Novorossiya (also known as New Russia) was an unrecognised

confederation A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a union of sovereign groups or states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

of the

Donetsk Donetsk ( , ; uk, Донецьк, translit=Donets'k ; russian: Донецк ), formerly known as Aleksandrovka, Yuzivka (or Hughesovka), Stalin and Stalino (see also: Names of European cities in different languages (C–D), cities' alternat ...

and Luhansk People's Republics, claiming the territory of the

and Luhansk oblasts in the

Donbas The Donbas or Donbass (, ; uk, Донба́с ; russian: Донба́сс ) is a historical, cultural, and economic region in eastern Ukraine. Parts of the Donbas are controlled by Russian separatist groups as a result of the Russo-Ukrai ...

region of

eastern Ukraine Eastern Ukraine or east Ukraine ( uk, Східна Україна, Skhidna Ukrayina; russian: Восточная Украина, Vostochnaya Ukraina) is primarily the territory of Ukraine east of the Dnipro (or Dnieper) river, particularly Khark ...

. On 20 May 2015 the leadership of the Federal State of Novorossiya announced the 'freezing' of the confederation 'project'.Russian-backed 'Novorossiya' breakaway movement collapses

Ukraine Today Ukraine Today was a Ukraine-based private English language satellite television channel, then webcasting service. The channel, which was owned by the Ukrainian 1+1 group and headquartered in Kyiv, presented round-the-clock news bulletins aimed a ...

(20 May 2015)
The "New Russia" is closed
Gazeta.ru (20 May 2015) The battle flag is based on the naval jack of the Imperial Russian Navy. Oleksandr Chalenko, who worked as a political journalist in Kiev, described the flag and explained its symbolism in an item published by '' Izvestia'' on 20 March 2014: "It's a red flag with a blue Saint Andrew's cross. The flag of the Russian Navy. Of the Navy, which played a prominent military role in the emergence and establishment of historical Novorossiya." A white-yellow-black tricolor was presented on 13 August 2014 by

Oleg Tsarev Oleg Anatolyevich Tsaryov (russian: Олег Анатольевич Царёв; uk, Олег Анатолійович Царьов, Oleh Anatioliyovych Tsarov; born 2 June 1970) is a Ukrainian businessman, politician and former separatist offici ...

as a potential state flag for the confederation of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics. This resembled an upside-down Romanov flag, which was the national flag of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

from 1858 to 1883.

War Flag

Similarities with the Confederate battle flag

Some have noted that the flag's design resembles the

Confederate States of America The Confederate States of America (CSA), commonly referred to as the Confederate States or the Confederacy was an unrecognized breakaway republic in the Southern United States that existed from February 8, 1861, to May 9, 1865. The Confeder ...

's navy jack and battle flag, known also as the "Dixie flag". Ukrainian political analyst Mikhail Pavliv is credited with having created the flag; Pavliv explains that he had simply stumbled upon the flag online somewhere, and that the leader of the

New Russia Party The New Russia Party ( rus, Партия Новороссия, Partiya Novorossiya), or Novorossiya Party, is a political party operating in Ukraine, and in particular regions of Ukraine annexed by Russia The organization was founded by pro-R ...

Pavel Gubarev Pavel Yuryevich Gubarev (russian: Па́вел Ю́рьевич Гу́барев, ; or Pavlo Yuriyovych Hubariev uk, Павло Юрійович Губарєв; born 10 February 1983) is a Russian activist who proclaimed himself the "People's ...

, later picked it up. However, Gubarev has stated that the inspiration for the flag came from banners used by

Cossacks The Cossacks , es, cosaco , et, Kasakad, cazacii , fi, Kasakat, cazacii , french: cosaques , hu, kozákok, cazacii , it, cosacchi , orv, коза́ки, pl, Kozacy , pt, cossacos , ro, cazaci , russian: казаки́ or ...

in the 18th century. According to Alexey Eremenko of ''

The Moscow Times ''The Moscow Times'' is an independent English-language and Russian-language online newspaper. It was in print in Russia from 1992 until 2017 and was distributed free of charge at places frequented by English-speaking tourists and expatriates s ...

'', no Cossacks ever used a flag resembling the one chosen. However, vexillologically, the flag is a combination of the flag of the Semirechye Cossacks and the St. Andrew's Flag.

References

External links

Novorossiya Republic
at

Flags of the World This gallery of sovereign state flags shows the national or state flags of sovereign states that appear on the list of sovereign states. For other flags, please see flags of active autonomist and secessionist movements, flags of extinct states a ...

{{Flag of Europe Novorossiya (confederation) Novorossiya Novorossiya

War Flag

Similarities with the Confederate battle flag

See also

References

External links