Ukraine Celebrates National Flag Day

Today, an official flag-raising ceremony was held in Kyiv to commemorate Ukraine's National Flag Day. President Volodymyr Zelensky attended the event, reports the state's presidential press service.

On the 546th day of the Russian-Ukrainian war, the country's largest national flag was hoisted at the Memorial Complex "National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War" in Kyiv.

During the ceremony, Ukraine's national anthem was played, and the Honour Guard marched in a ceremonial procession.

The blue-and-yellow flag, raised today in Kyiv, bears the signatures of Ukrainian defenders fighting for the country's freedom and independence against Russian occupiers.

"This flag has been on the frontlines with our soldiers from Chernihiv to Odesa, across Ukraine's entire line of defence. In various military brigades and units. In hospitals treating the wounded. In the hands of volunteers. This flag will always honour the memory of many Ukrainians, but it will continue to be enriched by the new signatures of our warriors," said President Volodymyr Zelensky.

A minute of silence was observed to honour all heroes who have given their lives for Ukraine.

A Brief History of the Ukrainian Flag

The modern blue-and-yellow flag was first publicly displayed on June 25, 1848, in Lviv, where it was hoisted over the Lviv City Hall. Since then, it has gained increasing popularity among Ukrainians.

Following the 1905 revolution, the flag began to be used in Dnieper Ukraine as well. 

On March 22, 1918, the Central Council declared the blue-and-yellow flag the national flag of the Ukrainian People's Republic.

After the defeat of the liberation movement and Ukraine's incorporation into the Soviet Union, the use of the blue-and-yellow flag was equated to a criminal offence.

In recent history, on March 14, 1990, Stryi became the first city in Ukraine to raise the national flag over its city council building. This marked the first instance of the Ukrainian national flag being publicly hoisted over a still-officially Soviet institution.

Subsequently, on April 3, the flag was raised in Lviv over the City Hall, and a few days later, on April 8, over Ivano-Frankivsk.

On July 24, following the adoption of the Declaration of State Sovereignty of Ukraine on July 16, the blue-and-yellow flag was hoisted near the Kyiv City Council building.

After the Act of Declaration of Independence of Ukraine was adopted on August 24, the flag was brought into the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada (the Ukrainian Parliament).

Following heated debates, on September 4, it was decided that the flag should be hoisted over the building of the Ukrainian Parliament.

Finally, on January 28, 1992, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution on the National Flag, officially granting independent Ukraine one of its key state symbols.