The

state flag In vexillology, a state flag is either the flag of the government of a sovereign state, or the flag of an individual federated state (subnational administrative division). Government flag A state flag is a variant of a national flag (or occas ...

of the

Sakha Republic Sakha, officially the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), is a republics of Russia, republic of Russia, and the largest federal subject of Russia by area. It is located in the Russian Far East, along the Arctic Ocean, with a population of one million ...

(Yakutia) in

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

is one of the official symbols of the

, alongside the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the last two being outer garments), originating in Europe. The coat of arms on an escutcheon f ...

and the national anthem of the Sakha Republic. The flag has four horizontal stripes. From top to bottom, the stripes are light blue (3/4 of the flag's width), white (1/16), red (1/16), and green (1/8). The flag has been used officially as the flag of the Sakha Republic since 14 October 1992. The light blue stripe is charged with a white disc in the center. The diameter of the disc is 2/5 of the flag's width. In the Soviet era and prior to the 1991 declaration of the Sakha Republic within the Russian Federation was the

Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic The Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (; ), also known as Soviet Sakha, Soviet Yakutia or the Yakut ASSR (, ''Yakutskaya ASSR''), was an autonomous republic of the Russian SFSR within the Soviet Union. History The Yakut ASSR was formed ...

. Prior to 1937, the Yakut ASSR used a flag with a blue canton containing the depiction of the

Aurora An aurora ( aurorae or auroras), also commonly known as the northern lights (aurora borealis) or southern lights (aurora australis), is a natural light display in Earth's sky, predominantly observed in high-latitude regions (around the Arc ...

and the name of the ASSR. After 1937, the flag of the Yakut ASSR was based on the

flag of the Russian SFSR The penultimate USSR-era flag was adopted by the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (RSFSR) in 1954 and used until 1991. The flag of the Russian SFSR was a defacement of the flag of the USSR. The constitution stipulated: The symb ...

, modified with inscriptions.

Symbolism

The disc represents the northern sun. The light blue, white, and green colors stand for the sky,

snow Snow consists of individual ice crystals that grow while suspended in the atmosphere—usually within clouds—and then fall, accumulating on the ground where they undergo further changes. It consists of frozen crystalline water througho ...

, and

taiga Taiga or tayga ( ; , ), also known as boreal forest or snow forest, is a biome characterized by coniferous forests consisting mostly of pines, spruces, and larches. The taiga, or boreal forest, is the world's largest land biome. In North A ...

landscape respectively. The red symbolizes the courage and constancy of the people. According to the constitution of the Sakha Republic, the white disc represents the white sun of the arctic sky while the combination of light blue, white and red represent Sakha's place in the Russian Federation.

Legislation

The current law regulating the design and use of the flag was passed on 15 July 2004. The third chapter of Law No. 313-III "On the Official Symbols of the Sakha (Yakut) Republic" describes the symbolism, usage, placement, and the custom of flying the flag of the Sakha Republic alongside other flags.

History

Revolt flags

After the civil war, there were several revolts in the Yakut region. * The Tungus Revolt, which established the Tungus Republic, uses a white-green-black tricolor. The white color of the flag symbolized the Siberian snow, green symbolizes wood and taiga, and black symbolizes the ground. The flag is identical to the flag of the Ural Republic.

As the Yakut ASSR

The first flag of the Yakut ASSR was described in the 1926 Constitution of the Yakut ASSR, which was approved on the 4th All-Yakutsk Congress of Soviets on 13 February 1926, and was introduced by resolution of the 2nd session of the Yakut Central Executive Committee on the 4th convocation of 17 September 1926. The flag was a red flag, with a blue canton in the top left of the flag on which the northern lights was depicted with the inscription in golden letters "ЯАССР" in the Yakut language. The flag of the Yakut ASSR was described in the 1937 Constitution of the Yakut ASSR, which was adopted by the Central Executive Committee of the Yakut ASSR on 9 March 1937, at the 9th Extraordinary Congress of Soviets of the Yakut ASSR. The flag became that of the Russian SFSR save for an added inscription naming the Yakut ASSR. These inscriptions were modified after a new alphabet for the Yakut language was approved by a decree of the People's Commissar of Education of the Soviet Union. A new state flag of the Yakut ASSR was adopted on 12 June 1954, by the decree of the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Yakut ASSR "On the State Flag of the Yakut Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic", and the official design of the flag was approved by the Law of the Yakut ASSR of 23 June 1954. The new state flag was based on the state flag of the Russian SFSR, with the added inscription of the ASSR name. The position of the inscriptions changed after the adoption of the new constitution of the Yakut ASSR on 31 May 1978.

As the Sakha (Yakut) Republic

In line with the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the formation of new national entities, the Sakha Republic adopted a new constitution on 4 April 1992. There wasn't any statements regarding to the detail of the flag of the Sakha Republic on the constitution. The only statement was: The flag of the Republic of Sakha itself was approved on 14 October 1992, by the Decree No.1158-XII, and the decree itself was adopted by the Decree No.1159-XII. At 17.50 on the same day, the flag was first hoisted over the building of the Supreme Council of the Sakha Republic, next to the flag of the Russian Federation. The description of the flag was approved and the description of the flag was inserted into the Constitution of the Sakha Republic by the amendments of 22 July 2008.

Designers

* Lyudmila, Danilova Sleptsova (born 1942). Painter, Honored Artist of the Sakha Republic. Member of the Union of Artists of the Russian Federation. * Starostin, Mikhail Gavrilovich (born 1959). Graphic designer. Member of the Union of Artists of the Russian Federation. * Zakharova, Ayina Petrovna (born 1973). Painter, student of the Artist School of Yakutia.

References

Notes

Citations

Bibliography

Constitutions

* * * * * * *

Books

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Sakha, Flag of

Flag A flag is a piece of textile, fabric (most often rectangular) with distinctive colours and design. It is used as a symbol, a signalling device, or for decoration. The term ''flag'' is also used to refer to the graphic design employed, and fla ...

Flags introduced in 1992 Sakha Flags of the federal subjects of Russia Flags with circles Quadcolor flags Flags displaying a sun