Is it true that the state symbolism of Ukraine is borrowed from other countries?

In the Russian -speaking segment of the Internet, for many years there has been a version of the non -self -stability of Ukrainian national symbols - flag and coat of arms. We decided to check how true this is.

The most widely in social networks is a version according to which the Ukrainian yellow-blue flag was presented to the inhabitants of Galicia by the Austrian rulers. In evidence, the similarity of the flags of some territories that subordinate in the 19th century Gabsburgs, Ukraine, the land of Lower Austria and the province of Dalmatia, are given. This is written in blogs in Livejournal, in the public "VKontakte" "Parliament of Novorossia", On the site"Military Review"And they tell in the series on Rutube"500 seconds of truth about Ukraine". There are fewer disputes around the coat of arms, but they are: so, in blogs on Livejournal They say that a trident is a sign of Russian princes and has nothing to do with Ukraine. 

The Ukrainian flag was first approved with the acquisition of the country of statehood in 1917. The yellow-blue panel was raised over the building of the Pedagogical Museum in Kyiv, where the central Rada was sitting, later The main body In Ukraine. Then the flag became official for the Ukrainian People's Republic. The colors were not chosen by chance - back in 1848 they were considered the main symbol of the Ukrainian national movement.

In 1848, a wave of revolutions swept throughout Europe: in February in France and German principalities, in March - in the Austrian Empire, which included at that time Galicia, the western part of modern Ukraine. Lviv became the center of the national movement. In May, supporters of the provision of Galicia of a wide autonomy created Golovna Ruzka Radu - the political organ of the Galician Rusins ​​(in modern terminology - Ukrainians, not to be confused with the Rusyns as a nationality). Then the first flag was raised, which can be considered national. In May 1848, Rada Decidedthat "the banner of the land of local is a lion, and the colors of the Rusinsky people are yellow and blue." In June, the flag for a short time was hung over the Lviv Town Hall, then at the request of the authorities were removed.

Member of the Rada meetings, historian and writer Yakov Golovnitsky in 1851 in a historical essay on the events of 1848, told About the emergence of a new flag: “The first time the Rusyns were in the place where everything reminded them of their nationality. Under the portrait of the ruling monarch Ferdinand, two blue-yellow banners were posted. ” Then Golovnitsky represents a symbolic interpretation of flowers, and after that it builds their story to the historical coat of arms of Galicia - a golden lion on a blue background based on a rock.

The lion is found on the seals of the Galician-Volyn princes since the XIV century. Presumably, Lviv was named after Prince Lev Danilovich (1228–1301). The lion as an official symbol is already fixed under his grandchildren Lev Yuryevich and Andrei Yuryevich, representatives of the Galician branch of Rurikovich.

In the European Herbilers The 15th century, the golden (yellow) lion in the lapel (blue) field is invariably indicated as the coat of arms of Lviv.

Russian bloggers who seek to expose the history of Ukrainian state symbols often pay attention to the identity of some flags. In fact, the flags of Ukraine, Lower Austria And Dalmatia They are blue-yellow panels. And this is not surprising: all three flags correspond to the principle of stamps. The coat of arms of Ukraine, as mentioned above, is the golden lion in the blue field. The coat of arms of Lower Austria - five golden Orlikov In the blue field. The coat of arms of Dalmatia (part of modern Croatia) - three crowned leopards, also gold and also against a blue background.

Three almost the same flags, surprisingly, are just a coincidence and tribute to the German-Austrian tradition, when the flags of stamp flowers were hung. However, the Russian black-yellow-white tricolor adopted under Alexander II reflects the same principle and follows the colors of the imperial coat of arms.

Thus, sources indicate that the Ukrainian flag appeared in 1848 regardless of the Austrian authorities, its colors repeat the gamut of the historical coat of arms of Lviv and have nothing to do with Lower Austria or Dalmatia.

Ukrainian coat of arms, trident (trizub), arose much later. In September 1917, historian Mikhail Grushevsky, who became the head of the Central Rada, published an article dedicated to the future coat of arms of the state. “The question is not so simple, because there was no generally recognized, constant state emblem of Ukraine. There were different signs that are more or less suitable for this concept, ”wrote Grushevsky. He proposed several options, including the ancient "stylized heraldic sign of an unclear meaning." The head of the Central Rada rejected the rest of the symbols as unsuitable for uniting the country, including the Galician lion.

The sign that Grushevsky wrote about really has an ancient origin. He Found on silver coins (Srebreniki) the time of the Grand Duke Vladimir.

By the time of writing the article by Grushevsky is still There was no scientific consensus, what is depicted on the coins of Vladimir and Yaroslav - a trident, a falling bird or a combination of letters. Now historians and archaeologists ConfidentWhat is about the trident, and the sign was actually the coat of arms of the Rurikovich. The assertion of belonging to the sign to the Russian princes is anachronism. Vladimir was both the Prince of Novgorod and Kyiv, and modern Russia and Ukraine can claim his heritage with equal success.

Thus, Ukrainian state symbols - both the flag and the coat of arms - have a clear historical origin, which does not allow them to be considered borrowed.

Not true

What do our verdicts mean?