Red Star - Symbol of Communism - Wider Use

Wider Use

Following its adoption as an emblem of the Soviet Union, the red star became a symbol for communism in a larger sense. The symbol became one of the most prominent of the Soviet Union, adorning all official buildings, awards and insignia. Sometimes the hammer and sickle was depicted inside or below the star. In 1930, the Order of the Red Star was established and given to Red Army and Soviet Navy personnel for "exceptional service in the cause of the defense of the Soviet Union in both war and peace".

• Coat of arms of the USSR (1923)

• Coat of arms of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic

• Coat of arms of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic

• Coat of arms of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic

The red star was adopted by several Communist states and often placed on their respective flags and coats of arms, for example on the flag of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. Separatist and socialist movements also sometimes adopted the red star, such as the Estelada flag in the Catalan countries.

In former Yugoslavia the red star was not considered a communist symbol, as were the hammer and sickle; but as a symbol of resistance against fascist and Nazi occupation and their ethnic policies instead. The red star was worn by Tito's partisans as an identification symbol, regardless of their worldview including people with a religious background. As the red star spread to communism in the East, it was adapted: while some states kept the star as it was, some used a yellow star, particularly on a red field, with the same symbolism. The Far Eastern Republic used a yellow star on its military uniforms, and the flag of the People's Republic of China has five yellow stars on a red field. The flag of Vietnam also has a yellow star on a red field. In Brazil, however, the red star remained as it was.

• Emblem of North Korea

• Coat of arms of the Federal State of Croatia

• Coat of arms of Transnistria (1991)

• National Emblem of Belarus

The Russian military newspaper is also called the Red Star (Russian: Krasnaya Zvezda). Several sporting clubs from countries ruled by Communist Parties used the red star as a symbol, and Crvena zvezda (Serbian Cyrillic: Црвена звезда), Belgrade, and Roter Stern, Leipzig, named themselves after it. Since the fall of the Warsaw Pact, the red star has been banned in some countries.

In 1970, the Rote Armee Fraktion or Red Army Faction (RAF) was officially founded. The RAF, which described itself as a communist "urban guerilla" group, was a postwar West Germany left-wing terrorist organisation. Its highly recognisable symbol was a red star and a Heckler & Koch MP5. The RAF operated from the 1970s to 1998, committing numerous crimes, especially in the autumn of 1977, which led to a national crisis that became known as the "German Autumn". It was responsible for 34 murders—including secondary targets such as chauffeurs and bodyguards—and many injuries in its almost 30 years of existence.

• Flag of the Italian Partisan 63rd Brigade

• Catalan senyera

• Galician estreleira

• Castilian pendón comunero

• Estrelada aragonesa

The Brazilian leftist Worker's Party uses it as it's symbol with the party acronym (Portuguese: Partido dos Trabalhadores - PT) inside. The red star was included in the flag of the Ejército Zapatista de Liberación Nacional (EZLN) or Zapatista Army of National Liberation upon their formation in 1994. The EZLN, an armed revolutionary group based in Chiapas, Mexico, takes its name from the Mexican revolutionary Emiliano Zapata and is most often represented by Subcomandante Marcos, though he is not their leader. The same flag, a black flag with a red star, was used by US rock band Rage Against the Machine – who were vocal supporters of the EZLN and other left causes – so much so that the symbol came to be associated with the band, separate from the EZLN. The red star is used by the Workers' Party (Brazil). It is also used by the militant South African shack dweller's movement Abahlali baseMjondolo.

Hugo Chávez and his supporters in Venezuela have used the Red Star in numerous symbols and logos, and have proposed including it in the logo of the United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV). It was also used throughout 2007 as a symbol of the "5 Engines of the Bolivarian Socialist Revolution".

North Korea's Red Star OS takes its name and logo from the communist red star.

• New Russian Red Star 2010

• Symbol of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Belarus

• The coat of arms of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan

• Symbol of the Brazilian Worker's Party

By March 2010, the Russian government readopted the Soviet red star (but now with a blue outline representing the three colors of the Russian flag) as a military insignia. This star is used as Russian Air Force roundel and can also be applied on vehicles. The old Soviet Red Star is still in widespread use.

Armed Forces of Belarus still use the old Soviet red star. The coat of arms of Armed Forces of the Republic of Kazakhstan is also a modified version of the Soviet red star.