National Flag
The national flag has been in use since June 7, 1995, one of two symbols adopted in the 1995 referendum. The main elements of the flag is a red and green bicolor, then decorated with an ornament pattern at the hoist position. The current flag is a modification of the 1951 flag used while the country was a republic of the Soviet Union. In the Soviet version, a hammer and sickle was placed near the top-hoist corner and the ornament colors were inverted. Several flags used by government officials and agencies were based on the national flag.
Despite being replaced, the former flag of Belarus is used by those who oppose current Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko. The former flag consisted of a white background with a red horizontal stripe in the middle. It was used by the Belarusian National Republic and immediately after independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Read more about this topic: National Symbols Of Belarus
Famous quotes containing the words national and/or flag:
“[D]rilling and arming, when carried on on a national scale, excite whole populations to frenzies which end in war.”
—Franklin D. Roosevelt (1882–1945)
“There’s an enduring American compulsion to be on the side of the angels. Expediency alone has never been an adequate American reason for doing anything. When actions are judged, they go before the bar of God, where Mom and the Flag closely flank His presence.”
—Jonathan Raban (b. 1942)