23 August is celebrated as the Day of the National Flag (, ) in

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

; since in 2004. Since 1992

Independence Day of Ukraine Independence Day of Ukraine (, ) is a public holidays in Ukraine, state holiday in Ukraine, celebrated on 24 August in commemoration of the Declaration of Independence of Ukraine, Declaration of Independence of 1991. History When Ukraine was st ...

is celebrated on 24 August.

History

The yellow-and-blue flag is first verifiably documented in Ukraine on 25 June 1848 when two blue and yellow banners were hung on the

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

(then named Lemberg and situated in the

Austrian Empire The Austrian Empire, officially known as the Empire of Austria, was a Multinational state, multinational European Great Powers, great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the Habsburg monarchy, realms of the Habsburgs. Duri ...

) Townhall (Rathaus). It is unknown who hang the banners and the Austrian authorities dissociated themselves from this action, as did the

Supreme Ruthenian Council Supreme Ruthenian Council () was the first legal Ruthenian political organization that existed from May 1848 to June 1851. It was founded on 2 May 1848 in Lemberg (today Lviv), Austrian Empire as the result of the 1848 Spring of Nations and in ...

(Ukrainian political organization). The banners hung for almost a week. At the request of the Supreme Ruthenian Council, on 15 May 1849 a yellow-and-blue flag hang again on the Rathaus, this time for one day. The first ceremonial raising of the yellow-and-blue Ukrainian flag in modern times took place on 24 July 1990 at the flagstaff of the

Kyiv City Council Kyiv City Council (, ), also known as Kyivrada (), is the city council of Kyiv municipality, the highest representative body of the city community. The members of city council are directly elected by Kyivans and the council is chaired by the M ...

, one-and-a-half years before the flag was officially adopted as the

National flag A national flag is a flag that represents and national symbol, symbolizes a given nation. It is Fly (flag), flown by the government of that nation, but can also be flown by its citizens. A national flag is typically designed with specific meanin ...

of Ukraine. At the time Ukraine (as the

Ukrainian SSR The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic, abbreviated as the Ukrainian SSR, UkrSSR, and also known as Soviet Ukraine or just Ukraine, was one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union from 1922 until 1991. ...

) was part of the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

since 1922. 24 July was thus previously marked as National Flag Day in

Kyiv Kyiv, also Kiev, is the capital and most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city of Ukraine. Located in the north-central part of the country, it straddles both sides of the Dnieper, Dnieper River. As of 1 January 2022, its population was 2, ...

.Україна відзначає День Державного прапора ''On Tuesday, August 23, all of Ukraine celebrates National Flag Day. Measures to raise the national flag are planned throughout the country.''
, 1+1 (23 August 2011) On 23 August 1991, after the failure of the August

1991 Soviet coup attempt The 1991 Soviet coup attempt, also known as the August Coup, was a failed attempt by hardliners of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) to Coup d'état, forcibly seize control of the country from Mikhail Gorbachev, who was President ...

, a group of people's deputies brought a blue-yellow Ukrainian flag into the session hall of the

Verkhovna Rada The Verkhovna Rada ( ; VR), officially the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, is the unicameralism, unicameral parliament of Ukraine. It consists of 450 Deputy (legislator), deputies presided over by a speaker. The Verkhovna Rada meets in the Verkhovn ...

(then the parliament of the Ukrainian SSR of the Soviet Union, now the national parliament of Ukraine). The consecration of the flag was conducted by priest of the

Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church The Ukrainian Autocephalous Orthodox Church (UAOC; (UAPTs)) was one of the three major Eastern Orthodox churches in Ukraine in the late 20th and early 21st centuries, together with the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (UOC-KP) ...

. This flag, like a relic, is now solemnly kept under glass in the Verkhovna Rada museum. The next day, Ukraine declared independence. On 4 September 1991 the flag was raised above the Verkhovna Rada building. The current official

flag of Ukraine The national flag of Ukraine (, ) consists of equally sized horizontal bands of blue and yellow. The blue and yellow bicolor flag was first seen during the 1848 Spring of Nations in Lemberg (Lviv), the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lo ...

was approved by the Verkhovna Rada on 28 January 1992. The official "Day of the National Flag" was created 23 August 2004 through a decree of

President of Ukraine The president of Ukraine (, ) is the head of state of Ukraine. The president represents the nation in international relations, administers the foreign political activity of the state, conducts negotiations and concludes international treaties. ...

Leonid Kuchma Leonid Danylovych Kuchma (, ; born 9 August 1938) is a Ukrainian politician who was the second president of Ukraine, serving from 19 July 1994 to 23 January 2005. The only president of Ukraine to serve two terms, his presidency was marked by demo ...

, "On the Day of the State Banner of Ukraine" No. 987/2004. A corresponding picture was painted on the wall of the Verkhovna Rada. In 2009 President

Viktor Yushchenko Viktor Andriiovych Yushchenko (, ; born 23 February 1954) is a Ukrainian politician who was the third president of Ukraine from 23 January 2005 to 25 February 2010. He aimed to orient Ukraine towards Western world, the West, European Union, and N ...

amended President Kuchma's 2004 decree, founding the current annual flag-raising ceremonies throughout Ukraine on August 23.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline Culture of Ukraine Society of Ukraine 2004 establishments in Ukraine

Flag of Ukraine The national flag of Ukraine (, ) consists of equally sized horizontal bands of blue and yellow. The blue and yellow bicolor flag was first seen during the 1848 Spring of Nations in Lemberg (Lviv), the capital of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lo ...

Observances in Ukraine * Summer in Ukraine