Flag of Armenia

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Armenia
UseNational flag
Proportion1:2
AdoptedAugust 24, 1990
DesignA horizontal tricolor of red, blue, and orange.

The national flag of Armenia, the Armenian Tricolor, consists of three horizontal bands of equal width, red on the top, blue in the middle, and orange on the bottom. The Armenian Supreme Council adopted the current flag on August 24, 1990. On June 15, 2006, the Law on the National Flag of Armenia was passed by the Armenian Parliament.

Throughout history, there were many variations of the Armenian flag. In ancient times, Armenian Dynasties were represented by different symbolic animals displayed on their flags.[1] In the 20th century, there were several Soviet flags representing Armenian nation.

Symbolism

There are many interpretations of the meanings of the colors. However, many agree that the red stands for the blood shed by Armenian soldiers from all wars, the blue stands for the sky of Armenia, and the orange represents the fertile lands of Armenia and the workers who work on them.[2]

The official meaning of the colors stated in the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia, as:

The Red emblematizes the Armenian Highland, the Armenian people's continued struggle for survival, maintenance of the Christian faith, Armenia's independence and freedom. The Blue emblematizes the will of the people of Armenia to live beneath peaceful skies. The Orange emblematizes the creative talent and hard-working nature of the people of Armenia.[3]

Design

Since the Armenian government does not specify the shade of red, blue, and orange to be used on the flag, two different versions are in common use. The most common version of the flag consists of brighter shades of the tricolor, whereas the colors of the less common version appear more faded. The following table gives the approximate RGB values of the colors used in those two versions:[4]

More common version Less common version
Red 255-0-0 216-28-63
Blue 0-0-170 85-117-196
Orange 255-153-0 239-107-0

History

Further information: List of Armenian flags
Artaxiad Dynasty 189 BC - 1 AD

There is no resemblance between the earliest Armenian flag of antiquity and today's tricolor. The ancient flags displayed a dragon, an eagle, or some mysterious object of the gods (sometimes a lion). The flags were fastened to the end of a pole and led the armies into battle. With the advent of Christianity, the Armenian empire adopted many different flags representing various dynasties. The Artaxiad Dynasty's flag, for instance, had two eagles displayed on the red cloth looking at each other, with a flower in between.

19th century

Alishan's 1885 design. Flag Ratio: 1:2

After Armenia was split between the Persian and Ottoman Empires, the idea of an Armenian flag ceased to exist for some time. Nevertheless, the issue was revived in 1885 when the Armenian Students Association of Paris wanted to join the funeral of Victor Hugo with a national flag. They appealed to an Armenian Catholic priest, Father Ghevont Alishan. Alishan's first flag design was very similar to today's modern Armenian flag: a horizontal tricolor. However, it looks more like an upside-down variation of the flag of Bulgaria today. The top band was red to symbolize the first Sunday of Easter (called "Red" Sunday), then green to represent the "Green" Sunday of Easter, and finally an arbitrary color, white, was chosen to complete the combination.[1] While in France, Alishan also designed a second flag, identified today as the "Nationalist Armenian Flag." It too was a tricolor, but unlike the previous design, this one was a vertical tricolor similar to the French flag. Its colors were red, green, and blue, from left to right, representing the band of colors that Noah saw after landing on Mount Ararat.

Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic

Flag of Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic (1918). Flag Ratio: 1:2

In 1828, Persian Armenia was annexed by the Russian Empire after the last Russo-Persian War. It subsequently became known as Russian Armenia and when the Russian Empire collapsed, Russian Armenia declared its independence and joined the short-lived Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic with Georgia and Azerbaijan. This unified state hardly lasted a year and was soon dissolved. Since the Republic was short-lived, they did not use any flags or symbols representing them. There are some historians who consider a horizontal gold, black, and red tricolor to be the flag of Transcaucasia, similar to that of the German flag (black, red and gold), except arranged in a different order.[5] The federation was dissolved on May 26, 1918 when Georgia declared its independence as the Democratic Republic of Georgia. Both Armenia and Azerbaijan declared their independence on May 28, 1918 as the Democratic Republic of Armenia (DRA) and the Azerbaijan Democratic Republic (ADR), respectively.

Democratic Republic of Armenia

Flag of Democratic Republic of Armenia (DRA) 1918 - 1922. Flag Ratio: 2:3

Upon independence in 1918, Democratic Republic of Armenia adopted the modern Armenian tricolor. After Stepan Malkhasyan's appearance in the Armenian National Council,[6] the independent Armenian government selected the colors of the last period of the Rubenid Dynasty: red, blue, and yellow, in which yellow was immediately replaced by orange, because it merged with the rest of the colors and presented a more pleasing composition. The flag of the DRA had a ratio of 2:3, but on August 24, 1990, when the Armenian Supreme Council adopted the flag of the Republic of Armenia, the ratio of the flag was changed to 1:2.[7]

Early Soviet Armenia and the Transcaucasian SFSR

Flag of Transcaucasian SFSR 1922 - 1936.
Main article: Flag of the Transcaucasian SFSR

On November 29 1920 Bolsheviks established the Armenian SSR. The new flag was introduced and fixed in the constitution, accepted on February 2 1922 by the First Congress of Soviets of the Armenian SSR.[8] That flag existed only for a month, because on March 12 the Armenian SSR united with the Georgian SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR under the Transcaucasian SFSR (TSFSR). On December 30 1922 the Transcaucasian SFSR became one of the four Soviet republics, that united to form the USSR. The flag of the republic had a hammer and sickle inserted into a star with initials "Z-S-F-S-R" written in Russian sans-serif script. These letters stand for "Zakavkazskaya Sovetskaya Federativnaya Socialisticheskaya Respublika" or "Transcaucasian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic".[8] In 1936, the TSFSR was dissolved into three regions: the Georgian SSR, the Armenian SSR and the Azerbaijan SSR.

Armenian SSR

Flag of Soviet Armenia 1952 - 1991. Flag Ratio: 1:2
Main article: Flag of the Armenian SSR

As a constituent republic of the USSR, the Armenian SSR introduced its first flag in 1936. Very much alike the flag of the Soviet Union, it was red and featured a yellow hammer and sickle in the corner. Underneath that, there were "H-Kh-S-H" initials written in Armenian serif script. These initials, in Western Armenian, stand for "Haygagan Khorhurtayin Sodzialistakan Hanrabedutyun" or the "Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic." In the 1940s, the flag was altered to use the Eastern Armenian language spoken in the Republic. The initials were changed to "H-S-S-R" meaning "Hayastani Sovetakan Sotsialistikakan Respublika" in the Eastern Armenian pronunciation. In 1952, a new flag was introduced. The initials were removed completely and in their place a horizontal blue stripe was added. This flag remained unaltered until 1991 when Armenia gained its independence from the Soviet Union and immediately brought back the pre-Soviet tricolor. The tricolor was also used in Armenian national movements in 1990, after Armenia first declared its independence.

Usage

The flag waving at the Armenian Embassy in Washington, D.C.

The law on the national flag of Armenia advises to hoist the national flag daily from the following locations:

  • Public buildings
  • Seat of the presidency of Armenia
  • National assembly of Armenia
  • The constitutional court of Armenia
  • Offices of the bodies representing Armenia

The law allows private citizens to fly the flag on their houses, provided the flag is hoisted higher than 2.5 m (98.42") above ground level.[9] It forbids the use of dirty, faded or tarnished flags.

National flag days

The daily display of the Armenian flag is encouraged, but legally required only on the following days:[10][11]

Flag's influence

Flag of Nagorno-Karabakh. Flag Ratio: 1:2

On June 2, 1992, the Nagorno-Karabakh de facto independent republic adopted its flag based on the Armenian Tricolor: red, blue, and orange. A white five-toothed stepped carpet pattern is added on the flag, which begins from the two verges of the cloth’s right side and is connected on one-third of the flag.[12] The white pattern symbolizes Artsakh's current separation from Armenia proper and its hopes for union with the motherland.[13] The ratio of the flag’s breadth to its length is 1:2, same as the Armenian Tricolor.[12]

In addition with the flag of Nagorno-Karabakh, the Armenian flag colors influenced the design of the Pan-Armenian Games flag. In the center of the light blue flag, there are six interlocking rings, derived from the Olympic rings. The sixth ring is colored orange and it interlocks with blue and red rings, which symbolize Armenia. Above the rings, there is a flame in the colors of the Armenian flag.[14]

The national flag is also mentioned in the song Mer Hayrenik, the national anthem of Armenia. Specifically, the second and third stanzas are singing about the creation of the national flag:

Here brother, for you a flag,
That I made with my hands
Nights I didn't sleep,
With tears I washed it.
(repeat previous two lines)
Look at it, three colors
It's our gifted symbol.
Let it shine against the enemy.
Let Armenia always be glorious.
(repeat previous two lines)[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ a b "The Evolution of the Armenian Flag". Armenianheritage.com. Retrieved 2007-01-05.
  2. ^ "Armenia". Vexilla Mundi. Retrieved 2007-01-06.
  3. ^ "The flag of the Republic of Armenia". Government of Republic of Armenia. Retrieved 2007-01-06.
  4. ^ The Jasc Paint Shop Pro program was used to collect the RGB values for the listed flags.
  5. ^ "Закавказская Федерация (Transcaucasian Democratic Federative Republic)" (in Russian). Russian Centre of Vexillology and Heraldry. 2003-05-30. Retrieved 2006-12-27.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  6. ^ "Республика Армения(Democratic Republic of Armenia)" (in Russian). Russian Centre of Vexillology and Heraldry. 2003-03-28. Retrieved 2006-01-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  7. ^ "Armenia: First Republic (1918-1921)". Flags of the World. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  8. ^ a b "Cоветская Армения (Soviet Armenia)" (in Russian). Russian Centre of Vexillology and Heraldry. 2004-11-14. Retrieved 2007-01-20.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unrecognized language (link)
  9. ^ "Armenia". Flags of the World page. Retrieved 2006-12-29.
  10. ^ "Flag Days Of The World". Flags of the World. Retrieved 2006-12-29.
  11. ^ "About Armenia". Permanent Mission of Armenia to the United Nations. Retrieved 2006-12-29.
  12. ^ a b "Attributes of Statehood". Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Nagorno-Karabakh. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  13. ^ "Flag of Artsakh / Nagorno-Karabakh". Flags of the World. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  14. ^ "Armenia: Sport flags". Flags of the World. Retrieved 2007-01-09.
  15. ^ "Lyrics of Mer Hayrenik". National Anthems.net. Retrieved 2007-01-10.
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