The State Flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (), commonly known as the Soviet flag (), was the official state flag of the
Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
(USSR) from 1922 to 1991. The flag's design and symbolism are derived from several sources, but emerged during the
Russian Revolution. The flag is also an international
symbol of the
communist movement
The history of communism encompasses a wide variety of ideologies and political movements sharing the core theoretical values of common ownership of wealth, economic enterprise, and property. Most modern forms of communism are grounded at least ...
as a whole.
The design is a solid field of
red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
adorned with a unique
gold
Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
emblem in the
upper hoist quarter. The
red flag was a traditional
revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
ary symbol long before 1917, and its incorporation into the flag paid tribute to the international aspect of workers' revolution. The iconic
hammer and sickle design was a modern industrial touch adopted from the Russian Revolution. The union of the hammer (
workers
The workforce or labour force is a concept referring to the pool of human beings either in employment or in unemployment. It is generally used to describe those working for a single company or industry, but can also apply to a geographic reg ...
) and the sickle (
peasants
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasants ...
) represents the victorious and enduring revolutionary alliance. The famous emblem is topped by a gold-bordered
red star representing the
Communist Party of the Soviet Union.
The first flag was adopted in December 1922. In 1923, 1924, 1936 and 1955, a statute on the flag was adopted which resulted in a change of the hammer's handle length and the shape of the sickle. In 1980, an amendment was made to the 1955 decree which removed the hammer and sickle on the reverse side of the flag, the legal description remained completely unchanged. The design of the 1955 Soviet flag has served as the basis for all the
Soviet republic flags.
Symbolism and design
The flag of the Soviet Union consisted of a plain
red flag with a gold
hammer crossed with a gold
sickle
A sickle, bagging hook, reaping-hook or grasshook is a single-handed agricultural tool designed with variously curved blades and typically used for harvesting, or reaping, grain crops or cutting Succulent plant, succulent forage chiefly for feed ...
placed beneath a gold-bordered
red star. This symbol is in the upper left
canton of the red flag.
The colour
red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
honours the
red flag of the
Paris Commune
The Paris Commune (french: Commune de Paris, ) was a revolutionary government that seized power in Paris, the capital of France, from 18 March to 28 May 1871.
During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870–71, the French National Guard had defended ...
of 1871 and the
red star and
hammer and sickle are
symbols of communism and
socialism
Socialism is a left-wing Economic ideology, economic philosophy and Political movement, movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to Private prop ...
.
The hammer symbolises urban
industrial
Industrial may refer to:
Industry
* Industrial archaeology, the study of the history of the industry
* Industrial engineering, engineering dealing with the optimization of complex industrial processes or systems
* Industrial city, a city dominate ...
workers while the sickle symbolises
agricultural workers (
peasant
A peasant is a pre-industrial agricultural laborer or a farmer with limited land-ownership, especially one living in the Middle Ages under feudalism and paying rent, tax, fees, or services to a landlord. In Europe, three classes of peasant ...
s)—who together, as the
Proletarian
The proletariat (; ) is the social class of wage-earners, those members of a society whose only possession of significant economic value is their labour power (their capacity to work). A member of such a class is a proletarian. Marxist philoso ...
class, form the state. The
red star represents the
Communist Party
A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. ...
, and its position over the hammer and sickle symbolises its leading role in
socialist society to unify and enlighten the workers and peasants in the building of
communism
Communism (from Latin la, communis, lit=common, universal, label=none) is a far-left sociopolitical, philosophical, and economic ideology and current within the socialist movement whose goal is the establishment of a communist society, a ...
.
![Flag of the Soviet Union (vertical)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d9/Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union_%28vertical%29.svg)
The flag's design was legislated in 1955, which gave a clear way to define and create the flag. This resulted in a change of the hammer's handle length and the shape of the sickle. The adopted statute stated that:
#The ratio of width to length of the flag is 1:2.
#The hammer and sickle are in a square with sides equal to of the flag's height. The sharp tip of the sickle lies in the center of the upper side of the square, and the handles of the hammer and sickle rest in the bottom corners of the square. The length of the hammer and its handle is of the square diagonal
#The five-pointed star is inscribed into a circle with a diameter of of the flag's height, the circle being tangent to the upper side of the square.
#The distance of the vertical axis of the star, hammer and sickle from the hoist is of the flag's height. The distance from the upper side of the flag to the center of the star is of the flag's height.
![Flag of the Soviet Union (reverse)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/eb/Flag_of_the_Soviet_Union_%28reverse%29.svg)
Officially since 1980, the reverse side of the flag was a plain red field without the hammer and sickle. In practice however, this was very commonly disregarded by flag makers as it was far easier and less costly to simply print the flag
through and through
Through and through describes a situation where an object, real or imaginary, passes completely through another object, also real or imaginary. The phrase has several common uses:
Forensics
Through and through is used in forensics to describe a ...
, with the obverse design mirrored on the reverse. It was also common to see the reverse of the flag bear the hammer and sickle in the obverse formation. An example of the flag demonstrating its ''de jure'' status as being only one-sided is that of the Soviet flag atop the
Moscow Kremlin which bore the single-side official design.
For vertical display, the flag was made with the distinct difference of having the hammer and sickle rotated 90 degrees in order to compensate for the change in dimensions. This was common in official practice, however the common flag owner would simply hang the standard design of the flag by the
hoist.
History
During the establishment of the
Russian Soviet Republic
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
,
Vladimir Lenin
Vladimir Ilyich Ulyanov. ( 1870 – 21 January 1924), better known as Vladimir Lenin,. was a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist. He served as the first and founding head of government of Soviet Russia from 1917 to 1 ...
and his comrades had considered the inclusion of a sword symbol in addition to the hammer and sickle as part of the
state seal on which the flag was eventually based. The idea was dismissed as too visually aggressive, with Lenin apparently affirming, "A sword is not one of our symbols."
The first official flag was adopted in December 1922 at the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR. It was agreed that the red banner "was transformed from the symbol of the Party to the symbol of a state, and around that flag gathered the peoples of the soviet republics to unite into one state — the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics". On 30 December 1922, the Congress adopted a Declaration and Agreement on the establishment of the USSR. Article 22 of the Agreement states: "The USSR has a flag, coat of arms and a state seal." The description of the first flag was given in the
1924 Soviet Constitution, accepted in the second session of the executive committee (CIK) of the USSR on 6 July 1923. The text of article 71 states: "The state flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics consists of a
red
Red is the color at the long wavelength end of the visible spectrum of light, next to orange and opposite violet. It has a dominant wavelength of approximately 625–740 nanometres. It is a primary color in the RGB color model and a secondar ...
or
scarlet field with states
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...
." It was ordered with the unusual ratio of 4:1 in proportion and consisted of a
red flag with the state coat of arms in the center. However, such a flag was never mass-produced. This flag was the official flag for four months, and was replaced as the official flag by the more familiar
hammer and sickle design during the third session of the CIK of the USSR on 12 November 1923.
In the third session of the CIK of the USSR, the description of Soviet flag in the Constitution was changed, and article 71 was edited to read: "The state flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics consists of a red or scarlet field, and in the canton a golden sickle and hammer, and a red five-pointed star bordered in gold above them. The ratio of width to length is 1:2." On 19 August 1955, the Statute on the State Flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was adopted by a decision of the
Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR
The Presidium of the Supreme Soviet (russian: Президиум Верховного Совета, Prezidium Verkhovnogo Soveta) was a body of state power in the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR).[post-Soviet republics
The post-Soviet states, also known as the former Soviet Union (FSU), the former Soviet Republics and in Russia as the near abroad (russian: links=no, ближнее зарубежье, blizhneye zarubezhye), are the 15 sovereign states that wer ...]
.
![Soviet Znamya Pobedy](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Soviet_Znamya_Pobedy.svg)
On 15 April 1996
Boris Yeltsin
Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin ( rus, Борис Николаевич Ельцин, p=bɐˈrʲis nʲɪkɐˈla(j)ɪvʲɪtɕ ˈjelʲtsɨn, a=Ru-Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.ogg; 1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician wh ...
signed a presidential decree giving the Soviet flag (called the
Victory Banner
The Soviet Banner of Victory (russian: Знамя Победы, translit=Znamya Pobedy) was the banner raised by the Red Army soldiers on the Reichstag building in Berlin on 1 May 1945, the day after Adolf Hitler committed suicide. It was rais ...
, after the banner that was raised above the
Reichstag on 1 May 1945) status similar to that of the national flag. The hammer and sickle were removed from the flag, leaving only the star, but they were reinstated later. On certain holidays, the Victory Banner is flown along with the Russian flag.
Contemporary usage
In current times, the Soviet national flag (and similar flags) are widely used by those on the
political far left, most often by those who support
Marxism–Leninism
Marxism–Leninism is a communist ideology which was the main communist movement throughout the 20th century. Developed by the Bolsheviks, it was the state ideology of the Soviet Union, its satellite states in the Eastern Bloc, and various c ...
. In the post-Soviet space, the flags often used are those of the
union republics
The Republics of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics or the Union Republics ( rus, Сою́зные Респу́блики, r=Soyúznye Respúbliki) were National delimitation in the Soviet Union, national-based administrative units of ...
(in particular those where the demonstrations are held).
The Soviet flag is also often used as a symbol of
nostalgia for the Soviet Union
The social phenomenon of nostalgia for the era of the Soviet Union (russian: links=no, Ностальгия по СССР, Nostal'giya po SSSR), can include its politics, its society, its culture, its superpower status, or simply its aest ...
and the sacrifices of the
Soviet people and soldiers that perished in the
Great Patriotic War
The Eastern Front of World War II was a theatre of conflict between the European Axis powers against the Soviet Union (USSR), Poland and other Allies, which encompassed Central Europe, Eastern Europe, Northeast Europe (Baltics), and Sou ...
.
On April 19, 2022, the
CPRF
, anthem =
, seats1_title = Seats in the State Duma
, seats1 =
, seats2_title = Seats in the Federation Council
, seats2 =
, seats3_title = Governors
, seats3 =
, seats4_title ...
proposed to the
State Duma the adoption of the Soviet flag as the official
flag of Russia
The national flag of Russia (russian: Флаг России, Flag Rossii), also known as the ''State Flag of the Russian Federation'' (russian: Государственный флаг Российской Федерации, Gosudarstvenny fla ...
.
Flag of the Soviet Union (1922–1923).svg, (30 December 1922 – 12 November 1923)
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924).svg, (12 November 1923 – 18 April 1924)
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924–1936).svg, (18 April 1924 – 5 December 1936)
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924–1955).svg, (5 December 1936 – 19 August 1955)
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg, (19 August 1955 – 26 December 1991)
Similarities with other flags
The
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
was the world's first
constitutionally socialist state
A socialist state, socialist republic, or socialist country, sometimes referred to as a workers' state or workers' republic, is a sovereign state constitutionally dedicated to the establishment of socialism. The term '' communist state'' is of ...
, making it the inspiration of future socialist states. This led to the inspirations for the
flags of the Republic of Angola, the
People's Republic of China
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...
, the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea, and the
Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making it ...
.
Flag of Angola.svg, Flag of Angola
Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg, Flag of China
Flag of North Korea.svg, Flag of North Korea
Flag_of_Vietnam.svg, Flag of North Vietnam
North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; vi, Việt Nam Dân chủ Cộng hòa), was a socialist state supported by the Soviet Union (USSR) and the People's Republic of China (PRC) in Southeast Asia that existed f ...
(1955–1976) and Vietnam
Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...
(1976–present)
Derivatives from the Soviet flag
The
flags of the Soviet republics
The flags of the Soviet Socialist Republics were all defaced versions of the flag of the Soviet Union, which featured a golden hammer and sickle and a gold-bordered red star (the only exception being the Georgian SSR, which used a red hammer and s ...
that constituted the USSR and the Victory Banner were all
defaced or modified versions of the Soviet flag.
Flag of Russian SFSR.svg, Russian SFSR
The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Russian SFSR or RSFSR ( rus, Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика, Rossíyskaya Sovétskaya Federatívnaya Soci ...
Flag of Armenian SSR.svg, Armenian SSR
Flag of Azerbaijan SSR.svg, Azerbaijan SSR
Flag of Byelorussian SSR.svg, Byelorussian SSR
Flag of Estonian SSR.svg, Estonian SSR
Flag of Georgian SSR.svg, Georgian SSR
The Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic (Georgian SSR; ka, საქართველოს საბჭოთა სოციალისტური რესპუბლიკა, tr; russian: Грузинская Советская Соц ...
Flag of Kazakh SSR.svg, Kazakh SSR
; kk, Қазақ Советтік Социалистік Республикасы)
*1991: Republic of Kazakhstan (russian: Республика Казахстан; kk, Қазақстан Республикасы)
, linking_name = the ...
Flag of Kyrgyz SSR.svg, Kyrgyz SSR
The Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic (Kirghiz SSR; ky, Кыргыз Советтик Социалисттик Республикасы, Kyrgyz Sovettik Sotsialisttik Respublikasy, ky, Кыргыз ССР, Kyrgyz SSR, russian: Киргизск ...
Flag of Latvian SSR.svg, Latvian SSR
Flag of Lithuanian SSR.svg, Lithuanian SSR
The Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic (Lithuanian SSR; lt, Lietuvos Tarybų Socialistinė Respublika; russian: Литовская Советская Социалистическая Республика, Litovskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialistiche ...
Flag of Moldavian SSR.svg, Moldavian SSR
The Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic ( ro, Republica Sovietică Socialistă Moldovenească, Moldovan Cyrillic: ) was one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union which existed from 1940 to 1991. The republic was formed on 2 August 194 ...
Flag of Tajik SSR.svg, Tajik SSR
The Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic,, ''Çumhuriji Şūraviji Sotsialistiji Toçikiston''; russian: Таджикская Советская Социалистическая Республика, ''Tadzhikskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Resp ...
Flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (1973–1991).svg, Turkmen SSR
Turkmen, Türkmen, Turkoman, or Turkman may refer to:
Peoples Historical ethnonym
* Turkoman (ethnonym), ethnonym used for the Oghuz Turks during the Middle Ages
Ethnic groups
* Turkmen in Anatolia and the Levant (Seljuk and Ottoman-Turkish des ...
Flag of Ukrainian SSR.svg, Ukrainian SSR
The Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic ( uk, Украї́нська Радя́нська Соціалісти́чна Респу́бліка, ; russian: Украи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респ ...
Flag of the Uzbek SSR.svg, Uzbek SSR
Uzbekistan (, ) is the common English name for the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic (Uzbek SSR; uz, Ўзбекистон Совет Социалистик Республикаси, Oʻzbekiston Sovet Sotsialistik Respublikasi, in Russian: Уз ...
Flag of the Karelo-Finnish SSR.svg, Karelo-Finnish SSR
Gallery
File:Construction sheet of the flag of the Soviet Union.png, Official construction sheet for the State Flag of the USSR
(1955–1991)
File:Raising a flag over the Reichstag 2.jpg, The iconic photograph Raising a Flag over the Reichstag
File:Russian Power (6079327205).jpg, The Soviet flag along with an assortment of Russian and Soviet military flags
File:Soviet Flag Flying on Cupola - Museum of the Great Patriotic War - Minsk - Belarus (27426504532).jpg, The State Flag of the USSR flown atop the Belarusian Great Patriotic War Museum
The Belarusian Great Patriotic War Museum ( be, Беларускі дзяржаўны музей гісторыі Вялікай Айчыннай вайны, translit=Belaruski dzi͡arz͡haŭny muzeĭ historyi Vi͡alikaĭ Aĭchynnaĭ vaĭny, russia ...
File:Milovice may 1984 2.jpg, The State Flag of the USSR (pictured in the foreground) leading the parade with flags of all 15 Soviet republics following from behind during a Victory Day parade in 1984
File:Checkpoint Charlie - Flagge.jpg, One of the last Soviet flags flown on the Kremlin, displayed at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum
The Checkpoint Charlie Museum (german: Das Mauermuseum – Museum Haus am Checkpoint Charlie) is a private museum in Berlin. It is named after the famous crossing point on the Berlin Wall, and was created to document the so-called "best bor ...
in Berlin
See also
*
Communist symbolism
*
Flag of Russia
The national flag of Russia (russian: Флаг России, Flag Rossii), also known as the ''State Flag of the Russian Federation'' (russian: Государственный флаг Российской Федерации, Gosudarstvenny fla ...
*
Flags of the Soviet Republics
The flags of the Soviet Socialist Republics were all defaced versions of the flag of the Soviet Union, which featured a golden hammer and sickle and a gold-bordered red star (the only exception being the Georgian SSR, which used a red hammer and s ...
*
Flags whose reverse differs from the obverse
This article contains a list of flags for which the reverse (back ) is different from the obverse (front ).
It includes current as well as historic flags of both nations and national subdivisions such as provinces, states, territories, cities and ...
*
Hammer and sickle
*
Red flag
*
Red star
*
State Emblem of the Soviet Union
Notes
References
External links
*
*
{{Asia topic, Flag of, title=
Flags of Asia
This is a gallery of international and national flags used in Asia.
Supranational and international flags
An incomplete list of flags representing intra-Asian international and supranational organisations, which omits intercontinental organisati ...
Flags of the Soviet Union
National symbols of the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...
1923 establishments in the Soviet Union
Soviet Union
The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, ...