The official state symbol of the Republic of Lithuania is the flag of Lithuania. It is made in the form of a rectangular banner, on which three identical horizontal tracks are drawn. The top is yellow, the middle is green, and the bottom is red. The width of the flag refers to its length as 3: 5.
Detailed description of the Lithuanian banner
In 1992, the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania was adopted by referendum . Her fifteenth article defines the colors in which the national flag is painted: red, yellow, green. The Law on National Banners defines their order and provides a detailed description. The flag of Lithuania 1988-2004 has a proportion of 1: 2. It is the same as that of the banner of the Lithuanian SSR. Since September 1, the coefficient has been changed to 3: 5. Yellow color represents light and the sun, green symbolizes grass, and red tells about the blood shed for Lithuania.
Use of the Lithuanian flag
The Law on National Flags regulates the use of the State Flag of Lithuania, flags of other countries and other flags. The most recent edition of this document was on September 1, 2004. According to the fifth article of this law, the flag of Lithuania is constantly raised on such buildings as:
- Residence of the President.
- Diet of the Republic of Lithuania.
- The main election commission.
- Constitutional Court and other courts.
- Attorney General
- Lithuanian bank.
- Government of Lithuania, ministries and administrations of county leaders.
- Gedemin’s Tower in Vilnius.
- Councils of local governments.
- In places of border control. These include international airports, railway stations, river and sea marinas, and so on.
The national flag of Lithuania is also hung on the structures of local authorities. He is raised here on the masts and flagpoles. They are decorated with public associations, organizations, departments and firms of any form of ownership. It is hung on residential buildings during national holidays. August 23 is Black Ribbon Day, and September 23 is Jewish Genocide Day. It is on these days that the banners are lowered and supplemented with black mourning ribbons.
A bit of Lithuanian history
The image of the national banner of Lithuania was formed back in 1917-1918. The process took into account the Lithuanian national decorative and applied arts and the traditions of heraldry. The draft of the Lithuanian banner was developed by the commission. It included a public figure and scientist Jonas Basanavicius. The members of the commission were also the artist Atanas mujdzinavičius and the local historian, artist, archaeologist Tadas Daugirdas.
J. Basanavičius decided to decorate the Lithuanian flag in the colors popular in Lithuanian folk textiles. The artist A. mujdzinavičius immediately prepared a project with stripes of green and red. After all, it was these paints that most often caught the eye in folk fabrics. And T. Dagirdas proposed introducing a yellow band symbolizing the dawn. So, the red-yellow-green tricolor of the Lithuanian Council approved on April 19, 1918 as a temporary Lithuanian flag.
And what flag did Lithuania have next? In the Constitution of 1928, the national flag is painted with yellow, green and red stripes. Then it is replaced by a red banner with a sickle and a hammer and the name of the republic. In 1953, the flag was modernized. It painted three horizontally arranged colored stripes of red, white and green with a five-pointed star, a gold sickle and a hammer.
Lithuania Banner Day
In the summer of 1988, a red-yellow-green tricolor became publicly used as a national flag. At the suggestion of Sayudis, on October 7, 1988, there was a ceremony of erecting a national banner on the Gedemin tower in Vilnius. The banner was legalized again. It acquired formal status as a banner of the Lithuanian SSR. Accordingly, the Constitution of Lithuania was amended by the Supreme Council. In 1989, the Presidium of the Supreme Council approved its colors.
At the Gedemin tower in Vilnius, the Lithuanian flag was first raised on January 1, 1919. A small volunteer group of Lithuanian military forces took part in this ceremony. In memory of this event, among other celebrations and memorable days, the Flag Day of Lithuania was established on January 1.
National flags are symbols of sovereign states as a whole, regardless of the number of nations living on their lands. Flags of Latvia and Lithuania, Estonia and other countries can be purchased by anyone who wishes at souvenir stalls, specialized stores (including the Internet).
Coat of arms of Lithuania
The emblem of Lithuania is also an official state emblem. It is established by the fifteenth article of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and is described in the National Monogram Act. Comes from the coat of arms of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. The Lithuanian emblem depicts a scarlet field with a silver rider on it. The horseman is sitting on a silver horse. Above his head he raised his right hand, in which he holds a sword of the same metal. In the left hand of the rider is a azure shield with a doubled golden cross. The bridle and saddle are made in azure color, and the hilt of the sword, the harness, stirrups and other little things are painted in gold.
History of the Lithuanian coat of arms
This is a wonderful country of Lithuania! Its flag and coat of arms deserve all praise! After all, they were created by skilled craftsmen. The letter with the seal depicting "The Chase" dates back to 1366. A horseman with a sword has been depicted against the backdrop of a heraldic shield from the end of the fourteenth century. Usually he was painted on the seals of Vytautas and Jagiello. The coat of arms “Pursuit” has become the emblem of the Principality of Lithuania since the beginning of the fifteenth century. The direction of attack of the rider and the color of the coat of arms have been established since the mid-fifteenth century.
Later, the coat of arms of the Principality of Lithuania became part of the monogram of the Commonwealth. After the third division of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth, some lands of the Principality of Lithuania were introduced into the Russian state. And in 1795, the coat of arms of Lithuania was included in the coat of arms of Russia.
Chase was also used in the arms of Vilna and the Vilnius province. Since 1988, the monogram of Lithuania has been widely used as a national symbol. In 1990, the Lithuanian Supreme Council approved the law "On the coat of arms and the name of the state." This law revived the pre-war coat of arms. The original reference colors and shapes were clarified by a resolution of the Restoration Diet on September 4, 1991.