Ivan Mazepa's Hetman's Banner symbolized the highest
Cossack
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 ...
power in
Ukraine.
The banner was meant for the Ukrainian Hetman,
Ivan Samoylovych in the
Kremlin
The Kremlin ( rus, Московский Кремль, r=Moskovskiy Kreml', p=ˈmɐˈskofskʲɪj krʲemlʲ, t=Moscow Kremlin) is a fortified complex in the center of Moscow founded by the Rurik dynasty, Rurik dynasty. It is the best known of th ...
in
Moscow in the years 1686-1688. After removing him from power, the banner was granted to Hetman Ivan Mazepa. After the
Battle of Poltava in 1709, the banner was passed to Hetman
Ivan Skoropadsky.
The original area of the banner was {{convert, 6, sqm, sqft, 0, abbr=on. It was made of white and yellow silk damasks and painted and gilded on both sides.
The banner is stored at the
Historical Museum in
Kharkiv.
From September 2007 to September 2008, conservators from the
National Museum
A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...
in
Kraków,
Poland set themselves a prestigious task of saving this artifact. The banner was prepared for the exhibition "Ukraine-Sweden: at the Crossroads of History (17th to 18th Centuries)."
Ivan Mazepa's Hetman's Banner is one of the only three Cossack banners in the world (the second one is in Moscow, the third is in
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
).
Gallery
image:Mazepa01.JPG
image:Mazepa02.JPG
Cossack Hetmanate
Ivan Mazepa