Red flag

The appearance of the symbol

Soviet historiography gave examples of the use of the red flag in times of uprisings and revolutions since ancient times. Thus, the Great Soviet Encyclopedia indicated that the Red Banner Uprising took place in Gorgan ( Persia ) in 778-779, during which the red flag was used as an emblem of the uprising, and that the insurgents used the red flag during the Peasant War in Germany in 1524— 1526 years ^[1] .

During the Great French Revolution

During the Great French Revolution on October 21, 1789, the “Law on Martial Law” was adopted. The new law described the obligatory actions of the municipality of Paris in emergency situations fraught with uprisings (in other words, in case of street riots threatening the revolutionary government) According to this law ^[5] :

Article 1. In the event of a threat to public peace, members of the municipality, by virtue of the duties entrusted to them by the commune, must declare that military strength is immediately necessary to restore calm.

Article 2. This notice is done in such a way that a red banner is hung from the main window of the town hall and on the streets.

Article 3. When the red flag is hung, all crowds of people, armed or unarmed, are recognized as criminal and dispersed by military force.

- Cited by D. and. n Feldman D. Red Whites: Soviet political terms in the historical and cultural context // Questions of literature : Journal. - 2006. - № 4 . Archived March 5, 2016.

Thus, the red flag was just a signal of danger, a threat to the new revolutionary order. A signal calling for the protection of calm on the streets. That is, its meaning was not extremely radical, but was pro-government. But soon the radical Jacobins began to dominate the urban self-government of Paris. Thanks to their efforts, the hanging of the red flag acquired a new meaning: by posting such flags, the city government gathered its supporters to carry out violent actions against all those who were against radical changes ^[5] .

On July 17, 1791, Lafayette , the commander of the National Guard , raised a red flag in Paris to indicate martial law and a call for the rebels to disperse ^[6] . A clash ensued, in which about fifty protesters against the king were killed. After that, the Jacobins raised a red flag to honor the "blood of the martyrs" ^[7] . The Jacobins made the red flag their symbol. Under the red flag in August 1792, the sans-culot detachments organized by the city government went to storm the Tuileries . The red flag has become the banner of the radicals ^[5] .

Later in France the red banner ceased to be so popular. The national flag of the Republic became the French tricolor . In the Napoleonic era, it was almost out of use. After the restoration of the monarchy, it - as a symbol of the revolution - completely lost its relevance ^[5] .

Use in Europe

During the Lyon uprising of 1834, the red flag became a symbol of the workers' revolutionary struggle. In 1848, red was the color of the rebels in France and in Germany . Since 1871, after the Paris Commune , red has become the symbol of the international revolutionary movement of the proletariat .

Political use of the red flag in other parts of the world

Red battle banners were used during the Taiping uprising in China in 1850-1864. During the so-called First Red Panic in the United States, a number of states ( Minnesota , South Dakota , Oklahoma , California ) passed laws banning red flags ^[8] . But the US Supreme Court in 1931 recognized such a ban as unconstitutional ^[9] .

The semantic exception is red in the political culture of Paraguay - it is a symbol of the right-wing conservative Colorado . Colorado's ultra - right paramilitary forces were called Guión Rojo (“Red Banner”).

Anarcho-Syndicalism

In 1871–1872 the red-black banner appeared in Italy . In the early 1870s. the red-black banner appeared in the Mexican anarchists . By the mid-1930s, the red-black banner became the symbol of anarchists in all countries (see also the article Symbols of Anarchists ).

Use in the Russian Empire

In Russia, the red flag was first used during the Kandievsky peasant uprising in 1861. During the first political demonstration in Russia on December 6, 1876, a worker, Y. Potapov, raised a red flag near the Kazan Cathedral in St. Petersburg . Subsequently, rallies, demonstrations, and anti-government actions were held under the red banner. In 1898, the red flag became the flag of the RSDLP .

In the RSFSR and the USSR

After the October Revolution in Soviet Russia until the middle of 1918, the role of the state and naval flag was performed by a simple red cloth. The first flag of the RSFSR was approved in July 1918. In the edging edged with a yellow border, the letters “RSFSR” were cruciform on a red background, and under them was the inscription decoding the abbreviation: “Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic”. In the same 1918, the flag was changed: the abbreviation of the RSFSR was located in one line and inscribed in the original font. In this form, the flag of the RSFSR lasted until 1937.

With the formation of the USSR, the Constitution of 1924 approved the state flag of the USSR , which was a red cloth with the image in its upper left corner, at the hoist, golden sickle and hammer and above them a red five-pointed star . In accordance with the provisions of the State Flag was "a symbol of the state sovereignty of the USSR and the inviolable union of workers and peasants in the struggle to build a communist society " ^[10] . This symbolism remained official until the collapse of the USSR in 1991.

In other countries

• The red flag with Muslim symbols was the flag of the Ottoman Empire . Currently - the national flag of Turkey .
• A red flag with communist symbolism is also used as a state flag in some socialist countries : China , Vietnam and the DPRK . In the past, the people's republics of Kampuchea and Congo had a red flag.
• A red flag with a white circle and a swastika symbolized the ideas of German national socialism , in the late 1920s it became the party symbol of the Nazi Party , and in 1933-1945. was the national flag of the Third Reich (1933-1945).

Gallery

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  Flag of Denmark

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  Flag of china

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  Flag of morocco

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  Flag of Kyrgyzstan

Red flags with various patterns — for example, skulls and rats — were used by pirates along with black and green flags ^{[4] [11]} . Red flags were thrown out immediately before the battle ^[11] . This was a copy of the behavior of military fleets. Order No. 1 of the Lord of the Admiralty in 1596 was established

In the UK, commercial ships use the red flag with the British Kryzh . On its basis, flags of several overseas territories were created. In particular, it was inherited as the main color by the modern flag of Canada.

• Red Flag - a village in Moskalensky district of the Omsk region.
• Red Flag - until 1998 the name of the village Orazak Tselinograd district of Akmola region.

• Red flag (symbol of revolution. Struggle) // Konda - Kun. - M .: Soviet Encyclopedia, 1973. - (The Great Soviet Encyclopedia : [in 30 t.] / Ch. Ed. AM Prokhorov ; 1969-1978, v. 13).
• Red and black banner