White-Red-White Flag And Pahonia Coat Of Arms Became State Symbols Of Belarus 33 Years Ago

The decision was made by the Supreme Council of the 12th Convocation.

On September 19, 1991, the historical symbols, the White-Red-White flag and the Pahonia coat of arms, were recognized as state symbols. This decision was made after the collapse of the USSR by the Supreme Council of Belarus of the 12th Convocation — the parliament, which was elected in partially free elections.

National symbols remained state symbols until the illegal "referendum" of 1995.

Previously, the White-Red-White flag and the Pahonia coat of arms were symbols of the Belarusian People's Republic — the first state entity that declared its independence from other countries and used the word "Belarusian".

The Pahonia coat of arms — a warrior with a raised sword on a white horse in a red field — has been known in Belarus since ancient times.

As the state emblem of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, an ancient Belarusian state, it began to be used by Grand Duke Vitsen at the end of the 13th century. All state documents of that time, pages of the "Lithuanian Metrics" and "Statutes" are marked with the Pahonia.

Pahonia was on the banners of the Belarusian-Lithuanian army in all the decisive battles of that time — from Grunwald to Orsha.

After the Union of Lublin, Pahonia, along with the Polish white eagle, was placed on the coat of arms of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth and on the royal flag. Even after the partitions of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth in the 18th century, when Belarus fell under the rule of Russia, Pahonia remained the emblem of the Belarusian provinces.

The White-Red-White flag in its current form, unlike Pahonia, has a specific author. The flag was created in 1917 by Claudius Duzh-Dushevsky.

The Belarusian military wore the White-Red-White ribbonon at the fronts of the First World War in 1917 to recognize their own.

The White-Red-White flag was unanimously recognized as the national symbol of Belarus at the All-Belarusian Congress in Minsk in December 1917. It became the state flag of the Belarusian People's Republic.

At the councils, the flag was banned, and after the events of 2020, a campaign was launched in the state media and telegram channels to discredit it, and people are punished for days even for flags and coat of arms on avatars.

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