Ukrainian flag. National flag of Ukraine: stories about an inverted banner

No state exists without rituals and symbols. Ukraine has gained independence several times in its history. Last time this happened in 1991. Within four months, the small coat of arms and flag of Ukraine, a stylized trident and a two-color canvas consisting of horizontal fields, blue and yellow, were approved. According to historians describing the events associated with the collapse of the USSR, the centuries-old dream of the majority of the population of that part of the Union that lived on the territory of the former Ukrainian SSR came true.

Historical contradictions between the East and West of this country have become the cause of many dramatic events; conflicts, including armed ones, have arisen and continue to flare up. After the Maidan, the Square government no longer took into account the opinions of citizens of the South-East. In turn, residents of some regions refuse to positively perceive the attributes of the state, including the flag of Ukraine. Photos from the scene of tragic events that resulted in casualties in Odessa, Mariupol, Zaporozhye and other cities provide an explanation for such disobedience. For a large percentage of the population, yellow and blue colors have become a symbol of violence and cruelty. This is not forgotten.

Yellow-blue origins

The history of the Ukrainian flag has its origins in the times when geographical names were completely different. IN yellow and its shades symbolized the fiery element. Blue represented water, the endless source of life. The pagan holiday of Ivan Kupala traditionally took place in this range: with a fiery wheel rolling into the water, lights floating along rivers and streams and other ancient attributes.

While the Slavs did not have any flags, the role of military symbols was played by banners, which were bunches of various bright objects visible from afar, from bird feathers to colorful grasses. Starting from the fourteenth century, a demarcation of spheres of influence developed between the European West (represented by the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, the Grand Duchy of Lithuania) and the Russian lands. The front border edge (it was still too early to talk about state borders at that time) became part Kievan Rus, hence the future name of the country.

As part of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth

The flag of Ukraine first became known during the Battle of Grunwald (1410), although at that time it did not represent an independent power. Divisions Polish army, recruited from the inhabitants of the Leopol (Lvov) land, opposed the crusaders under a banner with the image of a yellow lion on a bluish-azure field.

Ethnic symbols received further development during the war for liberation from Polish oppression under the leadership (1648-1654). However, the colors were different then, preference was given to crimson and red shades, which is how contemporaries described the Hetman’s Cossack banners.

National symbols in one form or another were preserved in application to military attributes and coats of arms of Little Russian cities throughout the existence of the Russian Empire and after the February Revolution. Thus, there is a known case when General Brusilov welcomed in May 1917 units of Ukrainian volunteers who arrived at the German front under the national flag.

Austrian Ukrainophiles and the donated flag

An interesting case occurred after the suppression of the Austrian revolution of 1848 by the Russian army. The pro-Russian sympathies of the local population frightened the saved Habsburg government so much that it in full force resigned, and Governor Stadium took a rather unusual political step. He expressed his readiness to support the Ukrainians who were striving for autonomy if they did not consider themselves Russian, giving them the yellow-blue flag of Ukraine, allegedly sewn by the mother of the Austrian emperor (which was not true).

Revolutions

The events of the revolutions of 1917 led to the redrawing of borders and a reassessment of historical perspectives. After the proclamation of the UPR (Ukrainian People's Republic) in 1918, a temporary law was adopted, according to which for the first time the state flag of Ukraine was officially installed, with the yellow color located on top. Then there was a coup, as a result of which Hetman Skoropadsky seized power, starting by swapping the panels. This banner remained a national symbol among supporters of independence, who operated underground in the territories occupied by Poland, Romania and Czechoslovakia until 1939. In 1939, Western Ukrainians met the Red Army with the yellow-blue ensign.

Flag of the Ukrainian SSR

After a year, the Soviet part of Ukraine refused to recognize the power of the Central Rada. Kharkov adopted its own flag, of course - red, with the letters U.S.S.R. Then in 1937 an amendment was made, the advice in Ukrainian is “rad”, therefore, it should be written U.R.S.R. , however, in places where the Russian-speaking population lived, it was also allowed in Russian.

Another decade later, the Soviet flag of Ukraine was changed again. The lower third of it was occupied by a blue cloth, and the rest, crowned with a hammer and sickle, remained red.

During the tragic period of the Nazi occupation, collaborators used the national yellow and blue colors, however, until the German command banned it. The Bandera underground used, in addition to Petlyura’s, another flag, black and red.

Modern flag of Ukraine

Photos and filming showing the ceremonial introduction of a giant yellow-blue banner into the meeting hall of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR went viral information channels world in 1991. This action was welcomed by a prominent communist party functionary who became the first president of independent Ukraine. This event was accompanied by mass events, painted in the same tones. So it began recent history flag of Ukraine. Patriotic citizens tie yellow and blue ribbons to protest against the “seizure” of Crimea. Other ribbons, over Nazism, St. George's, are banned. According to the current leadership, they are worn by “separatists”, “vatniks” and “Colorados”.

The colors of the Ukrainian flag are intended to symbolize peace and food abundance. The blue sky is crowned by fields of golden wheat growing generously on the famous Ukrainian black soil - this is how the range of the main state symbol of the country is interpreted. Time will tell how far this dream will come true...

Back in 1918, two different flags appeared in the young Ukrainian state. The first was yellow-blue, and the second was its inverted version - blue-yellow. After the overthrow of the Central Rada by the Russian monarchist Skoropadsky, the inverted flag was legitimized as a symbol of his own struggle.

This is what the national flag of Ukraine became - two stripes of blue and yellow.

National flag of Ukraine: mystical symbolism

In general, everything that has a golden or yellow color can symbolize the Creator, God the Father or something higher, spiritual. The blue color speaks of everything earthly, as well as the freedom of choice that the Creator endowed his Children with the hope that there will be no abuse on their part.

The interpretation of the blue sky and golden ears of corn that has been accepted today is not simple primitivism, it is another attempt at the triumph of global evil.

What does the flag of Ukraine mean?

Some experts believe that in reality, the color of the Ukrainian flag from time immemorial symbolized the two most important natural elements and human existence - fire (yellow) and water (blue). Thus, a completely logical picture emerges. Only the combination of “yellow on top, blue on bottom” can reflect eternal symmetries, namely the influence of the divine harmonies of these elements in their places of residence. However, if they are placed from head to foot, this will symbolize the trampling of the world order, a cataclysm in which fire is extinguished with water.

The golden-blue coming of the Trypillians

Since a long time different peoples During battles, a certain symbolism was used, which was supposed to mark the places of stay of the warriors, as well as raise their morale. Mainly, these were three- and four-cornered pieces of fabric attached to spears. Ancient Ukrainian flags during the time of Kievan Rus originally depicted Christian saints. Later, permanent coats of arms of various territories began to appear, which became the basis for the emerging modern national symbols.

Actually, this kind of gold-blue symbolism was once brought by the Trypillians during the era of great migrations of peoples. One part of the settlers left the Northern Black Sea region five thousand years ago and settled in ancient india, where the symbolism has been preserved to this day in its original form. This state is literally all decorated with such color combinations. However, there is nowhere to be seen that blue dominates yellow.

Banners from the times of Kievan Rus

During the hours ancient Rus' One of the main attributes in symbolism indicating princely power were banners. Then these were the banners under which the warriors took part in battles. At the same time, banners acted as symbols of territorial associations. In ancient chronicles there is evidence that during the times of Vladimir Rus', flags had triangular wedge-like shapes with images of saints or princely symbols.

Mostly the banners were painted red so that they could be clearly recognized during periods of battle. Sometimes white, blue, yellow, and green colors could be used. It is advisable to remember that red is still considered a fairly popular shade in the heraldic color palette to this day. Moreover, this especially applied to the Western and Eastern Slavs living in the territories of Poland, Belarus and Russia.

National flag of Ukraine in the XIII-XVI centuries

At the turn of the 13th-14th centuries, banners of quadrangular shapes appeared on the free ends of the spears. In addition, during this period, banners began to be actively produced, which simultaneously combined several colors. In the XIII-XIV centuries, the history of Kievan Rus was characterized by feudal fragmentation. In those days, the princes had their own banners, which were always different from the others.

Already by the 14th century, a significant part of Left Bank Ukraine was annexed to the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. At that time, the Galician lands, together with Volyn, found themselves under Polish protectorate, which significantly influenced the heraldry in these original Ukrainian territories. Thus, in the symbolism of Central Ukraine, it is possible that it was under the influence of the Poles that white and red colors began to appear. Whereas in Ukrainian flags western regions Yellow-blue colors began to predominate. Lviv, Transcarpathian and Podolsk heraldic symbols began to be painted with these primary colors.

Banners and symbolism of the Hetman period

Historically, the Ukrainian flag can date back more than one century, if not millennia. Thus, the formation of modern national symbolism of the power was influenced by traditions. Among the Ukrainian Cossacks, the main color was crimson. Actually, under him Bogdan Khmelnitsky led the national liberation movement. In addition, the crimson one was the main one in the Nizhyn and Chernigov regiments. Archangel Michael, the heavenly patron of the Zaporozhye Army, was often depicted on the banners of the Hetmanate. In addition, on the crimson banners one could find splashes of yellow, blue and green flowers, as well as outlines of the sun, stars, and animals.

History of the Ukrainian flag in the 18th-20th centuries.

Ukrainian heraldic symbolism began to be filled with blue and yellow colors in the 18th century. Their combinations are found in the banners of the Kyiv and Chernigov regiments. In 1771, the Poltava Regiment acquired for itself a new banner with the image of a yellow cross on a blue cloth, and in 1848, the Head Rus' Rada proclaimed the national coat of arms of the ancient princely symbol of the Romanovichs. It depicted a golden lion leaning against a rock, surrounded by turquoise.

Second half XIX century was marked by the gradual establishment of a combination of yellow and blue stripes on the rectangular panels of the Ukrainian flags. After which, in 1914, during the celebration of the next anniversary of “Kobzar”, the combination of these colors could mean only one thing - national character traits in manifestations. It is worth knowing that in these times the top stripe in the Ukrainian flag was yellow, and the bottom stripe was blue. And in fact, from that time on, the new flag of Ukraine began to be called “zhovto-blakitnym” everywhere. In the turbulent times of 1917, the Ukrainian People's Republic. Its government, the Central Rada, proclaimed the colors inherent in the national flag, the same yellow and blue.

Ratification of the blue and yellow flag

In 1918, following the establishment of power by Hetman P. Skoropadsky, the state flag was changed. Actually, it was then that the yellow-blue flag was replaced by blue-yellow. Ratification of this color range, as national, was certified through the normative and constitutional acts of the then Directory. The Western Ukrainian People's Republic did the same.

Flags Ukrainian origin The Soviet era was radically different from the previous national ones. Initially it was a red banner with a gold inscription: “URSR”. In the post-war years, socialist symbols were slightly changed. Thus, the flag of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic combined two colors with two stripes: the upper one was red, the lower one was blue. And in the upper part of the cloth there was a sickle with a five-pointed star.

In 1990, at the city hall in Stryi, for the first time after a long interval, the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag appeared again. Photos and the latest news about this incredible event of that time spread throughout the entire Ukrainian territory in the blink of an eye. On a warm September day in 1991, the national symbol proudly towered over the premises of the Verkhovna Rada. The following year, on January 28, 1992, the blue-yellow flag was destined to receive state status. Thus, every year, on August 23, before the celebration of Independence Day of Ukraine, the country celebrates Flag Day of Ukraine.

National flag of Ukraine: the true meaning of the colors

In heraldic laws, the color yellow symbolizes gold, fire, the Sun and cannot be below, so the current combination of colors on the Ukrainian flag seems unnatural and dangerous. For example, the ancient emblem of the creation of the world from chaos conveys precisely these colors. When earthly and passive principles dominate over heavenly and active ones, then any state will be pre-programmed for failure.

Even according to Feng Shui, placing blue (will) over yellow (wisdom) means activating decline or progressive degradation, misfortune and disorder. If everything is done correctly, then the harmony of heavenly and earthly, yin and yang, strength and flexibility, will become the forerunner of development, prosperity and happiness.

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The State Flag is one of the three official state symbols symbolizing the sovereignty of the state. The State Flag of Ukraine is a flag of two equal horizontal stripes of blue and yellow with a ratio of the width of the flag to its length of 2:3.
Ukrainian national tradition The symbolic representation of the world has been formed over several millennia. The use of yellow and blue colors (with different shades) on the flags of Ukraine-Rus' can be traced back to the adoption of Christianity. Subsequently, these two colors acquire the significance of state colors.
In the middle of the 17th century, after the annexation of the Hetmanate to To the Russian state, blue (blue) panels with gold or yellow images of crosses and other signs are becoming widespread. Since the times of the Cossacks, the yellow-blue color combination gradually begins to dominate on Ukrainian banners, flags and kleinods.
After the tradition of Cossack symbolism was interrupted, long time in Ukraine, which was part of the Russian Empire, the question of national symbols didn't get up.
The first attempt to create a yellow-blue flag of two horizontal stripes approximately of the same shape as now was carried out by the Main Russian Rada (the body that represented the national movement of the Ukrainian population of Galicia), which began the struggle for the revival of the Ukrainian nation. In June 1848, a yellow-blue flag was raised for the first time at the Lviv City Hall.
The impetus for the spread of yellow-blue symbols was February Revolution 1917 in Russia.
On March 22, 1918, the Central Council adopted the Law on the State Flag of the Republic, approving the yellow-blue flag as the symbol of the Ukrainian People's Republic. On November 13, 1918, the blue and yellow flag became the state symbol of the Western Ukrainian People's Republic. It was approved in Subcarpathian Rus', and in 1939 - in Carpathian Ukraine. In the period 1917 - early 1919. The blue and yellow flag was also used by the Bolsheviks in Ukraine.
The blue-yellow color combination finally took shape as a national one at the beginning of the 20th century. The symbols of Ukraine in their newest interpretation are a cloudless sky as a symbol of peace - blue, and ripe wheat fields as a symbol of prosperity - yellow.

IN Soviet time The flag of Ukraine was red with the obligatory hammer, sickle and star and a blue stripe along the lower edge of the flag. The blue stripe symbolized “the color of the banners of Bohdan Khmelnytsky.” Although what specific banners were discussed is not known.

In the 1990s, the national yellow-blue (“yellow-blakit”) flag became widespread, first in nationalist circles and then everywhere. The shade of blue was very light at first. However, the state was in no hurry to officially change its symbols. By the time of the collapse of the USSR, the national flag of Ukraine remained Soviet. Although, for example, on July 24, 1990, the Presidium of the Kyiv City Council of People's Deputies decided to hang a blue and yellow flag next to the state red and blue one in front of the City Council building on Khreshchatyk. And on September 4, 1991, in Kyiv, a blue and yellow flag was raised over the building of the Supreme Council (also together with a red and blue one).
Officially, the new state flag of Ukraine was adopted by a resolution of the Verkhovna Rada of January 28, 1992.
In August 2004, then-President Leonid Kuchma signed Decree No. 987/2004 establishing the National Flag Day of Ukraine, which is celebrated annually on August 23. Before this, National Flag Day was celebrated only in Kyiv at the municipal level.

Nikolay YAREMENKO

So where and when did the yellow-blue flag appear, which is so zealously defended by today’s “Svidomo independentists”?

“A symbol is the concentrated visible expression of an idea.”

A.F. Losev

The deceit of Ukrainian politicians has long been the talk of the town and the subject of numerous jokes...

Seventeen years ago, on January 28, 1992, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, under pressure from three dozen impudent “nationally Svidomo Galicians” and a zealous advocate of “national democracy” L. Kravchuk, approved the blue and yellow flag as the state flag of Ukraine. At the same time, the deputies of parliament, who mostly “did not know what they were doing,” and all citizens of Ukraine were assured by Kravchuk that this measure was temporary, since a nationwide referendum should take place, which would determine the state symbols.

Let’s remember the “dummies” that were circulating at that time: RUKh leaflets telling us how rich we are and how much not only the “cash cow” Russia owes us, but also England owes us in percent from Polubotok’s “booty”, Sweden from Mazepa’s “golden barrels”. There were assurances about “transparent borders” with Russia and Ukraine’s “non-bloc status.” The people were anticipating how much lard they would eat under the sovereign blanket...

However, let’s return to the flag of Ukraine, having understood the concept of “symbol”. A symbol, translated from Greek, is a sign, a sign, a password, a signal, an omen. The flag is one of the most important symbols of the state; it is characterized by historical continuity.

With the formation of Slavic principalities with centers in Pskov, Polotsk, Smolensk, Chernigov, Kyiv and other cities by the 9th century, the first predecessors of flags began to appear - banners, symbols of princely power. After the introduction of Christianity in Rus', the Cross of the Lord began to be depicted on banners, and they acquired the significance of a shrine. At the end of the 11th century. The face of the Savior appears on Russian banners. The crimson banner with the image of the “All-Merciful Savior” was the voivodeship banner of Dmitry Pozharsky, who united his compatriots against foreign invaders in a "troubled" era. Along with red, blue and white colors. Today's politicians, reacting to Chinese warnings about the sinister meaning of the combination of colors of the Ukrainian ensign, often swap them, and even advanced Galicians do not use them in party symbols. President Yushchenko also performs under an inverted flag, showing business America that astrology is not the last fiddle of “this country.”

Analyzing publications about the flag of Ukraine, we must admit: starting from Kievan Rus and ending with the 90s of the twentieth century, that is, for a millennium, in the lands that are now part of Ukraine, the symbolism was dominated by red (crimson), white, blue colors. This is undeniable. I will give examples. The trilogy “Bogdan Khmelnitsky” by Mikhail Staritsky was published more than a hundred years ago. Here is what the author writes: “Hetman Bohdan Khmelnytsky himself sat in front of everyone on a white horse. With a white banner in his left hand and a silver mace in his right... Crimson Cossack banners fluttered above the hetman’s head...

Khmelnitsky! This is his white banner! - one common cry was heard... - Khmelnytsky was followed by two general cornets with unfurled banners - a karmazin (purple, red) and a white one, bent over the hetman.”

Now let's turn to D.I. Yavornitsky, who in “History Zaporozhye Cossacks” writes: “In the Imperial Hermitage there are seventeen Zaporozhye badges and one military banner... This banner is made of bright red silk material. On the front side there is an image of a large double-headed eagle with stars. On the right side is the Savior blessing the Cossacks for battle, and on the left side is the Archangel Michael with a fiery sword in right hand. Along the edges of the banner there is an inscription in gold letters in Church Slavonic: “This banner for the army of His Imperial Majesty the Zaporozhye grassroots was made by the infantry fighting the same army along the Dnieper or Danube rivers.” As we can see, Yavornitsky makes no mention of the yellow-blue color. There is not a word about the yellow color and the trident on the ensigns of the regiments and hundreds of the Hetmanate of the Left Bank, nor on the flags of the regiments of the Slobozhanshchyna.

Let me remind you once again that in 1693 the white-blue-red flag officially became the state flag. It was under this banner that Little Russia and the lands of the Zaporozhye Army entered. In the era of Peter the Great, the tricolor flag finally acquired the status of a state flag on the field of Poltava Victoria.

So where and when did the yellow-blue flag appear, which is so zealously defended by today’s “Svidomo independentists”?

The potato shortage in 1845 became almost a European disaster. Food shortages led to a severe crisis in Europe, causing unemployment and riots. On the instructions of the government of Austria-Hungary, a regiment of 1,410 people was formed from the Catholicized and Polished Rusyns of Galicia, called Ukrainians there. They were driven there by need, hunger and complete unemployment. In the army, after all, they fed and clothed me. In 1849, the Habsburg Monarchy used this regiment to suppress a peasant uprising in Hungary. The regiment formed from Galician-Ukrainians, nicknamed “the first Ukrainian kuren,” was left without work after punitive operations. Nevertheless, he was equipped according to the “military standard” by the Habsburg Monarchy in Vienna. The governor of Galicia, Stadion von Warthgavsen, presented the formed Ukrainian regiment with a blue and yellow flag, explaining that this was the standard of the Ukrainian-Austrian regiment. According to Watgawsen, the ribbon for this flag was personally embroidered by the mother of Emperor Franz Joseph. Its colors correspond to the Austrian national flag. In 1913, the Austrian monarchy supplied the blue-yellow flag not only to the Ukrainian Sich Riflemen, but also to other formations of Galicians who became part of the Austrian army and led fighting against Russia. The captured “Sich Streltsy” (Usus) actively participated in robberies and civil war on the lands of Naddnepryanshchina and Slobozhanshchina.

I am forced to write this article by the feelings of modern Ukrainians, who, to put it mildly, do not give a damn about. Does this powerful nation really deserve to be given handouts from time immemorial and just as beautifully taken away?

In 1848, in the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which included lands after the division of Poland western Ukraine, a revolution broke out. Poles, Ukrainians and other Slavs at their congress decided to act in united ranks against the usurpers under the red Polish banners. This did not suit the “Austro-Hungarians” in any way and they decided to quarrel with the Slavs. How?

And Galician Ukrainians were allowed to have their own national flag. They took their blue and yellow flag with a coat of arms, removed their great coat of arms and gave it to the Ukrainians. The flag of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in the picture. The Ukrainian flag became without a coat of arms. Moreover, they immediately presented a banner symbolizing the unity of Austria (the lower yellow color was taken from the black and yellow Austrian flag) and Ukrainian people(upper blue was considered the color of Kievan Rus). This flag was personally hand-sewn (or embroidered) by the mother of Emperor Franz Joseph. The Ukrainians shed tears from such trust and immediately quarreled with the Poles, and then, it seems, it was under this banner that they participated in the suppression of the Hungarians who rebelled against the empire. By the way, in the ground Lower Austria The flag of the administrative unit is still blue and yellow.

Ukrainian Cossacks used different banners, although by the middle of the 17th century the main banner was a red one with the image of the Archangel Michael. The large banner (banner) of the Sich was described as follows: on one side there is the Archangel Michael on a red background, on the other - white cross, golden sun, crescent and stars. Among the banners there were many “complaints”. For example, Holy Roman Emperor Rudolf Habsburg in 1593. gave the Cossacks a golden banner with an eagle. The banner was handed over to the Koshe chieftain Bogdan Mikoshinsky by Ambassador Erich Lesota. In 1646, the Polish king Vladislav IV granted the Cossacks a blue banner with a white and red eagle. IN 1649 g . from the Polish king John Casimir they received a red banner with a white eagle, two crosses and the inscription Ioannes Casimirus Rex Poloniae. In 1706 in Bendery to Ivan Mazepa Turkish Sultan bestowed a blue and red banner: a crescent and a star are depicted on a red field, and a “golden cross” on a blue field Eastern Church" And Peter I gave Hetman Apostol a white banner with state emblem. It was also used under Hetman Razumovsky.

So, when answering the question of which colors should be recognized as national for Ukrainians, one must proceed not only from which of them prevailed at one time or another in a certain region, but also look for other arguments. At that time in Ukraine there were banners, not flags. And there is a significant difference between them. The banner characterizes a specific individual identity. The flag is a mass symbol. Hence the other requirements for the flag and its colors. They should reflect the people as a whole, without personalizing them with individual, even very eminent, titled individuals. By the way, the current rulers forgot about this when, during the inauguration, the city center was decorated with symbols not of the state, but of those belonging to the son of Viktor Yushchenko.

The impetus for the development of Ukrainian symbols was given by the revolution of 1848. in the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The mother of Emperor Franz Joseph herself sewed a blue and yellow flag and sent it to the Galicians who distinguished themselves in suppressing the Hungarian rebellion. There is still debate about why the Empress Mother chose these colors. According to one version, they symbolize wheat and the Danube, according to another, they are inspired by the image of a golden lion on a blue field, which adorned the coat of arms of the Galicia-Volyn principality.

In March 1917 . The Central Rada of Ukraine was created. Its head was Mikhail Grushevsky. May 18 1917 . At the first All-Ukrainian Military Congress, the Petrograd delegation sent a blue and yellow flag with the inscription: “Long live national-territorial autonomy.” True, other colors were also popular. Thus, in March of the same year, a provincial cooperative congress was held in Kyiv, which advocated, in particular, for a democratic federal republic in Russia with national-territorial autonomy of Ukraine. A large demonstration took place, at which eyewitnesses counted over 300 flags. Among them were red and yellow-blue.

November 22 1917 . The Central Rada proclaimed the creation of the Ukrainian People's Republic (UNR) consisting of Russian Federation. During the time of the CR, approval of the main state symbols- coat of arms and flag - was accompanied by great difficulties.

Although Grushevsky is considered to be the author of the idea of ​​​​introducing the Rurikovich trident as a coat of arms, as well as the blue and yellow banner, this is far from true. in autumn 1917 . he stated that this “is not so simple, since there was no legally recognized sovereign emblem of Ukraine.” And the trident should be perceived only as a “garneaux stylized heraldic sign of unclear meaning.” So unclear that “it could be a stylized card.” In November, however, he agreed that the problems of symbolism are among those that “raise negaynogo porosheniya.” At the same time, he outlined his own vision: “In the simplest way possible, a gold (yellow) star on a blue aphid could be taken as a sign of the new Ukraine, according to the number of lands of the new Ukrainian Republic.” Just like the USA, only the stars are yellow instead of white!

And for revolutionary times, the “counter-revolutionary” banner, presented to the Galicians for their participation in the suppression of the revolution, was not suitable as a symbol. But time passed, they could not agree on the symbolism (only the graphic artist Narbut stylized the Rurikovich trident and placed it on a hundred-ruble banknote, and since Ukraine, as Grushevsky wrote then, “has now restored its power to the bute, which was saved by Moscow violence and slyness, it is the most natural For her, they will turn to those old sovereign insignia and coats of arms, which she lived through in ancient times.”

January 14 1918. The Central Rada of the UPR issued a law on naval flags. The flag of the navy became a blue-yellow bicolor; in the canton, on a blue field, a golden trident with a white inner field was depicted. On March 22 of the same year, the CR in Kyiv adopted the national flag of the UPR - a yellow-blue banner. This arrangement of colors was adopted at the insistence of M. Grushevsky, a champion of German heraldry (according to which it is “correct” to place the color of the coat of arms at the top of the flag, and the color of the field at the bottom).

May 2 1918 ., having dispersed the CR, the government of Hetman P. Skoropadsky came to power. Obviously an officer, a nobleman did not know the history or, most likely, did not want to admit it in order to please his patrons. Under him, the order of stripes on the state flag was changed: blue was placed at the top. December 1918. Hetmanate Skoropadsky was replaced by the Directory (1918-1920), under which the trident coat of arms and the blue-yellow flag were preserved.

January 22 1919 . In Kyiv, the so-called Act of Conciliarity of Ukraine was proclaimed, that is, the unification of the UPR and the Western Ukrainian People's Republic. In the draft Constitution of the UPR, developed by the All-Ukrainian National Rada in Kamenets-Podilskyi in 1920 ., the flags were described as follows: “Article 10. The state colors of the Ukrainian State are blue and yellow. Article 11. The flag of the navy is blue and yellow with the state emblem of gold color in the left corner of the blue part of the flag. The Merchant Navy flag is blue and yellow." During the Great Patriotic War, the blue and yellow flag was used by some Ukrainian units that fought as part of the Nazi-German troops. In particular, the SS division "Galicia" had a yellow-blue flag with a dark blue trident at the pole. Therefore, in Soviet Ukraine, this symbolism was associated with Ukrainian nationalism.

December 1917 . A revolutionary government of Soviet Ukraine was formed in Kharkov, which did not recognize the CR. The 1st All-Ukrainian Congress of Soviets met in Kyiv, but the Bolshevik faction refused to work with supporters of the Rada, moved to Kharkov and declared itself the First Congress of Soviets of Ukraine. On it (December 11-12 (24-25) 1917 .) elected the Central Executive Committee of the UPR and proclaimed the Ukrainian People's Republic of Soviets of Workers', Peasants', Soldiers' and Cossacks' Deputies. The flag of the republic was a red banner with a national yellow-blue canton. In March - April 1918 . under pressure from the German occupation forces, the People's Secretariat of the UPR of the Soviets left Ukraine.

The 3rd Congress of Soviets of Ukraine met in Kharkov, proclaiming the creation of the Ukrainian SSR, which immediately entered into a military alliance with the RSFSR. January 15 1923 . a sample flag was published: on a red field the letters “U.” S.S.R.” (Resolution of the Presidium of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee on the approval of the flags, coat of arms and seal of the Republic). IN 1927 . The abbreviation changed to "URSR". This was officially enshrined in the Constitution.

By decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Ukrainian SSR of November 21 1949 . The flag of the republic was changed. It consisted of red and blue horizontal stripes. On the red one, which was twice as wide as the blue one, a golden sickle and hammer were depicted, and above that there was a red five-pointed star with a gold border. The ratio of the length of the panel to its width was 2:1. With this flag we survived until Belovezhskaya Pushcha.

At the dawn of independence we lived with the flag according to Grushevsky, now we live with the flag according to Skoropadsto whom. However, if only it were today main problem. Ukraine may soon find itself in a difficult political and economic situation, when we no longer need state symbols. Just a few years ago our country was called an economic tiger of Eastern Europe. And now what happens is a stone for our garden. During the Orange regime, we found ourselves, maybe not on the edge of an abyss, but somewhere close. Thank God that at least the option that was proposed during the Orange government did not become the state flag.

Our political elite must come to its senses and then Ukraine will have success - Ukraine will exist, but if it doesn’t come to its senses - it will cease to exist. Although, it’s unlikely that anything good will happen until we change our Ukrainian mentality.