Flag Day of Ukraine: history of the holiday and interesting facts about the state symbol

Every year on August 23, the day before the Independence Day, Ukraine celebrates the National Flag Day. This date was chosen to commemorate the events of 1991, when a group of people's deputies brought a blue and yellow flag to the Verkhovna Rada building.

But the holiday, as such, is relatively new and was founded by the decree of the second President of Ukraine Leonid Kuchma "On the Day of the State Flag of Ukraine" of August 23, 2004, in order to raise citizens' respect for the state symbols of Ukraine.

Legends of origin

It is unknown how the symbol with a combination of blue and yellow appeared on Ukrainian lands. Some legends say that these colors appeared due to the people of Trypillia during the great migration of peoples.

The first historical mention dates back to 1256 - the day of the founding of Lviv. It was on the coat of arms of the city of Leo that these symbolic colors of the country were combined - a yellow lion on a blue background.

The combination of these colors was common in the days of the Cossacks, especially during the XVIII century. Cossacks often had blue flags decorated with gold ornaments, images of Orthodox saints or Cossacks.

Official recognition

The first official recognition of the blue-yellow as the flag of the Ukrainian people took place on March 22, 1918. Then the Central Rada passed the Law, approving the combination of yellow and blue as the flag of the Ukrainian People's Republic.

By the way, there are still discussions about which flag is correct: the modern version with blue at the top and yellow at the bottom, or vice versa - with yellow at the top. Some historians argue that the latter option was used during the Ukrainian People's Republic. In fact, in the days of the Ukrainian People's Republic, both versions of the flag were used.

Interesting facts about the Ukrainian flag:

1. The Ukrainian flag changed several colors before coming to the usual blue-yellow color - it was red, crimson and red-blue. In 1918, the Central Rada, headed by Hrushevsky, approved the current range of colors.

2. Chinese artist Mao Mao in 1992 asked the first President of Ukraine Leonid Kravchuk to change the location of colors on the flag. Such a combination, in her opinion, Mao, symbolized trouble for the state.

3. In 2016, Ukrainian climbers set our flag on top of the world's highest volcano - Ojos del Salado in the Andes. Its height is 6872 meters.

4. Among the flags of the Slavic countries, only the Ukrainian and Bosnian ones are not red.

5. The largest flag of Ukraine was 40 × 60 meters. He was even entered in the Book of Records of Ukraine. And the largest painted national flag appeared in Kyiv in June 2014. Thousands of residents of the capital on Obolonskaya embankment painted part of the concrete slope.