Last modified: 2008-07-26 by dov gutterman
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From the Official
Internet Portal of the President of the Republic of Belarus
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Other Sites:
Byelorussia was before 1917 a cultural and territorial
expression with no governmental character although it was (with
Great Russia and Little Russia--aka Ukraine) one of "all the
Russias". As such it would not have an official flag. It was
part of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania seized in the partitions of
Poland. As such many of the old Lithuanian symbols were popularly
used, especially the Pogon (Knight on horseback with a shield of
blue with a yellow cross) which has after 1918 been used both by
Lithuanian and Belarussian nationalists and the Trident which has
been used in various forms by the Lithuanians and Ukrainians
Norman Martin , 30 September 1999
Belarus had it's soviet emblem, later (after independence) the
horseman arms (Pahonia) for four years and
then the current arms.
Anto'nio Martins, 9 November 2002
It is a rather socialist type of arms: a globe rising infront
of rising many rayed sun, on the ray there is green outline of
the Belarus map. All surrounded with garland of wheat and some
flowers with red-over-green (half-half) ribbon. On the ribbon
there is golden inscription in Cyrillic letters RESPUBLIKA
BELARUS', on top red yellow bordered five-pointed star. That is
virtually the same as former arms of Belorussian SSR with two
differences - instead of hammer and sickle here is the map, and
instead the red ribbon (with BSSR and motto) there is bicolour
one with new name. I believe that in between of the two, the old
(traditional) Belarus arms was used, in the same time when w-r-w
flag was in use. That arms are red with white horseman holding
shield with double cross (similar to Lithuanian arms). I don't
have image of it, but it is quite commonly used in the middle of
w-r-w flags on demonstrations these days in Belarus.
Željko Heimer , 2 August 1997
I found this web-site which shows the Belarus CoA as the more
historic type arms rather than the new Soviet-style arms which
has a outline map of the country in the middle replacing the
h&s. The latest arms posted to this list by Željko was the
post-Soviet-style arms. This web site is: <www.bng.nl>..
I have corresponded with the author of this site and he says that
the historic arms are back. Thus, the President flag should
change.
Steve Stringfellow , 11 December 1997
From <www.savva-la-belle.com>:
The National Emblem consists of a green raised-contour outline of
Belarus above a globe of the Earth, bathed in golden sunbeams
radiating from the sun "rising" from behind the globe.
Above the contour is a red five-pointed star. The emblem is
framed in a wreath of golden wheat-ears, interlaced with clover
flowers on the left and flax flowers on the right. The lower half
of the wreath is spiral-wrapped with a red and green ribbon
carrying a golden inscription "Respublika
Belarus" (Republic of Belarus).
The present National Emblem of the Republic of Belarus symbolizes
historical adherence of the Belarussian people to constructive
labor, their faith in the triumph of justice and attainment of a
worthy place in the world community.
From <www.undp.org>:
Based on the decision of the May referendum (1995), the President
of Belarus issued decrees On Approval of a Pattern of National
Emblem of the Republic of Belarus..... The National Emblem
represents a special green-colored contour of Belarus in golden
rays radiated by sun over the globe. On top of the contour is a
five-pointed red star. The emblem is set in a frame of wreath of
golden wheat-ears interlaced with clover flowers on the right and
flax flowers on the left. Wheat -ears are interlaced with a
red-green ribbon carrying a golden inscription "The Republic
of Belarus" at the bottom.
Joe McMillan, 15 Febuary 2001
Concerning l'Album 2000 [pay00]
- Coat of Arms - The CoA is shown in full colours. The star is
not outlined in yellow and maybe we could conclude that error
without much importance.
Željko Heimer, 11 March 2000
New Version , posted by Rick Wyatt
From <jurix.jura.uni-sb.de>:
"The national symbol of Belarus - "Pahonia"
("Chase") - has many centuries of history. At first
territorial, it has later become a national and state emblem. The
creation and establishment of "Pahonia" in belarusian
lands as well as its transformation into a national emblem was
not a single act, but rather a chain of historical events. Our
ancient symbol of Pahonia has been formed in the very early ages
of eastern slavic history. It had appeared in written documents
beginning from the late XIII c. The image of a charging horseman
starts to shape into a symbol around this time. And yet it is
certain that the idea of it has an even older history. According
to some sources this symbol was first used by Grand Lithuanian
Duke Trajdzien' (ruled from 1270 to 1284). Some other documents
ascribe it to Grand Duke Vicen' (ruled from 1294 to 1316). The
Grand Duche of Lithuania is a middle age belarusian state.
Beginning from XIV-XV cc. a seal with an image of
"Pahonia" is frequently used as a state symbol. Pahonia
takes the central place on a seal of grand duke Vitaut (1407)
(see picture right). Vitaut holds it in his left hand (see
illustration) together with other symbols. Among the others are
the "Cross" - symbol of Valyn' - a duchy south from GDL
which was disputed at the time between GDL and Poland;
"Kapeis^en'" - symbol of Troki (Trakai) vaiavodstva
which he inherited from his father, Keistut, as a family domain;
and the "Bear" - a symbol of Zhmudz' (Samogitia - today
commonly referred to as "Lithuania") which was at the
time disputed between GDL and The Order. After annexation of GDL
(belarusian lands) in 1772-95 by Russian Empire the symbol of
"Pahonia" continued to function for some time,
appearing together with russian imperial double-headed eagle on
the state seals and symbols. In the second half of XIX c. the
usage of "Pahonia" was transformed from state symbol to
regional symbol. The ancient symbols of several belarusian towns
were substituted by "Pahonia". Thus the importance of
the symbol as national was diminished.On May 14, 1995 a national
referendum was held by the president of Belarus A. Lukashenka
with severe violations of the Constitution, which resulted in
re-establishment of the new state symbols of Belarus, inspired by
the symbols of former Belarusian Soviet Socialist Republic.
During the preparation of the referendum an entire means of state
mass media were carrying out propaganda campaign that was
designed to associate "Pahonia" symbol and
white-red-white flag exclusively with the nazi activity in
Belarus during 1941-1944. As a result of such propaganda, in a
spirit of Stalin times, 75% of votes had answered "Yes"
on a question:" Do you accept the new state symbols?"
No images of new symbols appeared on the voting bulletin.
Significant number of voters considered their "yes"
vote as a support for "Pahonia" and white-red-white
flag, which were adopted only 4 years before. Moreover the 75% of
votes "yes" totaled to 49% of the entire number of
belarusian voters. According to belarusian constitution a
majority of 50% is required for state symbol change. Despite of
all of these inconsistencies on the next day after referendum ,
without parliament's ratification and prior to the release of the
official results of refferendum, "Pahonia" symbol was
taken off the state buildings of Belarus."
Note: those are only extracts from the information that
included in the site. For wider view, please, check the site. All
ideas that is included in the site are only of the author and can
not be regarded as FOTW view. Our site is non-political and
concentrates only on vexillological issues. The display of the
site is merely an acknowledgement of its existance.
Dov Gutterman , 2 July 1999
From <www.savva-la-belle.com>:
The traditional national emblem of Belarus - "Pahonia"
("Chase") - has many centuries of history. It appeared
in written documents beginning from the late 13th century.
According to some sources this symbol was first used by Grand
Lithuanian Duke Trajdzien' (ruled from 1270 to 1284). Some other
documents ascribe it to Grand Duke Vicen' (ruled from 1294 to
1316). (The Grand Duchy of Litva and Rus was a Belarusian state
of the Middle Ages.)
The Pahonia is shown in the central position on the seal of the
Grand Duke Vitaut dating from 1407, and appeared on the covers of
the "Statutes of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania"
published in Old Belarusian in 1529, 1566 and 1588. After the
annexation of the GDL in 1772-95 by the Russian Empire, the
symbol of "Pahonia" continued to appear together with
the Russian imperial double-headed eagle on the state seals and
symbols.
During the German occupation of Belarus in World War II, the
Pahonia continued to be used by the collaborationist government.
It was replaced when Belarus was liberated by Soviet forces, and
became the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic.
The Pahonia was again adopted as the official national symbol of
Belarus when it declared its independence from the former Soviet
Union in 1991.
Jarig Bakker , 9 July 1999