Several people created the idea of the white-blue-white flag shortly after theRussian invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February 2022. Kai Katonina, a Berlin-baseduser experience designer, and a Russia-based art manager with thepseudonym "Fish Sounds" (Звуки Рыб,Zvuki Ryb),[2][3] also known as "AssezJeune",[8] are each credited with having created the flag. It was first used on social media on 28 February 2022,[2][9] and has been flown by Russian expatriates at variousanti-war protests.[10]
One of the stated reasons for replacing the red stripe of theflag of Russia by a white one is to remove the association with "blood and violence".[7][6][11][12][13][14]AssezJeune, one of the flag's creators, stated: "The red on the modern Russian flag is associated not just with blood, but with its military power and authoritarian strength. So, this is not just the removal of blood, but, most importantly, the removal of the cult ofmilitarism and violence.WBR is a historical authoritarian flag introduced byTsarist Russia. It's also associated with militarism, with Russian imperial cores."[15][16]
The flag is not used by all anti-war activists and opposition parties, and several opposition activists (such asMaria Motuznaya) have criticized AssezJeune's reasons for removing the red stripe.[2]
Use of the flag began shortly after the start of the invasion, and the flag began to garner wide appeal among protesters who oppose the war. The white-blue-white flag has an official website, where it is described as the "Flag of the Wonderful Russia of the Future" and "A symbol of freedom and peace"; the website includes background information in multiple languages. The flag has not been associated with representing a single organization exclusively, and several anti-war organisations have demonstrated support for it as a broader symbol of anti-war sentiment and unity.[17] The similarity and analogy with thewhite-red-white flag that has been widely used during the2020–2021 Belarusian protests is often listed as one of its advantages, as is the similarity to the flag ofVeliky Novgorod, in which the government of theNovgorod Republic had a reputation for developing democratic governance.[2][5][16][15][4]
On 31 March 2022, the head of theDuma commission on foreign interference,Vasily Piskarev, appealed to theProsecutor General's Office to ban the white-blue-white Russian flag as extremist, since "this symbolism is used in protests against the military operation in Ukraine not only in Russia, but also in other countries".[27]
The white-blue-white flag (as well as other symbols of Russia) was banned during theEquality Parade in Warsaw, held alongsideKyivPride [cs;uk].[30] KyivPride published a statement about possible provocations, labeling any intentions to "display Russian flags of any color" a provocation and an unacceptable step meant to advancethe Russian agenda.[31]
On 21 August 2022, the manifesto of a hitherto unknown partisan group within Russia,National Republican Army (NRA) (Russian:Национальная республиканская армия (НРА)), endorsed the adoption of the white-blue-white flag. The manifesto was issued following the car bomb assassination ofDarya Dugina and read aloud by exiled Russian politicianIlya Ponomarev on his video outlet "February Morning" (Russian:Утро Февраля), and published via its affiliatedTelegram-based news service "Rospartisan" (Russian:Роспартизан).[32][33][34][35][36] The white-blue-white flag motif is employed by February Morning on the air and in its social media profiles.[33][37][38]
On 22 May 2023, the Freedom of Russia Legion posted videos showing the flag being lifted with balloons flying in the center of Moscow following theBelgorod Oblast incursion, which they claimed credit for.[39]
In culture
On 16 September 2022, rapperOxxxymiron released an anti-war video for the song "Oyda", which refers to the white-blue-white flag: "Our flag has white snow and a blue river (and that's it!)"[40]
Gallery
Flags
The current flag of Russia, featuring the red stripe and darker blue
The flag of Russia used between 1991 and 1993 featured a lighter shade of blue
^abcdKrökel, Ulrich (30 March 2022)."Putin-Gegner: Unter einer neuen weiß-blau-weißen Flagge formiert sich Widerstand" [Putin opponents: Resistance is forming under a new white-blue-white flag]. Ausland (Foreign countries).Badische Zeitung (in German). Freiburg, Germany:Badischer Verlag GmbH & Co. KG.Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved30 March 2022.Im Exil formiert sich eine Anti-Putin-Opposition. Als Symbol tragen die Regimegegner eine weiß-blau-weiße Flagge. […] Auch in Russland tauchen die neuen Farben auf. So demonstrierten in Jekaterinburg schon Anfang März Putin-Gegner im Zeichen der Flagge gegen den Krieg. [An anti-Putin opposition forms in exile. The opponents of the regime bear a white-blue-white flag as a symbol. […] The new colors are also appearing in Russia. In Yekaterinburg, for example, opponents of Putin demonstrated against the war under the sign of the flag at the beginning of March.]
^abSygar, Michail (21 March 2022)."Russland ist ein gescheiterter Staat: Nächstes Jahr in Nowgorod – Auf nach Nowgorod: Das neue Russland braucht eine Flagge ohne Blut" [Russia is a failed state: Next year in Novgorod – To Novgorod: The new Russia needs a flag without blood].Spiegel Ausland (Essay) (in German). Hamburg, Germany:Der Spiegel GmbH & Co. KG.Archived from the original on 22 March 2022. Retrieved22 March 2022.Schon wenige Tage nach der Invasion schrieben viele Russen in sozialen Medien, dass sich die weiß-blau-rote Trikolore diskreditiert habe und das neue Russland, das irgendwann nach Putin entstehen wird, eine neue Flagge brauche – ohne Blut darauf. Der rote Streifen solle daher durch einen zweiten weißen Streifen ersetzt werden: die Farbe des russischen Schnees und der Reue. [Just days after the invasion, many Russians wrote on social media that the white-blue-red tricolor had become discredited and that the new Russia that will emerge sometime after Putin needed a new flag – without blood on it. The red stripe is therefore to be replaced by a second white stripe: the color of Russian snow and of regret.]
^LaFlamme, Lisa; Jones, Alexandra Mae (6 March 2022)."Russian families divided over attack on Ukraine, some misled by state media".CTV News. Canada:Bell Media.Archived from the original on 19 March 2022. Retrieved19 March 2022.Several members of the crowd carried a blue and white striped flag, a symbolic version of the Russian flag, which normally has a red stripe on the bottom. The protesters said Putin had destroyed their flag, so they changed it by rubbing out the red. "We decided we can just take our Russian flag and just wash it from all this blood and just have this blue-white flag," Valaria said.
^Naylor, Aliide (10 March 2022)."Amidst a Crackdown, Russia's Anti-War Artists and Activists Try To Reclaim the Streets". Opinion.ArtReview. London, UK:ArtReview Ltd.Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved20 March 2022.Even if Russians can't reference the ongoing war, many have changed their profile pictures to black or white to indicate mourning or the need for peace. Instead of using the Ukrainian flag online (some people might not feel safe overtly indicating they are pro-Ukraine), you sometimes see people posting the Russian tricolour, with an extra white band replacing the red – the logic being that it is the Russian flag but 'without the blood'.
^abTiesbohnenkamp, Werner, ed. (March 2022)."Die Flagge des schönen Russlands der Zukunft" [The flag of the beautiful Russia of the future].Lexas Laenderservice (in German). Gütersloh, Germany: Informationsvermittlung Dr. Werner Tiesbohnenkamp.Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved25 March 2022.Die weiß-blau-weiße Flagge ähnelt auch der Flagge des freien Belarus — Weiß-Rot-Weiß. [The white-blue-white flag is similar to the flag of the free Belarus – white-red-white.]
^abmg (22 March 2022)."Ukraine-Krieg: Neue russische Flagge aufgetaucht – das steckt dahinter" [Ukrainian war: New Russian flag appearing – the background].Der Westen (in German). Berlin, Germany:FUNKE Digital GmbH /Funke Mediengruppe.Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved25 March 2022.Die Vorteile einer neuen weiß-blau-weißen Flagge seien zum einen die Ähnlichkeit mit der ehemaligen Flagge von Weliki Nowgorod, einer Stadt, die als Wiege der russischen Demokratie gelte. Außerdem würde sie an die belarussische weiß-rot-weiße Protestfalle erinnern. [Among the advantages of a new white-blue-white flag were its resemblance of the former flag of Veliky Novgorod, a city considered to be the cradle of Russian democracy. Also, it would remind of the Belarusian white-red-white protest flag.]
^Todorov, Svetoslav (25 March 2022)."'We Could Be Next' – Marches for Ukraine Spread Over Bulgaria".Balkan Insight (Feature). Sofia, Bulgaria:Balkan Investigative Reporting Network (BIRN).Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved25 March 2022.Several Russian-speaking people in their early 20's waved the white-blue-white flag, currently a symbol of the anti-war protests in Russia and were often met with questions about what it means. "See, there's no red, no blood", explained one of the flag bearers to a curious person in the crowd.
^Кучина [Kuchina], Дина [Dina] (3 March 2022).На улицах Екатеринбурга развешивают зеленые ленточки против военных действий в Украине [On the streets of Yekaterinburg hang green ribbons against military operations in Ukraine]. Политика [Politics].Это мой город [It's My City] (in Russian). Russia.Archived from the original on 25 March 2022. Retrieved7 March 2022.Другие протестующие выбирали еще один символ: бело-сине-белый флаг. [Other protesters chose another symbol: the white-blue-white flag.]
^Пискарёв потребовал признать бело-сине-белый «флаг России» экстремистским [Piskarev demanded to recognize the white-blue-white "flag of Russia" as extremist]. Общество (Society).NEWS.ru (in Russian). АНО Информационно-аналитический центр "МедиаНьюс" (ANO Information and Analytical Center "MediaNews"). 31 March 2022.Archived from the original on 31 March 2022. Retrieved31 March 2022.
^Coles, Isabel; Trofimov, Yaroslav (7 April 2022)."Belarusians, Russians Join Ukraine's Military, Hoping for Freedom at Home".Wall Street Journal.Archived from the original on 10 April 2022. Retrieved10 April 2022.While the Belarusian opposition has long been inspired by Ukraine's resistance to Russia and attempts to impose authoritarian rule, the arrival of Russians willing to fight against their own compatriots is relatively new. The uniforms of the Freedom for Russia unit have the white-blue-white patch, in the colors of a new Russian flag favored by some opponents of Mr. Putin.
Terekhov, Yury (15 March 2022).Флаг мира и свободы [Flag of peace and freedom] (in Russian). Free Russia Institute. Archived fromthe original on 2 October 2022. Retrieved5 April 2022.
Мнение: "Уже есть первые звоночки — появление альтернативной государственной символики России (бело-сине-белый флаг)" [Opinion: "There are already the first signs – the emergence of an alternative state symbolism of Russia (white-blue-white flag)"]. В мире (In the world).ex-press.by (in Russian). Borisov & Zhodzina, Belarus. 4 March 2022.Archived from the original on 20 March 2022. Retrieved20 March 2022.уже есть первые звоночки — появление альтернативной государственной символики России (бело-сине-белый флаг). [there are already the first signs – the appearance of an alternative state symbolism of Russia (white-blue-white flag)]
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