The flag of the Lithuanian SSR was adopted by the Lithuanian SSR on July 30, 1940. The flag was red with a gold hammer and sickle in the top-left corner, and the Latin characters LIETUVOS TSR (Lithuanian SSR in the Lithuanian language) above them in gold sans-serif lettering.
On July 15, 1953, a new flag was adopted. It was modified to meet the new requirements for all flags of the Soviet socialist republics. The top red portion took ⅔ of the width and incorporated the mandatory hammer and sickle and red star. The bottom part could be customized by each republic. Lithuania added a narrow white and a larger green (¼ of the width) strips. The flag was abandoned in November 1988, even before Lithuania declared independence in March 1990. The Supreme Soviet of the Lithuanian SSR, inspired by pro-independence Sąjūdis, amended the constitution and adopted the tricolor flag of Lithuania that was used during the interwar years.
Famous quotes containing the words flag, soviet, socialist and/or republic:
“—Here, the flag snaps in the glare and silence
Of the unbroken ice. I stand here,
The dogs bark, my beard is black, and I stare
At the North Pole. . .
And now what? Why, go back.
Turn as I please, my step is to the south.”
—Randall Jarrell (1914–1965)
“If the Soviet Union can give up the Brezhnev Doctrine for the Sinatra Doctrine, the United States can give up the James Monroe Doctrine for the Marilyn Monroe Doctrine: Let’s all go to bed wearing the perfume we like best.”
—Carlos Fuentes (b. 1928)
“Democracy is the wholesome and pure air without which a socialist public organization cannot live a full-blooded life.”
—Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1931)
“Absolute virtue is impossible and the republic of forgiveness leads, with implacable logic, to the republic of the guillotine.”
—Albert Camus (1913–1960)