The flag of the Lithuanian SSR was first adopted by the

Lithuanian SSR The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was '' de facto'' one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944–1990. After 1946, its terr ...

in 1918, which was a plain red flag. After the

was established again in 1940, the flag was a red flag with the national name and a

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: ) is a communist symbol representing proletarian solidarity between industrial and agricultural workers. It was first adopted during the Russian Revolution at the end of World War I, the hammer representing wo ...

in the upper canton. The flag in use from 1953 to 1988 was a red flag with the golden hammer and sickle and a gold-bordered red star in its upper canton with a white thin stripe and green thick band on the bottom.

History

During the

Lithuanian–Soviet War The Lithuanian–Soviet War or Lithuanian–Bolshevik War () was fought between newly independent Lithuania and the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic in the aftermath of World War I. It was part of the larger Soviet westward offensiv ...

, the first Lithuanian SSR used a plain

red flag Red flag may refer to: Signs and warnings * Red flag (idiom), a literal or metaphorical warning * Red flag (American slavery), signal of an upcoming slave sale * Red flag warning, issued by the National Weather Service in the United States * ...

. This was later adopted by Lithuanian–Byelorussian SSR (Litbel). When Lithuanian SSR was established again as a republic of the USSR, it adopted a new national flag on 30 July 1940. The flag was red with the

Latin Latin ( or ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic languages, Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally spoken by the Latins (Italic tribe), Latins in Latium (now known as Lazio), the lower Tiber area aroun ...

characters ''LIETUVOS TSR'' (Lithuanian SSR in the

Lithuanian language Lithuanian (, ) is an East Baltic languages, East Baltic language belonging to the Baltic languages, Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family. It is the language of Lithuanians and the official language of Lithuania as well as one of t ...

) in gold

sans-serif In typography and lettering, a sans-serif, sans serif (), gothic, or simply sans letterform is one that does not have extending features called "serifs" at the end of strokes. Sans-serif typefaces tend to have less stroke width variation than ...

typeface in the upper canton, and a gold

below the text. On 15 July 1953, a new flag was adopted. It was modified to meet the new requirements for all flags of the

Soviet socialist republics In the Soviet Union, a Union Republic () or unofficially a Republic of the USSR was a constituent federated political entity with a system of government called a Soviet republic, which was officially defined in the 1977 constitution as " ...

. The top red portion took of the width and incorporated the mandatory

and

red star A red star, five-pointed and filled, is a symbol that has often historically been associated with communist ideology, particularly in combination with the hammer and sickle, but is also used as a purely socialist symbol in the 21st century. ...

. The bottom part could be customized by each republic. Lithuania added a narrow white ( of the width) and a larger green ( of the width) strips. The green and white stripes thus represented the country's wide fields and forests, which serve the country's agricultural and forestry industries. On 18 November 1988, the tricolour of Lithuania was adopted as the flag of the SSR, even before Lithuania declared independence in March 1990. The

Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR (; , ''Verkhovnyy Sovet Litovskoy SSR'') was the supreme soviet (main legislative institution) of the Lithuanian SSR, one of the republics constituting the Soviet Union. The Supreme Soviet was established ...

, inspired by pro-independence

Sąjūdis The Sąjūdis (, ), initially known as the Reform Movement of Lithuania (), is a political organisation which led the struggle for Lithuanian independence in the late 1980s and early 1990s. It was established on 3 June 1988 as the first oppositi ...

, amended the constitution and adopted the tricolour

flag of Lithuania The national flag of Lithuania () consists of a horizontal tricolour of yellow, green, and red. It was adopted on 25 April 1918 during Lithuania's first period of independence (1918–1940), which ceased with the occupation first by the Soviet ...

that was used during the interwar years.

Legal status

Since Lithuania banned Soviet symbols in 2008, raising or otherwise using the Lithuanian SSR flag in public is illegal.

References

Soviet Socialist Republic In the Soviet Union, a Union Republic () or unofficially a Republic of the USSR was a constituent federated political entity with a system of government called a Soviet republic, which was officially defined in the 1977 constitution as " ...

Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; ; ), also known as Soviet Lithuania or simply Lithuania, was ''de facto'' one of the Republics of the Soviet Union, constituent republics of the Soviet Union between 1940–1941 and 1944 ...

Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic Quadcolor flags {{USSR-stub

History

Legal status

See also

References