Two equal stripes, blue and yellow, born in 1848, banned during the Soviet period and returned with independence.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
Civil, state and military, on land and at seaFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a rectangular field with a 2:3 ratio with two equal horizontal stripes: blue above and yellow below.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
In 1848, during a wave of revolutions across Europe
It did not last: in 1921 most of the country came under Soviet control and the blue and yellow…
Until 1937 only the letters change
After the independence of 1991
Since the Russian invasion of 2022 it can be seen on buildings and in stadiums in many countries
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Ukraine has just two horizontal stripes of the same size: blue above and yellow below. It is one of the simplest flags in the world, but it was banned for about seventy years. Since the Russian invasion of 2022 it can be seen on buildings and in stadiums in many countries.
Blue and yellow are old colours in this region. The coat of arms of the city of Lviv, for example, is a golden lion on a blue ground.
In 1848, during a wave of revolutions across Europe, the Ukrainians of Lviv, which then belonged to the Austrian Empire, first used a blue and yellow flag. Seventy years later, after the fall of the Russian Empire, the Ukrainian People’s Republic made it the official flag. It did not last: in 1921 most of the country came under Soviet control and the blue and yellow flag was banned.
During the Soviet stage Ukraine had several red flags. The blue and yellow one returned with independence.
1918-1921
First official flag of a Ukrainian state, with a lighter blue than the current one.
1919-1937
Soviet Ukraine adopts a red flag with the initials of the republic in the corner. Until 1937 only the letters change.
1937-1949
The hammer and sickle are added over the initials, now in Ukrainian.
1949-1991
Ukraine had its own seat at the UN and needed a flag different from the Soviet one: a blue stripe is added.
1992
After the independence of 1991, the parliament restores the blue and yellow flag, this time with a darker blue.
The Constitution only says the flag is blue and yellow. The rest is tradition, not an official meaning:
Blue
according to the most popular reading, the sky.
Yellow
the wheat fields, which cover much of the country.
The two together
colours inherited from the old arms of the region, such as that of Lviv.
For decades there were those who argued for putting the yellow on top. It was never official, and blue on top prevailed.
In 1992 a dark blue was chosen instead of sky blue because flags in light shades lose their colour very quickly in the sun.
On 24 July 1990, still within the Soviet Union, it was hoisted in front of the Kiev city hall. It reached parliament on 4 September 1991.
Since 2004, every 23 August, the eve of Independence Day, Flag Day is celebrated.
Test what you have read about the flag of Ukraine.
Text based on the article “Bandera de Ucrania” from the Spanish Wikipedia, published under the licence CC BY-SA 4.0.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Government of Ukraine, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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