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Today Is Belarusian National Symbols’ Day

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Today Is Belarusian National Symbols’ Day

27 years ago, the Supreme Council approved the white-red-white flag and the coat of arms Pahonia as our country’s state symbols.

On September 19, 1991, the extraordinary session of the Supreme Council adopted a new name of the country – the Republic of Belarus, as well as approved the state symbols – the coat of arms Pahonia and the white-red-white flag.

However, in 4 years, at the referendum of 1995, initiated by Aliaksandr Lukashenka, the historical symbols of free Belarus were deprived of the state status and got under the ban, which still exists.

However, the coat of arms Pahonia and the white-red-white flag remain the only real national symbols of Belarus. Our white-red-white flag appeared not later than at the beginning of the XVI century, its upper strip is the color of Pahonia, the middle one is the original color of the flag itself, and the lower one is the color of the knight's shield on Pahonia (please note that apart from the white color there were other color options of the shield: red, blue). The most ancient image of the Belarusian flag can be seen in the picture dedicated to the victorious battle of our ancestors with the Muscovites near Vorsha (1514).

From the second half of the 13th century, the armed knight on horseback – Pahonia – became the state emblem of the Grand Duchy. It is believed that at first, it was the coat of arms of Polatsk, as well as Navahrudak. Since the beginning of the 15th century, the six-pointed cross with a shorter upper crossbar has already been found on the Shield. Such crosses were typical Christian symbols in Belarus in the ХІ-ХІV centuries. The very first information about the flags with the image of Pahonia dates back to the Battle of Grunwald (1410).

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