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 (USSR) from 1922 to 1991. The flag's design and symbolism are derived from several sources, but emerged during the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and ad ...

. The flag is also an international

symbol A symbol is a mark, sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, object, or relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by creating linkages between otherwise very different conc ...

of the communist movement as a whole. The design is a solid field of red adorned with a unique gold emblem in the upper hoist quarter. The

red flag Red flag may refer to: * Red flag (idiom), a metaphor for something signalling a problem ** Red flag warning, a term used by meteorologists ** Red flag (battle ensign), maritime flag signaling an intention to give battle with no quarter (fight to ...

was a traditional revolutionary symbol long before 1917, and its incorporation into the flag paid tribute to the international aspect of workers' revolution. The iconic

hammer and sickle The hammer and sickle (Unicode: "☭") zh, s=锤子和镰刀, p=Chuízi hé liándāo or zh, s=镰刀锤子, p=Liándāo chuízi, labels=no is a symbol meant to represent proletarian solidarity, a union between agricultural and industri ...

design was a modern industrial touch adopted from the Russian Revolution. The union of the hammer ( workers) and the sickle ( peasants) represents the victorious and enduring revolutionary alliance. The famous emblem is topped by a gold-bordered

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. I ...

representing the

Communist Party of the Soviet Union "Hymn of the Bolshevik Party" , headquarters = 4 Staraya Square, Moscow , general_secretary = Vladimir Lenin (first) Mikhail Gorbachev (last) , founded = , banned = , founder = Vladimir Lenin , newspaper ...

. 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

with a gold

hammer A hammer is a tool, most often a hand tool, consisting of a weighted "head" fixed to a long handle that is swung to deliver an impact to a small area of an object. This can be, for example, to drive nails into wood, to shape metal (as w ...

crossed with a gold sickle placed beneath a gold-bordered

. This symbol is in the upper left

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

of the red flag. The colour red honours the

of the Paris Commune of 1871 and the

and

are

symbols of communism Communist symbolism represents a variety of themes, including revolution, the proletariat, peasantry, agriculture, or international solidarity. Communist states, parties and movements use these symbols to advance and create solidarity within t ...

and socialism. 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 Agriculture or farming is the practice of cultivating Plant, plants and livestock. Agriculture was the key development in the rise of Sedentism, sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of Domestication, domesticated species created food ...

workers ( peasants)—who together, as the Proletarian class, form the state. The

represents the Communist Party, and its position over the hammer and sickle symbolises its leading role in

socialist society The Socialist Society was founded in 1981 by a group of British socialists, including Raymond Williams and Ralph Miliband, who founded it as an organisation devoted to socialist education and research, linking the left of the British Labour Party ...

to unify and enlighten the workers and peasants in the building of communism. Flag of the Soviet Union (vertical)

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 the USSR schema Sbornik zakonov 1938-1956

Flag the USSR schema Sbornik zakonov 1938-1956

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, 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 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. It is the best known of the kremlins (R ...

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, Vladimir Lenin 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 The 1924 Constitution of the Soviet Union was the constitution of the Soviet Union adopted on 31 January 1924. According to Archie Brown the constitution was never an accurate guide to political reality in the USSR. For example, the fact that th ...

, 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 or

scarlet Scarlet may refer to: * Scarlet (cloth), a type of woollen cloth common in medieval England * Scarlet (color), a bright tone of red that is slightly toward orange, named after the cloth * Scarlet (dye), the dye used to give the cloth its color * ...

field with states coat of arms." It was ordered with the unusual ratio of 4:1 in proportion and consisted of a

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

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. This resulted in a change of the hammer's handle length and the shape of the sickle. On 15 August 1980, a new edition of the Statute on the State Flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was adopted, which did not make any changes to the flag's description aside from removing the hammer and sickle on the reverse side of the flag. From this point on, the flag stayed in use with this design until the disintegration of the USSR on 26 December 1991, at which time it ceased to be a national flag and replaced by national flags of the

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 ...

On 15 April 1996 Boris Yeltsin 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 raise ...

, 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. In the post-Soviet space, the flags often used are those of the union republics (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 aesth ...

and the sacrifices of the

Soviet people Soviet people ( rus, сове́тский наро́д, r=sovyétsky naród), or citizens of the USSR ( rus, гра́ждане СССР, grázhdanye SSSR), was an umbrella demonym for the population of the Soviet Union. Nationality policy in t ...

and soldiers that perished in the Great Patriotic War. 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 State Duma (russian: Госуда́рственная ду́ма, r=Gosudárstvennaja dúma), commonly abbreviated in Russian as Gosduma ( rus, Госду́ма), is the lower house of the Federal Assembly of Russia, while the upper house ...

the adoption of the Soviet flag as the official flag of Russia. 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 was the world's first

constitutionally A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed. When these princip ...

socialist state, 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, the

Democratic People's Republic of Korea North Korea, officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), is a country in East Asia. It constitutes the northern half of the Korean Peninsula and shares borders with China and Russia to the north, at the Yalu (Amnok) and ...

, and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. 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 (1955–1976) and Vietnam (1976–present)

Derivatives from the Soviet flag

The flags of the Soviet republics 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 Flag of Armenian SSR.svg,

Armenian SSR The Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic,; russian: Армянская Советская Социалистическая Республика, translit=Armyanskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Respublika) also commonly referred to as Soviet A ...

Flag of Azerbaijan SSR.svg,

Azerbaijan SSR Azerbaijan ( az, Азәрбајҹан, Azərbaycan, italics=no), officially the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic (Azerbaijan SSR; az, Азәрбајҹан Совет Сосиалист Республикасы, Azərbaycan Sovet Sosialist R ...

Flag of Byelorussian SSR.svg,

Byelorussian SSR The Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (BSSR, or Byelorussian SSR; be, Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка, Bielaruskaja Savieckaja Sacyjalistyčnaja Respublika; russian: Белор� ...

Flag of Estonian SSR.svg,

Estonian SSR The Estonian SSR,, russian: Эстонская ССР officially the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,, russian: Эстонская Советская Социалистическая Республика was an ethnically based adminis ...

Flag of Georgian SSR.svg, Georgian SSR Flag of Kazakh SSR.svg, Kazakh SSR Flag of Kyrgyz SSR.svg, Kyrgyz SSR Flag of Latvian SSR.svg,

Latvian SSR The Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic (Latvian SSR), also known as Soviet Latvia or simply Latvia, was a federated republic within the Soviet Union, and formally one of its 16 (later 15) constituent republics. The Latvian Soviet Socialist Rep ...

Flag of Lithuanian SSR.svg, Lithuanian SSR Flag of Moldavian SSR.svg, Moldavian SSR Flag of Tajik SSR.svg, Tajik SSR Flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic (1973–1991).svg, Turkmen SSR Flag of Ukrainian SSR.svg, Ukrainian SSR Flag of the Uzbek SSR.svg, Uzbek SSR Flag of the Karelo-Finnish SSR.svg,

Karelo-Finnish SSR The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic (Karelo-Finnish SSR; fi, ; rus, Каре́ло-Фи́нская Сове́тская Социалисти́ческая Респу́блика, r=Karelo-Finskaya Sovetskaya Sotsialisticheskaya Resp ...

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 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 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 ...

, 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 bord ...

in Berlin

Notes

References

External links

* * {{Asia topic, Flag of, title= Flags of Asia Flags of the Soviet Union National symbols of the Soviet Union Soviet Union 1923 establishments in the Soviet Union Soviet Union