Flag of the Soviet Union

Union of Soviet Socialist Republics
Союз Советских Социалистических Республик

state ensign [2]
Proportion	1:2
Adopted	December 1922 (original) 19 August 1955 (last version)
Relinquished	26 December 1991
Design	Plain red banner, with the canton consisting of a gold hammer and sickle topped off by a red five-point star bordered in gold

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The State Flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (Russian: Госуда́рственный флаг Сою́за Сове́тских Социалисти́ческих Респу́блик Gosudárstvenny flag Soyúza Sovétskikh Sotsialistícheskikh Respúblik), or simply the Soviet flag (Russian: Сове́тский флаг Sovétsky flag), was a red banner with two communist symbols displayed in the canton: a gold hammer and sickle topped off by a red five-point star bordered in gold. The flag's design and symbolism are derived from several sources, but emerged during the Russian Revolution. It has also come to serve as the standard symbol representing communism as a whole, recognized as such in international circles, even after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.

The plain red flag, which was a traditional revolutionary symbol long before 1917, was incorporated into the Soviet flag to pay tribute to the international aspect of the workers' revolution. On the other hand, the unique hammer-and-sickle design was a modern industrial touch adopted from the Russian Revolution; it represented the "victorious and enduring revolutionary alliance" by unifying the hammer (i.e., workers) and the sickle (i.e., peasants). The gold-bordered five-point star situated above the hammer and sickle was a representation of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union.

The first flag was adopted in December 1922. In 1923, 1924, 1936 and 1955, statutes were adopted that resulted in adjustments to the hammer's handle length and the sickle's shape. In 1980, an amendment was made to the 1955 decree that removed the hammer and sickle displayed on the

The flag's design was legislated in 1955, which gave a clear way to define and create the flag. This resulted in a change of the hammer's handle length and the shape of the sickle. The adopted statute stated that:[4]

1. The ratio of width to length of the flag is 1:2.
2. The hammer and sickle are in a square with sides equal to 1⁄4 of the flag's height. The sharp tip of the sickle lies in the center of the upper side of the square, and the handles of the hammer and sickle rest in the bottom corners of the square. The length of the hammer and its handle is 3⁄4 of the square diagonal.
3. The five-pointed star is inscribed into a circle with a diameter of 1⁄8 of the flag's height, the circle being tangent to the upper side of the square.
4. The distance of the vertical axis of the star, hammer and sickle from the hoist is 1⁄3 of the flag's height. The distance from the upper side of the flag to the center of the star is 1⁄8 of the flag's height.

Officially since 1980, the reverse side of the flag was a plain red field without the hammer and sickle. In practice, however, this was very commonly disregarded by flag makers as it was far easier and less costly to simply print the flag

For vertical display, the flag was made with the distinct difference of having the hammer and sickle rotated 90 degrees in order to compensate for the change in dimensions. Although common in official practice, a typical flag owner would simply turn a standard design flag 90 degrees to the right and hang it by the

In current times, the Soviet national flag (and similar flags) are widely used by those on the political far left, most often by those who support Marxism–Leninism, although the earlier (pre-Stalinist) flags are occasionally used by Trotskyists and those on the modern communist left.

The Soviet flag is also actively promoted in Russia as a symbol of nostalgia for the Soviet Union. Various politicians frequently utilize it as a symbol of the superpower status Russia lost in 1991.^[10]

Amidst the backdrop of the

On June 17, 2023, during the celebration for the 300th anniversary of Saint Petersburg, the flags of the Russian Empire (Black-yellow-white flag [ru]), Soviet Union and Russian Federation raised simultaneously at the Gulf of Finland.^{[13][14][15][16]}

• Historical evolution of the flag of the Soviet Union
• 
  (30 December 1922 – 12 November 1923)
• 
  (12 November 1923 – 18 April 1924)
• 
  (18 April 1924 – 5 December 1936)
• 
  (5 December 1936 – 19 August 1955)
• 
  (19 August 1955 – 26 December 1991)

Derived flags

The

• 
  Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic

  (1954–91)
• 
  Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic

  (1937–50)
• 
  Ukrainian SSR
  (1950–91)
• 
  Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

  (1937–51)
• 
  Byelorussian SSR (1951–91) (served as an inspiration for the flag of Belarus since 1995)
• 
  Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic

  (1952–91)
• 
  Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic

  (1937–40)
• 
  Kazakh SSR (1940–53)
• 
  Kazakh SSR and Kazakhstan (1953–92)
• 
  Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic

  (1951–90)
• 
  Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic

  (1924–27)
• 
  Azerbaijan SSR

  
  (1927–31)
• 
  Azerbaijan SSR
  (1931–37)
• 
  Azerbaijan SSR
  (1937–40)
• 
  Azerbaijan SSR
  (1940–52)
• 
  Azerbaijan SSR
  (1952–56)
• 
  Azerbaijan SSR
  (1956–91)
• 
  Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic

  (1940–53)
• 
  Lithuanian SSR
  (1953–88)
• 
  Moldavian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic (1925–32)
• 
  Moldavian ASSR
  (1937–38)
• 
  Moldavian ASSR
  (1938–40)
• 
  Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic
  (1940–52)
• 
  Moldavian SSR (1952–1990)
• 
  Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic^{[note 2]} (1991–present)
• 
  Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic

  (1940–53)
• 
  Latvian SSR (1953–67)
• 
  Latvian SSR (1967–90)
• 
  Kirghiz Soviet Socialist Republic and Kyrgyzstan (1952–92)
• 
  Tajik Soviet Socialist Republic

  (1936–38)
• 
  Tajik SSR (1938–40)
• 
  Tajik SSR (1940–53)
• 
  Tajik SSR (1953–91)
• 
  Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic

  (1936–40)
• 
  Armenian SSR
  (1940–52)
• 
  Armenian SSR
  (1952–90)
• 
  Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic

  (1926–37)
• 
  Turkmen SSR (1953–73)
• 
  Turkmen SSR and Turkmenistan (1973–92)
• 
  Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic

  (1940–53)
• 
  Estonian SSR (1953–90)
• 
  Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic^{[note 3]} (1940–53)
• 
  Karelo-Finnish SSR (1953–56)
• 
  Victory Banner of the Great Patriotic War (1945)
• 
  Flag of Vladimir Oblast (1999–2017)
• 
  Flag of Vladimir Oblast (2017–present)

Gallery

• 
  Raising a Flag over the Reichstag
• 
  The Soviet flag along with an assortment of Russian and Soviet military flags
• 
  Flags of the Soviet Republics flown during a parade in

  Moldavian SSR
• 
  One of the last Soviet flags flown on the Kremlin, displayed at the Checkpoint Charlie Museum in Berlin
• 
  Member of the Armed Forces of Belarus pays tribute to the Victory Day in 2014, in front of a Soviet flag

See also

• Communist symbolism
• Flag of Russia
• Flags of the Soviet Republics
• Flags whose reverse differs from the obverse
• Hammer and sickle
• Red flag
• Red star
• State Emblem of the Soviet Union

Notes