The flag of the Soviet Union was the official national flag of the Soviet
state from 1923 to 1991. The flag's design and symbolism are derived from
the Russian Revolution. The flag is also an international symbol 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 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 design was a modern touch – the union of
the hammer and the sickle represents the victorious and enduring revolutionary
alliance. The famous emblem is topped by an inconspicuous red star representing
the rule of the Communist Party. The first flag with the red star, hammer
and sickle was adopted on 13 November 1923. In 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. A final modification to the flag was adopted in 1980 in which
the colour was brightened to a lighter shade of red. The flag continued to be
the official national flag until the dissolution of the Soviet Union.
Symbolism and design The colour red has always been a
positive symbol in the Russian culture. The word red is etymologically related
with the Russian word for beautiful. This can also be seen in Moscow’s Red
Square and the Russian Orthodox festivity, Red Easter.
The red field symbolises the blood that has been spilled by workers and farmers
in their struggle for emancipation. It honours the red flag of the Paris
Commune of 1871. The ideology of communism can be seen from the flag. The
red star and hammer and sickle are themselves symbols of communism and
socialism. The flag of the Soviet Union consisted of a plain red flag with a
gold hammer crossed with a gold sickle which are placed beneath of a
gold-bordered red star. This symbol is then placed in the upper left canton of
the red flag. The hammer symbolises urban industrial
workers while the sickle symbolises agricultural workers—who together, as
the Proletarian class, form the state. The red star represents the Communist
Party, and its position over hammer and sickle symbolises its leading role in
socialist society to unify and enlighten the workers and peasants in the building
of communism. The back side of the flag is officially just red, without the
symbols. However, in practice, the flag was usually made through and through and
thus the symbols usually appeared on the reverse side and in the reverse order.
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.
Hammer and sickle are in a square with sides equal to ¼ of the flag height.
Sharp tip of the sickle lies in the center of the upper side of the square,
handles of hammer and sickle rest in bottom corners of the square. Length of
the hammer and its handle is ¾ of the square diagonal.
Five-pointed star is inscribed into a circle with a diameter of ⅛ of the flag
height, the circle is tangent to the upper side of the square.
Distance of the vertical axis of star, hammer and sickle from the flagstaff is
⅓ of the flag height. Distance from the upper side of the flag to the center of
the star is ⅛ of the flag height. The final design of the flag was adopted
in 1980. The design was kept the same except that the background colour was
changed. The color was brightened from a near-burgundy crimson to a light to
medium red. That flag remained the national flag of the Soviet Union up
until late 1991, when a tri-color was formally adopted by the Russian SFSR.
The reverse side of the flag is the same as the obverse side of the flag but
without the star and hammer and sickle. History
During the establishment of the Russian SFSR, Vladimir Lenin and his colleagues
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. Lenin apparently said "A
sword is not our symbol." 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 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 field with states coat of arms'. 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 be: '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 "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. A final modification to the flag
was adopted on 15 August 1980, which changed the flag field into a bright
red. These modifications stayed into use until the disintegration of the USSR on
25 December 1991, at which time the flag ceased to be a national flag.
Similarities with other flags The Soviet Union was the world's first
constitutionally 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,
and the Socialist Republic of Vietnam. The flags of the Soviet republics that
constituted the USSR were all defaced or modified versions of the Soviet flag.
On 15 April 1996 Boris Yeltsin signed a presidential decree giving the Soviet
flag status similar to that of the national flag. The difference is that
the hammer and sickle has been removed from the flag. On certain holidays, the
Victory Banner is flown along with the Russian flag.
See also Communist symbolism
Flag of Russia Flags of the Soviet Republics
Flags whose reverse differs from the obverse
Hammer and sickle List of USSR navy flags
Red flag Red star
References External links
Flags of the World Soviet Union page