Upon the independence of

Belarus Belarus, officially the Republic of Belarus, is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by Russia to the east and northeast, Ukraine to the south, Poland to the west, and Lithuania and Latvia to the northwest. Belarus spans an a ...

from 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 ...

, the country resurrected national symbols that were used before the Soviet era. These included a flag of red and white stripes and a coat of arms consisting of a charging knight on horseback. These national symbols were replaced by Soviet-era symbols in a disputed 1995 vote. Those two symbols, along with the

national anthem A national anthem is a patriotic musical composition symbolizing and evoking eulogies of the history and traditions of a country or nation. The majority of national anthems are marches or hymns in style. American, Central Asian, and European ...

, are the constitutionally defined national symbols of Belarus.

Law

In the 1994

Constitution of Belarus The Constitution of the Republic of Belarus (; ) is the supreme basic law of Belarus. The Constitution is composed of a preamble and nine sections divided into 148 articles. Adopted in 1994, three years after the country declared its independen ...

, Article 19 lists the official symbols of the country. Article 19 reads: Each national symbol is further defined by its respective laws. Uses of the national symbols are covered in the relevant law of each symbol.

National flag

The national flag has been in use since June 7, 1995, one of two symbols adopted in the contested 1995 referendum. The main element of the flag is a red and green bicolour, then decorated with an ornament pattern at the hoist position. The current flag is a modification of the 1951 flag used while the country was a republic of the

. In the Soviet version, a hammer and sickle were placed near the top-hoist corner and the ornament colours were inverted. Several flags used by government officials and agencies were based on the national flag. Despite being replaced, the former flag of Belarus is used by those who oppose the current Belarusian President

Alexander Lukashenko Alexander Grigoryevich Lukashenko (also transliterated as Alyaksandr Ryhoravich Lukashenka; born 30 August 1954) is a Belarusian politician who has been the first and only president of Belarus since the office's establishment in 1994, making hi ...

. The former flag consisted of a white background with a red horizontal stripe in the middle. It was used by the

Belarusian Democratic Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; , ), also known as the Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in its Second Constituent Charter on 9 March 1918 during World War I. The ...

and immediately after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.

National emblem

The other national symbol that was adopted following a contested 1995 referendum was the national emblem. The elements of the emblem include a ribbon in the colours of the national flag, a map of Belarus, wheatears and a

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. ...

. At the base of the ribbon, it says the country's official name in the Belarusian language. The emblem is an allusion to the one used by the

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, Byelorussian SSR or Byelorussia; ; ), also known as Soviet Belarus or simply Belarus, was a republic of the Soviet Union (USSR). It existed between 1920 and 1922 as an independent state, and ...

, designed by

Ivan Dubasov Ivan Ivanovich Dubasov (; 30 November 1897 – 15 March 1988) was a Russian Soviet artist. He was the head artist of the Goznak from 1932 to 1971 and was made an Honored Artist of the RSFSR in 1959. He developed sketches and designs for multipl ...

in 1950. In the Soviet version, 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 ...

replaced the map of Belarus and the ribbon was all red. On the left and right ribbons, the Soviet motto ''

Workers of the world, unite! The political slogan "Workers of the world, unite!" is one of the rallying cries from ''The Communist Manifesto'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels (, literally , but soon popularised in English language, English as "Workers of the wo ...

'' appeared in the Belarusian and Russian languages. The national emblem that was used at the time of the BNR and post-Soviet independence was called the Pahonia (the chase). On the base of a red shield, an armoured white

knight A knight is a person granted an honorary title of a knighthood by a head of state (including the pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the church, or the country, especially in a military capacity. The concept of a knighthood ...

is mounted on a silver horse, with a sword drawn and charging to the left. On the shield of the knight, a golden

Patriarchal cross The patriarchal cross is a variant of the Christian cross, the religious symbol of Christianity, and is also known as the Cross of Lorraine. Similar to the Latin cross, the patriarchal cross possesses a smaller crossbar placed above the main o ...

is displayed. A variant of the Pahonia is used as the coat of arms of

Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...

National anthem

The only symbol that hasn't changed over during independence is the national anthem. Adopted during the Soviet era, "

My Belarusy The State Anthem of the Republic of Belarus, better known as "We Belarusians", is the national anthem of Belarus. It was originally written in the 1940s and adopted in 1955 for use in the Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic, Byelorussian Soviet ...

" was used provisionally until 2002. The only change that occurred was dropping the Soviet-era lyrics and choosing just to use the music, composed by Nieścier Sakałoŭski. On July 2, 2002, President Lukashenko issued a decree adopting new lyrics to the anthem, written by Uładzimier Karyzna. Klimkovič also wrote the lyrics to the Anthem of the Byelorussian SSR. Not only the lyrics were chosen, a protocol guide related to the national anthem was released by Lukashenko. The reason that was given for keeping Sakałoŭski's music was to keep the historic traditions of the country. While references to

Lenin Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov ( 187021 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin, was a Russian revolutionary, politician and political theorist. He was the first head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 until Death and state funeral of ...

, the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union The Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU),. Abbreviated in Russian as КПСС, ''KPSS''. at some points known as the Russian Communist Party (RCP), All-Union Communist Party and Bolshevik Party, and sometimes referred to as the Soviet ...

and the idea of Soviet brotherhood were dropped, the general idea of a "friendship of peoples" still remains present. According to the Belarusian Government, once the national anthem was adopted, the long process to adopt the three national symbols of Belarus was completed.

Historical symbols

White-red-white flag

Since the early 20th century, the Belarusian national liberation movement has been using a

white-red-white flag The white-red-white flag is a historical flag used by the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918 before Western Belarus was occupied by the Second Polish Republic and Eastern Belarus was occupied by the Bolsheviks (two years later becoming the ...

. This flag was a state symbol of the

Belarusian People's Republic The Belarusian People's Republic (BNR; , ), also known as the Belarusian Democratic Republic, was a state proclaimed by the Council of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in its Second Constituent Charter on 9 March 1918 during World War I. The ...

since 1918 and the

Republic of Belarus A republic, based on the Latin phrase ''res publica'' ('public affair' or 'people's affair'), is a state in which political power rests with the public (people), typically through their representatives—in contrast to a monarchy. Although a ...

in 1991–1995. The original person behind the design of the flag is believed to have been Klawdziy Duzh-Dushewski before 1917 and this design is known in Belarusian as the (, literally "white-red-white flag"). Red and white have traditionally been used in state heraldry of the

Grand Duchy of Lithuania The Grand Duchy of Lithuania was a sovereign state in northeastern Europe that existed from the 13th century, succeeding the Kingdom of Lithuania, to the late 18th century, when the territory was suppressed during the 1795 Partitions of Poland, ...

and the

Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth The Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, also referred to as Poland–Lithuania or the First Polish Republic (), was a federation, federative real union between the Crown of the Kingdom of Poland, Kingdom of Poland and the Grand Duchy of Lithuania ...

. The colours are also based on those of the Pahonia coat of arms that was a traditional coat of arms of Belarusian lands and had a white horseman on a red background. There are several other theories explaining the flag's origin. One theory speaks of an allusion to the name of the country,

White Ruthenia White Ruthenia (; ; ; ; ) is one of the historical divisions of Kievan Rus' according to the color scheme, which also includes Black and Red Ruthenia. In the Late Middle Ages and Early Modern period, the name White Ruthenia was characterized by i ...

. Despite its popularity, the public display of the white-red-white flag is being prosecuted by the regime of

Pahonia

Pahonia () is the historical Belarusian name for the coat of arms of the

, which was also used by the Belarusian People's Republic as its official coat of arms since 1918 and the coat of arms of the Republic of Belarus in 1991–1995. Since the early 20th century, the Pahonia is widely used as the symbol of the Belarusian national liberation movement. After 1995, it is one of the symbols of the democratic opposition to the authoritarian president Alexander Lukashenko. The symbol gained additional popularity during the

2020–2021 Belarusian protests The 2020–2021 Belarusian protests were a series of mass Demonstration (political), political demonstrations and protests against the Government of Belarus, Belarusian government and President Alexander Lukashenko. The largest anti-government ...

. Pahonia is included in the official list of objects of the immaterial cultural and historical heritage of Belarus, however, persons are being persecuted for its public display.

Unofficial symbols

Other than the national flag, anthem and emblem, Belarus has several unofficial symbols. The Cross of Saint Euphrosyne, a 12th-century relic which disappeared during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, is considered a spiritual symbol of Belarus. The European bison, commonly called the

wisent The European bison (: bison) (''Bison bonasus'') or the European wood bison, also known as the wisent ( or ), the zubr (), or sometimes colloquially as the European buffalo, is a European species of bison. It is one of two extant species of bi ...

, is seen as a symbol of Belarus and the Belavezha Forest. It is also featured on the symbols of Brest Oblast. Other widely known mascots of Belarus are stork and

cornflower ''Centaurea cyanus'', commonly known as cornflower or bachelor's button (among other names), is an annual flowering plant in the family Asteraceae native to Europe. In the past, it often grew as a weed in cornfields (in the broad sense of "co ...

. File:Zubr-minsk.jpg, a male wisent in a Minsk zoo File:Ciconia ciconia - 01.jpg, a white stork File:CentaureaCyanus-bloem-kl.jpg, cornflower File:Kryž Eŭfrasińni Połackaj - Крыж Эўфрасіньні Полацкай.jpg, Cross of St. Euphrosyne

References

External links

Official symbols of Belarus
{{Europe topic, National symbols of

Law