Ukraine celebrates National Flag Day

The holiday was established "in honor of the centuries-old history of Ukrainian statehood, the state symbols of independent Ukraine and to foster citizens' respect for the state symbols of Ukraine" in accordance with the Presidential Decree of August 23, 2004, Ukrinform reports.

In 2009, the decree was amended to establish the annual official flag raising ceremony on August 23 throughout Ukraine.

Among the Kyiv Rus flags, the red color prevailed as the most convenient one for signaling during battles. However, the national (state) flag in its modern sense appeared during the existence of the Cossack state. The combination of blue and yellow colors on the national flag can be observed from the middle of the 19th century.

The approval of the blue and yellow flag as the national one took place with the proclamation of the Ukrainian People's Republic. Then, the Soviet Union imposed the red flag with hammer and sickle, and people were jailed for blue and yellow flag colors.

In recent times, the national blue and yellow flag was first officially hoisted at the town hall of Stryi, Lviv region, on March 14, 1990. In Kyiv, the flag was raised over the city hall later, on July 24, 1990.

On August 23, 1991, a group of MPs brought the blue and yellow Ukrainian flag into the Verkhovna Rada session hall. Already on September 4, it was solemnly raised over the parliament building.

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