Inpolitics, ared flag is predominantly a symbol ofleft-wing ideologies, includingsocialism,communism,anarchism, and thelabour movement. The originally empty or plain red flag has been associated with left-wing politics since theFrench Revolution (1789–1799). The red flag andred as a political colour are the oldest symbols of socialism.
Socialists adopted the symbol during theRevolutions of 1848. It was first used as the flag of a new authority by theLyon Commune andParis Commune in the aftermath of theFranco-Prussian War (1870–1871). Theflag of the Soviet Union, introduced during theRussian Revolution, as well as the flags of many subsequentcommunist states, were explicitly inspired by the plain red flag. Many socialist and socialist-adjacent political parties, including those ofdemocratic socialists andsocial democrats, have adapted and adopted a red flag as their symbol. The plain red flag was an official symbol of theLabour Party in theUnited Kingdom until the late 1980s. It was the inspiration for the socialist songs "The Red Flag" and "Bandiera Rossa".
Red color as a combat or revolt symbol in Europe goes back to the turn of the second millennium and before. In the Middle Ages, ships in combat flew long red streamers calledbaucans or bauccedillian to signify a fight withno quarter.[1]
Prior to theFrench Revolution and in some contexts since, red banners were seen as symbols of defiance and battle.[2]
InEastern Arabia, tribal federations used red standards as their flags. These federations later developed intosheikhdoms andemirates. The red standard was adopted as one of the earlyIslamic flags. The prominent Arab military commanderAmr ibn al-As used a red banner.[3]
The red cap was a symbol of popular revolt in France going back to theJacquerie of 1358. The color red became associated with patriotism early in the French Revolution due to the popularity of thetricolour cockade, introduced in July 1789, and thePhrygian cap, introduced in May 1790. A red flag was raised over theChamp-de-Mars in Paris on July 17, 1791, byGilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, commander of the National Guard, as a symbol of martial law, warning rioters to disperse.[4] As many as fifty anti-royalist protesters were killed in the fighting that followed. Inverting the original symbolism, theJacobins protested this action by flying a red flag to honour the "martyrs' blood" of those who had been killed.[5] They created their own red flags to declare "the martial law of the people against the revolt of the court."[6] The plain red flag has since been associated withleft-wing politics.[7]
In 1797,British sailors mutinied near the mouth of theRiver Thames and hoisted red flags on several ships.[citation needed]
Two red flags soaked in calf's blood were flown by marchers inSouth Wales during theMerthyr Rising of 1831. It is claimed to be the first time that the red flag was waved as a banner of workers' power. The red flags of Merthyr became a potent relic following the execution of early trade unionistDic Penderyn (Richard Lewis) in August 1831, despite a public campaign to pardon him.[8][9]
During theBattle of the Alamo in March 1836, GeneralAntonio López de Santa Anna of Mexico signified no quarter by displaying a plain blood-red flag (approx. 10 feet square) from the highest church tower in Béxar.William B. Travis, a commander of the Alamo defenders, responded with a blast from the Alamo's largest cannon.[10]
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During theUruguayan Civil War (1839–1851), the victorious liberal faction of "Colorados" (lit. 'Reds') used red flags. This prolonged struggle received considerable attention and sympathy from liberals and revolutionaries in Europe;Giuseppe Garibaldi first made a name for himself in 1843, having been inspired to have his troops wear the famousRed Shirts.[11]
TheOttoman Empire used a variety of flags, especially asnaval ensigns, during its history. Thestar and crescent came into use in the second half of the 18th century. Abuyruldu (lit. 'decree') from 1793 required that the ships of theOttoman Navy use a red flag with the star and crescent in white.[citation needed] In 1844, a version of this flag with a five-pointed star was officially adopted as theflag of the Ottoman Empire.[12][13]
During the1848 revolution in France, socialists and radical republicans demanded that the red flag be adopted as France's national flag. Led by poet-politicianAlphonse de Lamartine, the government rejected the demand: "[T]he red flag that you have brought back here has done nothing but being trailed around the Champ-de-Mars in the people's blood in [17]91 and [17]93, whereas the Tricolore flag went round the world along with the name, the glory and the liberty of the homeland!"[14]
Following the unexpected defeat of France by the Germans in theFranco-Prussian War, French workers and socialist revolutionaries seized major cities and created theLyon Commune andParis Commune.[15] The Lyon Commune was established in September 1870 and lasted for roughly eight months, while the Paris Commune was established in March 1871 and crushed by the French Army after two months, with much bloodshed. The original red banners of the Paris Commune became icons of the socialist revolution; in 1921, members of theFrench Communist Party came to Moscow and presented thenew Soviet government with one of the original Commune banners; it remains in place in the tomb of Vladimir Lenin, next to his open coffin.[16]
In theHaymarket affair, during which a bomb blast killed a police officer at aMay Day rally for aneight-hour workday inChicago, anarchists flew red flags.[citation needed] This event, considered to be the beginning of the revival of the international labour movement, is still commemorated annually in many countries asInternational Workers' Day (though not in the United States).[17][18]
The red flag gained wide popularity in Russia during theRussian Revolutions of 1917,[19] having been used as a symbol of revolutionary struggle in both theFebruary Revolution andOctober Revolution; red was the political color of socialists on several opposed sides in the revolutions, such as theBolsheviks andSocialist Revolutionaries.[20] During theRussian Civil War (1917–1922), a red flag, with ared star symbolising the party andhammer and sickle to symbolise the workers and peasants respectively, became the official flag of Soviet Russia, and, in 1923, of theSoviet Union.[19] It remained so until thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.[21]
During theChinese Civil War (1927–1949), the flag of theChinese Communist Party became a red flag with a hammer and sickle, while theflag of the People's Republic of China became a red flag with a large star symbolising the party and four smaller stars symbolising workers, peasants, the urban middle class, and rural middle class, respectively.[22] During theCold War, manycommunist states, such asVietnam, also adopted red flags,[23] while others, such asCuba, chose to keep their previous flags.[24] Red national flags with symbolism unrelated to socialism have also been adopted; the redflag of Nepal, for instance, represents its national flower.[citation needed]
The red flag was one of the firstanarchist symbols prior to theOctober Revolution, after which red flags started to be associated withMarxism-Leninism,Bolshevism, andstate socialism.[25]
Recent and currentArabian red flags include those ofMuscat and Oman,[26]the individual emirates of the United Arab Emirates,[27]the Sheikhdom of Kuwait,[28]Bahrain,[29] andQatar.[30]
In China, both theNationalist Party-ledRepublic of China and theCommunist Party-ledPeople's Republic of China use red fields for their flags, referencing their revolutionary origins.[citation needed] Streets, buildings, businesses and product brands named after the red flag are common in China as a result ofrecuperation.[citation needed] For example, a famous line oflimousine cars manufactured byChina FAW Group Corporation has the brand name ofRed Flag. In 1967 during theCultural Revolution,Pilal inAkto County,Kizilsu,Xinjiang,China was renamed as Hongqi Commune (红旗公社), meaning 'red flag commune'.[31] In 1968,Baykurut Commune inUlugqat County, Kizilsu, Xinjiang, China was also renamed as Hongqi Commune.[32][33]
The red flag was the emblem of the BritishLabour Party from its inception until theLabour Party Conference of 1986 when it was replaced by ared rose, itself a variant of thefist and rose, then in wide use by left of center parties in Europe. The more floral red rose design has subsequently been adopted by a number of other socialist and social-democratic parties throughout Europe.[34] Members of the party also sing the traditional anthem "The Red Flag" at the conclusion of the annual party conference.[35][36] In February 2006, "The Red Flag" was sung in Parliament to mark the centenary of the Labour Party's founding. The flag was regularly flown aboveSheffield Town Hall onMay Day underDavid Blunkett'sLabour administration ofSheffield City Council during the 1980s.[citation needed]
Various socialist newspapers have used the nameThe Red Flag.[37][38]
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In theSoviet Union, the Red Banner (Russian:Красное знамя) was a widely used revolutionary symbol.[19] Military units, institutions, and organizations that were awarded with theOrder of the Red Banner, such as theSoviet Army,Soviet Navy, andMVD Internal Troops, were referred to with thehonorific title "of the Red Banner" (Russian:Краснознамённый,romanized: Krasnoznamyonny), as in "Red Banner Pacific Fleet", "Guards Red Banner SubmarineS-56", or "Twice Red Banner Alexandrov Soviet Army Choir". Civilian establishments that were awarded with theOrder of the Red Banner of Labour were also sometimes addressed with the "Red-Banner"honorific.[citation needed]
The Transferable Red Banner (Russian:переходящее Красное знамя) was an award for Soviet collectives in various workplaces that wonsocialist emulation contests. The term "transferable" means that for a given kind of competition at a given establishment (enterprise, school, institute, clinic, etc.) or category of establishments (e.g., type ofindustry), a single physical copy of the award was transferred from the winner of one competition to the winner of the next (held annually or quarterly). Any of several levels of the award could have been awarded, depending on the level of the socialist competition: all-Union,union-republican,oblast-wide, industry-wide, enterprise/institution-wide, etc. Similar awards existed in severalcommunist states.[39]
A new article, 190, was added to theSoviet criminal code in the 1960s. It permitted imprisonment foranti-Soviet agitation (part 1), for participation in unauthorized meetings (part 2), and for defamation of theSoviet coat of arms or the Red Banner (part 3).[citation needed]
The building to have had a red flag flying[40] for the longest period of time is theVictorian Trades Hall inMelbourne, Australia, the oldesttrade union building in the world. The flag has been flying for over a century.[citation needed]
After the suppression of the1848 revolution, red flags and other insignia dominated by the colour red were banned inPrussia, as would later be the case in France after the demise of theParis Commune.[41] During the persecution of communists and socialists amid theRed Scare of 1919–1920 in the United States, many states passed laws forbidding displays of red flags, includingMinnesota,South Dakota,Oklahoma,[42] andCalifornia. InStromberg v. California, theSupreme Court of the United States held that such laws are unconstitutional.[43]
InAustralia, red flags were similarly banned in September 1918 under theWar Precautions Act 1914. This ban was an arguable cause of theRed Flag riots.[citation needed] The ban ended in Australia with the repeal of the Act in 1920.[44]
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