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Vilkyskiai (Taurage, Lithuania)

Last modified: 2010-02-27 by dov gutterman
Keywords: vilkyskiai | pagegiai | taurage |
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image by Virginijus Misiunas, 7 December 2009



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Overview

Vilkyskiai (Pagegiai municipality) - on a green field a golden lorry loaded with a chest and three books, above three silver 8-pointed stars. Flag proportions 10:11, fringe is golden, finial is a golden knob.
The charge refers to the Lithuanian books printed in Lithuania Minor and smuggled during night time to Great Lithuania. Since 1864 till 1904 the Lithuanian language and Lithuanian printouts were prohibited in the Russian Empire. So Lithuanians used to print books in Lithuania Minor (dependency of Germany), smuggle them over the border of empires and later distribute them through the network of underground organizations, called "knygnesiai" ("book carriers"). All this activity was strictly persecuted, but most the dangerous point on the way of books was crossing the border, where book carriers seriously risked their lives. Vilkyskiai, the border town of Lithuania Minor, was an important point of this "noble smuggling".
The 8-pointed stars also symbolize revival and knowledge.
Virginijus Misiunas, 7 December 2009