown, it may not have been called Oryol at the time, in the 13th century the fortress became a part of the Zvenigorod district of the Karachev Principality. In the early 15th century, the territory was conquered by the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, the city was soon abandoned by its population, after being sacked either by Lithuanians or the Golden Horde. The territory became a part of the Tsardom of Russia in the 16th century, Ivan the Terrible decreed that a new fortress be built on the spot in 1566, for the purpose of defending the southern borders of the country. The fortress was built very speedily, work starting in the summer of 1566, the location chosen was less than ideal strategically, as the fortress was located on a seasonally flooded low ground easily targeted from the neighboring high ground. False Dmitry I and his army passed through Oryol in 1605, Ivan Bolotnikov in 1606, polish intervention sacked it in 1611 and 1615, the population fled after the second sacking and moved to Mtsensk. Orlovsky Uyezd nonetheless continued to exist on paper, the question of moving the fortress to the more advantageous high ground was in the air up until the 1670s, but the move was never made. The fortress was deemed unnecessary and taken apart in the early 18th century, in the mid-18th century Oryol became one of the major centers of grain production, with the Oka River being the major trade route until the 1860s when it was replaced by a railroad. Oryol was granted town status in 1702, in 1708, Oryol was included as a part of Kiev Governorate, in 1719, Oryol Province was created within Kiev Governorate. The Province was transferred to the newly created Belgorod Governorate in 1727, on March 11,1778 Oryol Vice-Royalty was created from parts of Voronezh and Belgorod Governorates. In 1779, the city was almost entirely based on a new plan. After the October Revolution of 1917, the city was in Bolshevik hands, Oryol was once again moved between different oblasts in the 1920s and 1930s, finally becoming the administrative center of its own Oryol Oblast on September 27,1937. The Oryol Prison was a place of incarceration for political prisoners. Christian Rakovsky, Maria Spiridonova, Olga Kameneva and 160 other prominent political prisoners were shot on September 11,1941 on Joseph Stalins orders in the Medvedev forest outside Oryol. During World War II, Oryol was occupied by the Wehrmacht on October 3,1941, the city was almost completely destroyed. In February 2012, the city abolished the direct election of mayor. In December 2013, a referendum was held, which 71% of the supported the return of direct mayoral election. As an administrative division, it is incorporated separately as the city of oblast significance of Oryol—an administrative unit with the equal to that of the districts
18.
Security Service of Ukraine
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The Security Service of Ukraine or SBU, is Ukraines law-enforcement authority and main government security agency in the areas of counterintelligence activity and terrorism combatting. Educational Institutions National Academy of Security Service of Ukraine Institute in preparation of Service Personnel at the National Law Academy of Yaroslav the Wise. The commission was formed on the decree of the Provisional Workers Peasant Government of the Ukrainian SSR, to support the Soviet government in Ukraine in Moscow was formed a corps of special assignment with 24,500 soldiers as part of the All-Ukrainian Cheka. In spring 1919 there was created the Council in fight against counterrevolution and consisted of Adolph Joffe, Stanislav Kosior, in its early years the security agency fought against the kulak-nationalistic banditry. On August 19,1920 the All Ukrainian Cheka arrested all members of the All Ukrainian Conference of Mensheviks after accusing them in counterrevolution, on December 10,1934 the State Political Directorate was liquidated. The SBU is a successor of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republics Branch of the Soviet KGB, many of whom came from the KGB’s 5th directorate. Since 1992, the agency has been competing in intelligence functions with the branch of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. Despite this, a former Military Intelligence Chief and career GRU technological espionage expert, Ihor Smeshko, reports of SBU involvement in arms sales abroad began appearing regularly in the early 2000s. Ukrainian authorities have acknowledged these sales and arrested some alleged participants, in 2004, the SBUs Intelligence Department was reorganized into an independent agency called Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine. It is responsible for all kinds of intelligence as well as for external security, as of 2004, the exact functions of the new service, and respective responsibilities of the Foreign Intelligence Service of Ukraine were not regulated yet. The SBU subsumed the Directorate of State Protection of Ukraine, the protection agency for the most senior government officials. The SBUs State Directorate of Personal Protection is known for its former Major Mykola Melnychenko, Melnychenko was the central figure of the Cassette Scandal —one of the main events in Ukraines post-independence history. SBU became involved in the case when Melnychenko accused Leonid Derkach, SBU Chief at the time, of several crimes, however, the UDO was subsumed into the SBU after the scandal, so Melnychenko himself has never been an SBU agent. Later, the SBU played a significant role in the investigation of the Georgiy Gongadze murder case and he was fired without returning home. After a half-year of hiding in Germany, Kravchenko returned to Ukraine, later, the agency commanders became involved in the scandal around the poisoning of Viktor Yushchenko—a main candidate in the 2004 Ukrainian presidential election. Yushchenko felt unwell soon after supper with SBU Chief Ihor Smeshko, however, neither the politician himself nor the investigators have ever directly accused these officers. It is also important to note that the Personal Protection department has been responsible for Yushchenkos personal security since he became a candidate. During the Orange Revolution, several SBU veterans and cadets publicly supported him as president-elect, in 2005, soon after the elections, sacked SBU Chief Smeshko and other intelligence agents stated their own version of the revolutions events
19.
Luhansk
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Luhansk or Lugansk, formerly known as Voroshilovgrad is a city in the easternmost Ukraine. Luhansk has been held by the group of Luhansk Peoples Republic since 2014. Luhansk is the center of the Luhansk Oblast. After the rebels captured Luhansk and the parts of the Oblast. The city traces its history to 1795 when the British industrialist Charles Gascoigne founded a factory near the Zaporizhian Cossacks settlement Kamianyi Brid. The settlement around the factory was known as Luganskiy Zavod, in 1882 the factory settlement Luganskiy Zavod was merged with the town of Kamianyi Brid into the city of Luhansk. Located in the Donets Basin, Luhansk developed into an important industrial center of Eastern Europe, the city was occupied by Nazi Germany between July 14,1942 and February 14,1943. On November 5,1935, the city was renamed Voroshilovgrad in honour of Soviet military commander, on March 5,1958, with the call of Khrushchev not to give names of living people to cities, the old name was reinstated. On January 5,1970, after the death of Voroshilov on December 2,1969, finally, on May 4,1990, a decree of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR gave the city back its original name. During the 2014 protests in Eastern Ukraine, separatists seized governmental buildings in the region, an independence referendum was held on May 11,2014. The legitimacy of the referendums was not recognized by most governments, however, the Luhansk Peoples Republic was recognized by South Ossetia. Ukraine does not recognize the referendum, while the EU and US said the polls were illegal, on 25 June 2014, Luhansk was officially pronounced as the capital of the Luhansk Peoples Republic by the government of the Luhansk Peoples Republic. In August 2014, Ukrainian government forces completely surrounded rebel-held Luhansk, heavy shelling caused civilian casualties in the city. On August 17, Ukrainian soldiers entered rebel-controlled Luhansk and gained control over a police station, after the Ilovaisk counteroffensive, LPR forces regained Lutuhyne and other Luhansk suburbs. Ukrainian forces withdrew from the Luhansk International Airport on 1 September after heavy fighting, in the Ukrainian Census of 2001,49. 6% of the inhabitants declared themselves as ethnically Ukrainians and 47% declared themselves as ethnically Russian. The most widespread native language was Russian, at 85. 3% of the population, Ukrainian was the native language for 13. 7% of the population, and there was also smaller numbers of speakers of Armenian and Belarusian. Luhansk is home to Zorya Luhansk which now plays in the Ukrainian Premier League annual football championship, the club won the 1972 Soviet Top League. The other football team was Dynamo Luhansk, the stone foundations of the structure were said to resemble Aztec and Mayan pyramids in Mesoamerica
20.
Flag of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic
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The flag of the Armenian SSR was adopted on 17 December 1952 by the government of the Armenian SSR. The flag is similar to the flag of the Soviet Union but has a horizontal blue stripe in the middle. The red represents the struggle of the working masses and the golden hammer and sickle represents the peasants. The first flag of the Armenian SSR was introduced in the constitution, between 1936 and 1952, the flag was red with the gold hammer and sickle in the top left hand corner. The Armenian characters HSSR were in gold beneath the hammer and sickle, in 1922, the flag was the same as between 1936 and 1952, but without the hammer and sickle, and with the Cyrillic characters ССРА in their place. The 1952 Armenian SSR flag was discarded when the flag of Armenia based on the 1918 flag of the First Republic of Armenia was introduced. Flag of the Soviet Union Flag of Armenia Coat of arms of the Armenian SSR
21.
Flag of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic
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The last version of the flag of the Azerbaijan SSR was firstly introduced by K. M. A. Kyazimzade, director of the Azerbaijan State Museum of Art, and was adopted as national flag by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR on October 7,1952. The ratio of width to length is 1,2, the text of national flag in the Constitution of the Azerbaijan SSR was updated on August 18,1953. However the text didnt specify the proportion of the hammer and sickle, on March 16,1981, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of Azerbaijan SSR further issued a decree specify that no hammer and sickle should be printed on the reverse side of the flag. From the second part of 1921 to 1922, Azerbaijan SSR used a red flag with the yellow Cyrillic characters АССР. On March 12,1920, the Azerbaijan SSR united with the Georgian SSR and the Armenian SSR under the Transcaucasian SFSR, that was split again into these three republics in 1936. In 1937, golden hammer and sickle were added in the top left hand corner, a third version was issued in 1940s, and had AzSSR substituted by its Cyrillic version АзССР. The last version of the flag was adopted by the Azerbaijan SSR on October 7,1952 and it was the flag of the Soviet Union, with an horizontal blue band on the bottom fourth. The 1952 flag was discarded on February 5,1991 when the flag of Azerbaijan SSR based on the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was re-introduced, Flag of the Soviet Union Flag of Azerbaijan Coat of Arms of Azerbaijan
22.
Flag of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic
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This flag was adopted by the Byelorussian SSR on December 25,1951. Prior to this, the flag was red with the Cyrillic characters БССР in gold in the top-left corner, surrounded by a gold border. Between 1937 and the adoption of the flag in the 1940s, the flag was the same. Between 1919 and 1937, the flag was red, with the Cyrillic characters ССРБ in the top left-hand corner, in early 1919, a plain red flag was used. The final BySSR flag was used until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, a flag based on this design is used as the current national flag of Belarus. In the end of the 1940s, the political need had arisen to have somewhat different designs of the flags of the USSR republics. For the BSSR flag, the image of the Belarusian folk design had been chosen as a distinctive feature of the flag. Then the picture of the embroidery on the «ruchnik» had been found in the pre-World War II archives of the Belpramsavyet, the embroidery had been made in 1917 by peasant Ms. Matrona Markyevich of the village Kastsilishcha of the Sennin region, and had been named «The Rising Sun». Gusyew had prepared the project of the BSSR flag, basing it on the embroidery, note, All proper names and places names in this article are rendered in BGN/PCGN. Before 1951, several different flags had been in use since the Revolution, the earliest flag was plain red, and was used in 1919 during the existence of the Lithuanian–Byelorussian SSR. After the formation of the Byelorussian SSR, the lettering ССРБ was added in gold to the top hoist. This design was changed in 1937, when a hammer and sickle and red star were placed above the letters, at the time, the typeface was changed. During the 1940s, the hammer and sickle and red star were removed from the flag, and this flag remained in use until the adoption of the 1951 flag. In September 1991, the flag was reintroduced as the new flag of the newly independent Byelorussia. Coat of arms of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic Flag of Belarus Flag of the Soviet Union Басаў А, Флагі Беларусі ўчора і сёння / Пер
23.
Flag of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic
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Blue wavy stripe with white stripes of three-tenths of the flags width. The ratio of the width to its length is 1,2 From 1940. Above the hammer and sickle were the gold Latin characters ENSV in a sans-serif font, the flag was restored again in 1944 after the re-capture of Estonia from Nazi Germany. On February 6,1953, the version of the Estonian SSR flag was adopted. Though similar to the flag of the Soviet Union, it has the six spiky blue wavy stripes with the stripe on the bottom. Neither the Constitution of the Estonian SSR, nor in the statute of the flag of the Estonian SSR did not mentioned the shade of blue wavy stripes on the flag. Soviet vexillologist V. N. Streltsov in Odessa described it as electric blue, during that period, many of the Estonian diaspora continued to use the blue-black-white flag including the government in-exile over the years during occupation. The Soviet flag of Estonia was gradually discarded during the period between 1988 and 1989. Beginning in 1990, the flag was reverted to the flag used in 1918 which remained as the flag after the restoration of independence only a year later. Flag of the Soviet Union Coat of arms of the Estonian SSR Flag of Estonia
24.
Flag of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic
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The flag of the Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted by the Georgian SSR on April 11,1951. The flag was designed by the artist Severian Maysashvili Davidovich, range of hammer and sickle, above them a five-pointed star. From the circle to the square sides disagree 24 beam, the hammer and sickle, red star and red rays. Before 1937 the flag was red with the Georgian characters სსსრ in gold in the top-left corner, between 1922 and 1937, the flag was red, with the Cyrillic characters ССРГ in the top left-hand corner. Between 1937 and the adoption of the flag in the 1940s. The 1951 flag fell into disuse in November 1990 when the flag based on the Democratic Republic of Georgia was introduced until the dissolution of the Soviet Union. Flag of the Soviet Union Coat of arms of the Georgian SSR Flag of Georgia Georgia in the Soviet Union Georgia in the Soviet Union
25.
Flag of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic
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The flag of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted by the Kazakh government on 24 January 1953. On 24 January 1953, the new flag of the Kazakh SSR was approved by the Decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Kazakh SSR and it was the flag of the Soviet Union, with the blue horizontal stripe at the bottom of the cloth. The width of the band is equal to 2/9 of the flag width. The regulations of the flag of the Kazakh SSR was approved on 28 August 1981. The flag remained in use as the first flag of Kazakhstan until the new one was adopted on 4 June 1992, Flag of the Soviet Union Coat of arms of the Kazakh SSR Flag of Kazakhstan
26.
Flag of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic
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The flag of the Lithuanian SSR was first adopted by the Lithuanian SSR in 1940. The flag in use from 1953 to 1988 was a red flag with the hammer and sickle. The first flag of the Lithuanian SSR was adopted on July 30,1940, the flag was red with a gold hammer and sickle in the top-left corner, and the Latin characters LIETUVOS TSR above them in gold sans-serif lettering. On July 15,1953, a new flag was adopted and it was modified to meet the new requirements for all flags of the Soviet socialist republics. The top red portion took 2⁄3 of the width and incorporated the mandatory hammer and sickle, the bottom part could be customized by each republic. Lithuania added a white and a larger green strips. On November 18,1988, the tricolor of Lithuania was adopted as the flag of the SSR, the Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR, inspired by pro-independence Sąjūdis, amended the constitution and adopted the tricolor flag of Lithuania that was used during the interwar years. Emblem of the Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Flag of Lithuania
27.
Flag of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
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This flag was adopted by the Moldavian SSR on January 31,1952. The flag has three bands of red, green and red, with a hammer and sickle in the canton. Between 1929 and 1937, the hammer and sickle was removed, in 1940, the flag was red with the gold hammer and sickle in the top-left corner, with the Cyrillic characters РССМ above them in gold in a serif font. With perestroika in force, the Moldovan nationalism came in place with the Popular Front of Moldova being involved, on April 27,1990, the new flag of the Moldavian SSR consisted of the Romanian tricolor with the emblem of the Moldavian SSR in the centre. However, it was decided to use the flag without the emblem until new symbols were worked on, when Moldavia declared sovereignty in June 1990, the new flag was adopted on November 6,1990 and remains the flag of Moldova to this day. The flag closely resembles the current Flag of Transnistria
28.
Flag of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic
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The flag of the Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic was the red Soviet flag with white and green stripes below the gold hammer and sickle, with the measures, 1/2 red, 1/5 white, 1/10 green, 1/5 red. The flag sported the Pan-Iranian colors of red, white and green, on top of the red band at the flagpole located gold hammer and sickle and above them is an five-pointed red star framed by a gold border. The ratio of the width to its length is 1,2. The fitting of the hammer and sickle into a square whose side wound 1/4 width of the flag, the sharp end of the sickle falls in the middle of the upper side of the square, handles the sickle and hammer rest on the bottom corners of the square. Hammer with a length is 3/4 of the diagonal of a square. The five-pointed star in a circle fits 1/8 width of the flag relating to the side of the square. Distance vertical axis of the star, the hammer and sickle from the grapnel is equal to 1/4 of the flags width, the distance from the top edge of the flag of the flag to the center of the star - 1/10 of the flags width. The first specifically Tajik flag was introduced in 1929, before that, Tajikistan had been part of the Bukharan SSR, before the Russian revolution it had been part of the Emirate of Bukhara. Following independence on September 9,1991, the Tajik SSR flag remained in use until the new Tajik flag was adopted in November 1992, flag of the Soviet Union Coat of arms of the Tajik SSR
29.
Flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic
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The flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted by the Turkmen SSR on August 1,1953. Although similar to the Flag of the Soviet Union, the design is identical to the flag of the Kirghiz SSR with a ratio of 1,2. In the 1930s, the Turkmen flag was red with a gold hammer and sickle in the top-left corner. From 1937, the flag was red with the Cyrillic characters ТССР in gold in the top-left corner, from the 1940s, the flag was the same, but with the characters in Latin characters. On September 26,1973, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Turkmen SSR modified the regulation of the flag of Turkmen SSR, the position of the star and hammer and sickle was moved closer to the flag pole. Between independence in 1991 and adoption of the new flag in February 1992, Flag of the Soviet Union Coat of arms of the Turkmen SSR Flag of Turkmenistan
30.
Flag of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic
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The first flag of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted on March 10,1919 to serve as the symbol of state of the Ukrainian SSR. Details of the flag changed periodically before the break-up of the Soviet Union in 1991. Before this 1919 flag, a flag in 1918 was used with red and blue, the first flag was red with the gold Cyrillic sans-serif letters У. С. С. Р. In the 1930s a gold border was added, in 1937, a new flag was adopted, with a small gold hammer and sickle added above the gold Cyrillic serif letters У. Р. С. Р. The Soviet Union and two of its republics all became members of the nascent United Nations in 1945, since all of their flags were red with only small markings in upper left corner, the UN demanded changes to the flags in 1949. To comply, the Ukrainian Soviet authorities dropped the lettering and added a horizontal stripe. Ukraine adopted this new design as its flag on July 5,1950. Other constituent republics of the Soviet Union soon followed suit and customized the bottom third of their flags, the 1918 flag was officially adopted on January 8,1992. The use of flag was outlawed in Ukraine as of May 2015 amid the crisis against the pro-Russian rebels that first began in late 2013. Emblem of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic Flag of Ukraine List of flags of Ukraine Ukraine in the Soviet Union, detailed history of flag designs
31.
Flag of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic
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The flag of the Uzbek SSR was adopted by the Uzbek SSR on 29 August 1952. The red represents the struggle of the working masses, the hammer and sickle represents the peasants and workers union. There is no explanation for the symbolic meanings of other elements. However, in some material the white stripes represent cotton, the band represents Amu Darya. Before that, from 9 January 1926, the flag was much the same, the first flag was hoisted on 22 July 1925 and was red, with the countrys name in Arabic and the Cyrillic characters УзССР in the top-left corner in gold. Between 1931 and 1937, the flag was much the same, but with the Uzbek abbreviation OzSSC, between 14 February 1937 and the adoption of the flag in the 1940s, the flag was the same, but with the Uzbek countrys name in Latin characters, OZBEKISTAN SSR. In 1940, the flag was red with the name in both Uzbek and Russian languages in gold in the top-left corner. The last Uzbek SSR was adopted on 29 August 1952, although the flag is visually identical to the Soviet flag, the red panel has a light blue down the middle of the whole flag length. At the edges of the blue stripes are narrow white. The blue stripe with white edges is 1/5 of the flag width, Flag of the Soviet Union Coat of arms of the Uzbek SSR Flag of Uzbekistan
32.
Flags of Europe
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This is a list of international, national and subnational flags used in Europe. Many states have separate civil and state versions of their flags, ^ Part of Transcaucasian Region, at the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Physiographically, Armenia falls entirely in Western Asia, while Georgia, ^ The island of Cyprus, which comprises the Republic of Cyprus, Northern Cyprus and Akrotiri and Dhekelia, is geographically located in Asia, closer to Asian Turkey than to the European mainland. However, the Republic of Cyprus is a state of the European Union. ^ Turkey is a country in the Middle East and Southeast Europe. Turkey has a part of its territory in Southeast Europe called Turkish Thrace. ^ Kazakhstan is a transcontinental country, Kazakhstan has a small part of its territories located west of the Urals in Eastern Europe
33.
Flag of Albania
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The flag of Albania is a red flag with a silhouetted black double-headed eagle in the center. The red stands for bravery, strength and valor, while the eagle represents the sovereign state of Albania located in the Balkans. Elements of the design such as the double-headed eagle were borrowed from the banner of the Byzantine Empire. The eagle was used for purposes in the Late Middle Ages by a number of noble families in Albania. This was the flag of the League of Lezhë, which was the first unified Albanian state in the Middle Ages. On 28 November 1912, the Albanian Declaration of Independence was proclaimed in Vlora, 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, 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 golden star. Albanias 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 flag, except that the eagle is on a white field. The eagle of the flag of Albania is depicted on the reverse of the Albanian five lekë coin, beginning in 1969, the flag of Albania was widely unofficially flown in Kosovo by the countrys ethnic Albanian population. It was the symbol of the unrecognized Republic of Kosova during the 1990s, the current independent state of Kosovo uses a different flag that was designed to avoid any symbols associated with a particular ethnic group. There is a version of the flag still commonly used by Albanians and officials. The flags had deformed eagles, a detail which didnt go without notice, the flags were ordered from a Chinese company that didnt get all details right. These flags were removed after Independence day, but few specimens are still active around the World. Emblem of Albania Flag of Kosovo List of flags of Kosovo Culture of Albania The Tale of the Eagle http, //www. flagscorner. com/albania-flag/ Albania at Flags of the World
34.
Flag of Andorra
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The national flag of the Principality of Andorra was adopted in 1866. The flag is a tricolour of blue, yellow. Although the three vertical bars may at first appear to be of equal width, the yellow bar is slightly wider than the other two so that the ratio of bar widths is 8,9,8. The overall flag ratio is 7,10, the design is related to the flags of France, Catalonia and Foix, the lands historically linked with the small country. A flag of three bars is similar to that of the French Tricolour, while the pattern of a wider middle stripe can be noted on the Catalan flag and on the arms of the old County of Foix. The blue and red of the Andorran flag are also found on the French flag, with red, from 1806 to 1866, Andorras flag was a vertical bi-colour of yellow and red. The motto in the coat of arms in the middle stripe Virtus Unita Fortior means Virtue United is Stronger, the design is similar to the flags of Romania, Moldova, and Chad. All of these are vertical tricolours of blue, yellow, and red, the official colors of the Andorran flag are set out in the Graphic regulations for reproducing the shield and flag from the Oficina de Marques del Principat dAndorra. The colors of the shield are, The colors of the flag are, Coat of arms of Andorra Andorra at Flags of the World http, //www. ompa. ad/images/stories/Documents/Normes_Grafiques. pdf
35.
Flag of Armenia
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The national flag of Armenia, the Armenian Tricolour, consists of three horizontal bands of equal width, red on the top, blue in the middle, and orange on the bottom. The Armenian Supreme Soviet adopted the current flag on 24 August 1990, on 15 June 2006, the Law on the National Flag of Armenia, governing its usage, was passed by the National Assembly of Armenia. Throughout history, there have many variations of the Armenian flag. In ancient times, Armenian dynasties were represented by different symbolic animals displayed on their flags, in the twentieth century, various Soviet flags represented the Armenian SSR. The meanings of the colors are interpreted in different ways. For example, red stands for the blood of the 1.5 million Armenians killed in the Armenian Genocide, blue is for the Armenian pure sky, the blue emblematizes the will of the people of Armenia to live beneath peaceful skies. The orange emblematizes the creative talent and hard-working nature of the people of Armenia, in 2012, the Armenian National Institute of Standards issued specifications about the construction and colors on the national flag. Todays tricolor flag bears little resemblance to the earliest Armenian flags, in ancient times, armies went into battle behind carvings mounted on poles. The carvings might represent a dragon, an eagle, a lion or some object of the gods. With the advent of Christianity, the Armenian empire adopted many different flags representing various dynasties, the Artaxiad Dynastys flag, for instance, consisted of a red cloth displaying two eagles gazing at each other, separated by a flower. After Armenia was split between the Persian and the Ottoman Empires, the idea of an Armenian flag ceased to exist for some time, alishans first design was very similar to todays Armenian flag, a horizontal tricolor. However, it looked more like a variation of the current flag of Bulgaria. While in France, Alishan also designed a flag, identified today as the Nationalist Armenian Flag. It too was a tricolor, but unlike the previous design and its colors were red, green, and blue, from left to right, representing the rainbow that Noah saw after landing on Mount Ararat. In 1828, Persian Armenia was annexed to the Russian Empire after the last Russo-Persian War, when the Russian Empire collapsed, Russian Armenia declared its independence and joined the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic, together with Georgia and Azerbaijan. This unified state hardly lasted a year and was soon dissolved, since the Republic was short-lived, it did not use any flags or symbols. Nevertheless, some consider a horizontal gold, black, and red tricolor, similar to that of the German flag but arranged differently. The federation was dissolved on May 26,1918, when Georgia declared its independence as the Democratic Republic of Georgia
36.
Flag of Austria
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The flag of Austria has three equal horizontal bands of red, white, and red. The Austrian triband is based on the coat of arms of the Babenberg dynasty and it may have seen use in flags from about the 15th century, alongside the black-and-yellow colors of the House of Habsburg and other insignia of the Holy Roman Empire. It was adopted as an ensign in the 18th century. The flag traces back to the coat of arms of the medieval Babenberg dynasty, however, the Babenberg margrave Leopold III of Austria had already been depicted with a triband shield in 1105. When the last Otakar Duke Ottokar IV of Styria died in 1192, the triband is first documented in a seal on a deed issued on 30 November 1230, confirming the privileges of Lilienfeld Abbey. The medieval chronicler Jans der Enikel reports that the duke appeared in a ceremonial dress at his 1232 accolade in the Vienna Schottenstift. The Babenberg family colors developed to the coat of arms of their Austrian possessions, after the dynasty had become extinct with Fredericks death at the 1246 Battle of the Leitha River, they were adopted by his Přemyslid successor King Ottokar II of Bohemia. Upon the 1278 Battle on the Marchfeld the colours were assumed by the victorious House of Habsburg, according to legend, the flag was invented by Duke Leopold V of Austria as a consequence of his fighting during the Siege of Acre. After a fierce battle, his white surcoat was completely drenched in blood, when he removed his belt, the cloth beneath remained unstained, revealing the combination of red-white-red. So taken was he by this singular sight that he adopted the colors, the incident was documented as early as 1260, though it is highly unlikely. In fact, the war flag of the Holy Roman Empire during the Crusades was a cross on a red field quite similar to the later Austrian arms. This ensign was used by the Austrian capital Vienna from the late 13th century onwards, since the days of Rudolph of Habsburg and the 1283 Treaty of Rheinfelden, the combination of red-white-red was widely considered to be the Austrian colours used by the ruling Habsburg dynasty. However, the flag of the Austrian Habsburg Monarchy, like the later Austrian Empire. These were the colours of the Imperial House of Habsburg. Beginning in the reign of Emperor Joseph II, the Austrian, later Austro-Hungarian Navy used a Naval Ensign based on the red-white-red colours, and augmented with a shield of similar colours. Both of these became obsolete with Austria-Hungarys dissolution in 1918. The Austrian flag has been the motif of many collector coins. One of the most recent examples is the 20 euro Post War Period coin, the obverse of this coin shows the Austrian coat of arms flanked by the Austrian flag and the European Union flag
37.
Flag of Azerbaijan
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The flag of Azerbaijan is a horizontal tricolour featuring three equally sized fesses of blue, red, and green, with a white crescent and an eight-pointed star in the center. The tricolour replaced an earlier design used by the Azerbaijan SSR, the blue symbolizes Azerbaijans Turkic heritage, the red stands for progress, and the green represents Islam. The official colors and size were adopted on February 5,1991 and this flag was used from November 9,1918 to 1920, when Azerbaijan was independent, and it was revived with slight variations on February 5,1991. The nickname for the flag is Üçrəngli Bayraq, which means The Tricolour Flag, the flag is referred to in the Constitution and mentioned two times in the national anthem. On land, the flag is used as the civil, state and war flag, at sea, it is used as the civil, state, the flag also has official status in the Nakhchivan Autonomous Republic. A presidential decree declared November 9, the date when in 1918 this flag was adopted as the flag of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic. The national flag of Azerbaijan consists of three stripes of equal width, from top to bottom, light blue, red. In the center are a crescent and eight-pointed star. Upper stripe is blue, middle stripe is red, and the one is green. Width of the flag constitutes half of its length, further specifications of the national flag were detailed in the Presidential Decree On the National Flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan issued on February 5,1991. The ratio was kept at 1,2, which was used in the Soviet era, each stripe is one-third of the total height of the flag and extends the full length. The star and crescent were placed in a box that has a ratio of 3,4, the outside diameter of both the crescent and the red inside circle intersects with the diameter of the star. The diameter of the star is one-sixth the height of the flag, the flag is also described in the technical specification AZS 001-2006. Published by the State Committee on Standardization, Metrology and Patents of the Republic of Azerbaijan in 2006, the colors of the national flag are green, red, sky blue, and white. Exact specifications for its colors were issued in the 2004 decree On the Rules of the National Flag of the Republic of Azerbaijan, in the middle of the flag, and appearing on both front and back, are a white crescent and an eight-pointed star. According to historian Nasib Nasibli, Ali bey Huseynzade, one of the ideologists of Azerbaijans independence, while the crescent and star are typically seen as markers of Islam, some historians and researchers disagree about why an eight-pointed star is used on the flag of Azerbaijan. Fatali Khan Khoyski points to the eight letters in the word Azerbaijan as written in Arabic, the eight points of the star are also thought to stand for the eight Turkic peoples of Azerbaijan. The problem is there are only seven Turkic peoples, Azeris, Ottomans, Jagatais, Tatars, Kipchaks, Selijuks and its possible the Kipchaks actually reflect two peoples, the Kazakhs and Kyrgyz, which would make eight
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Flag of Belarus
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The national flag of Belarus is a red and green flag with a white and red ornament pattern placed at the staff end. The current design was introduced in 2012 by the State Committee for Standardization of the Republic of Belarus and it is a modification of the 1951 flag used while the country was a republic of the Soviet Union. Changes made to the Soviet-era flag were the removal of symbols of communism, since the 1995 referendum, several flags used by Belarusian government officials and agencies have been modeled on this national flag. The white-red-white flag is used in protests against the government and by the Belarusian diaspora, the basic design of the national flag of Belarus was first described in Presidential Decree No.214 of June 7,1995. The flag is a rectangular cloth consisting of two stripes, a red upper stripe covering two-thirds of the flags height, and green lower stripe covering one-third. A vertical red-on-white Belarusian decorative pattern, which occupies one-ninth of the length, is placed against the flagstaff. The flags ratio of width to length is 1,2, the flag does not differ significantly from the flag of the Byelorussian SSR, other than the removal of the hammer and sickle and the red star, and the reversal of red and white in the hoist pattern. In addition to the 1995 decree, STB 911–2008, National Flag of the Republic of Belarus was published by the State Committee for Standardization of the Republic of Belarus in 2008. It gives the specifications of the national flag, such as the details of the colors. The red ornament design on the flag was, until 2012, 1⁄12 the width of the flag. As of 2012, the red pattern has occupied the whole of the white margin, the colors of the national flag are regulated in STB 911–2008, National Flag of the Republic of Belarus and are listed in the CIE Standard illuminant D65. A decorative pattern, designed in 1917 by Matrena Markevich, is displayed on the hoist of the flag, the pattern, derived from local plants and flowers, is a traditional type commonly used in Belarus. The regulations were issued in the decree that defined the Belarusian flag. May 15 has been declared the Day of the National Emblem, the national flag itself has been incorporated into the badge of the guard units in the Belarusian armed forces. The pole should be three times longer than the width of the flag, according to the 1995 presidential decree, the national flag is to be used on a staff that is colored gold. Other parts of the protocol specify the finial as diamond-shaped and colored in a yellow metal, in this diamond there is a five-pointed star. The diamond-pattern represents another continuation of Soviet flag-traditions, the flag of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted by decree on December 25,1951. The flag was modified in 1956 when construction details were added for the red star
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Flag of Belgium
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The national flag of Belgium is a tricolour of three bands of black, yellow, and red. The colours were taken from the coat of arms of the Duchy of Brabant, when flown, the black band is nearest the pole. The territory then passed into Spanish hands, and after the coronation of Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor yellow and red, from the 16th century to the end of the 18th century, the colours of what is now Belgium were red, white and yellow. Occasionally the red cross of Burgundy was placed on the section of the flag. During the period of Austrian rule, a number of different flags were tried, the population of Brussels was opposed to this, and following the example of France, red, yellow and black cockades began to appear, those being the colours of Brabant. The colours thus correspond to the red lion of Hainaut, Limburg and Luxembourg, the lion of Brabant. On August 26,1830, the day after the rioting at the Brussels Opera and the start of the Belgian Revolution, the insurgents hastily replaced it with a tricolour of red, yellow and black horizontal stripes made at a nearby fabric store. As a result, Article 193 of the Constitution of Belgium describes the colours of the Belgian nation as Red, Yellow and Black instead of using the order shown in the official flag. On January 23,1831, the changed from horizontal to vertical. The official guide to protocol in Belgium states that the national flag measures 2.60 m tall for each 3 m wide, each of the stripes is one-third of the width of the flag. The yellow is in yellow and not the darker gold of the flag of Germany. The national flag has the proportions of 13,15. The 2,3 flag is the ensign, the correct flag for use by civilians at sea. The naval ensign of Belgium has the three colours in a saltire, on a white field, with a black crown above crossed cannons at the top. There is also an official Belgian naval jack, which is the same as the flag, except in a 1,1 ratio. The royal standard of Belgium is the standard of the current king, Philippe, and features his monogram. The designs of royal standards of past monarchs have been similar, notably, the flag of Belgium flown on the Royal Palace of Brussels and the Royal Castle of Laeken is in none of the proportions above. It has the irregular 4,3 ratio, making it taller than it is wide and these proportions are explained as an aesthetic consideration, as the palaces are large, and the flags are thus viewed from far below, which makes them look more normal due to foreshortening
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