White-red-white flag

The design of the flag used between 19 September 1991 and 5 June 1995 had originally been devised by the Belarusian Democratic Republic (March to December 1918).{{cite book |last1=Ioffe |first1=Grigoriĭ Viktorovich |last2=Ioffe |first2=Grigorij V. |year=2008 |title=Understanding Belarus and How Western Foreign Policy Misses the Mark |publisher=Rowman & Littlefield |location=Lanham, Maryland |isbn=978-0-7425-5558-7 |access-date=26 August 2012 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=00B6wxgftH8C&q}} }} (Backcover) The original person behind the design of the flag is believed to have been Klawdziy Duzh-Dushewski before 1917 and this design is known in Belarusian as the {{Transliteration|be|byel-chyrvona-byely s'tsyah}} ({{lang|be|Бел-чырвона-белы сьцяг}}; literally "white-red-white flag").{{cite news |last=Khorevsky |first=Sergey |script-title=be:Клаўдзi Дуж-Душэўскi. Сьцяг |trans-title=Claudius Duzh-Duszewski. Flag |work=Наша Ніва |language=be |access-date=26 August 2012 |url=http://www.nn.by/1998/06/14.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120226180506/http://www.nn.by/1998/06/14.htm |archive-date=26 February 2012 }} Red and white have traditionally been used in the coat of arms of Lithuania ({{Langx|be|Пагоня|translit=Pahonia}}), the state heraldry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and also the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, both of which included lands that are now Belarus.{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Andrew |year=2011 |title=Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, Connecticut |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jZJntMQtkSYC&pg=PA174 174] |isbn=978-0-300-13435-3 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=jZJntMQtkSYC&q}} }} There are several other theories explaining the flag's origin. One theory speaks of an allusion to the name of the country, White Ruthenia.{{cite web |last=Kotljarchuk |first=Andrej |author-link=Andrej Kotljarchuk |date=14 September 2020 |title=The Flag Revolution. Understanding the political symbols of Belarus |website=balticworlds.com |publisher=Centre for Baltic and East European Studies (CBEES), Södertörn University |access-date=7 December 2020 |url=http://balticworlds.com/the-flag-revolution-understanding-the-political-symbols-of-belarus/ |archive-date=25 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225192118/http://balticworlds.com/the-flag-revolution-understanding-the-political-symbols-of-belarus/ |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last=Lyalkov |first=Igor |script-title=be:Пытаньне дзяржаўнай сымболікі ў Беларусі: гісторыя і сучасны стан |trans-title=The issue of state symbols in Belarus: history and current state |website=Pahonia-plakat.narod.ru |publisher=Malyavanych |language=be |access-date=26 August 2012 |url=http://pahonia-plakat.narod.ru/bielaruskaja_simvolika.htm |archive-date=10 November 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110120702/http://pahonia-plakat.narod.ru/bielaruskaja_simvolika.htm |url-status=live }}

In 1918, the Belarusian People's Republic (BNR) was proclaimed, the symbols of which became the coat of arms ("Pahonia") and the white-red-white flag. On 11 August, the newspaper Svobodnaya Belarus published the first official description of the flag and coat of arms. From 1919 to 1920, the white-red-white flag was used by Belarusian military formations as part of the Polish and Lithuanian armies. In 1920, the flag was used by participants in the Slutsk uprising.

Between 1921 and 1939 the white-red-white flag was used by the Belarusian national movement in Western Belorussia (part of the Second Polish Republic), both by political organisations like the Belarusian Peasants' and Workers' Union or the Belarusian Christian Democracy, and non-political organisations like the Belarusian Schools Society.{{cite magazine |last=Vashkevich |first=Andrei |year=2007 |script-title=be:Нашы сцягі над Заходняй |trans-title=Our flags over the West |magazine=Arche |language=be |volume=4 |issue=55 |access-date=10 November 2008 |url=http://arche.bymedia.net/2007-04/vaskievic704.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081121132541/http://arche.bymedia.net/2007-04/vaskievic704.htm |archive-date=21 November 2008 }} The flag was also used by the Belarusian Special Battalion in the Lithuanian army. After the Soviet invasion of Poland and the annexation of modern-day West Belarus in 1939, the flag was forbidden by the Soviet administration in the newly acquired territories as well.

File:Belarusian People's Republic Rada (parliament) building (1918).jpg|The White-red-white flag on a government building of the Belarusian People's Republic in Minsk, 1918

File:Flag of Belarus (w-r-w) with Arms (2020).svg|White-red-white flag of Belarus defaced with the historical Pahonia coat of arms

File:Flag of Belarus (government in exile, 1919-1925).svg|The flag used by the Belarusian authorities in exile in 1919–1925

File:Flag of Belarus 1991-1995 (Unofficial Variant).svg|Variant used in an unofficial capacity during the early 1990s.{{cite web |title=Independence Of Belarus Became Law On August 25 |url=https://charter97.org/en/news/2022/8/25/512743/ |website=Charter97 |publisher=Charter 97 |access-date=7 October 2023}}

File:Bieł-čyrvona-bieły ściah, Pahonia. Бел-чырвона-белы сьцяг, Пагоня (1920).jpg|"Do not abandon our Belarusian language, so we would not die"
—Matsiey Burachok

File:Bundesarchiv Bild 146-2008-0042, Weißrussland, Minsk, Gebäude.jpg|The white-red-white flag being used by the Belarusian Central Rada alongside the Flag of Nazi Germany in June 1943

File:1992. Stamp of Belarus 0004.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1992

File:Emblema Ŭzbrojenych siłaŭ RB (1992-1996).jpg|Belarusian army patch, 1992

File:Мітынг у Менску (1943).jpg rally in Minsk in 1943. The supporters are holding the white-red-white flags and a portrait of Adolf Hitler, though the white-red-white flag predates Nazi Germany and Operation Barbarossa.]]

During World War II the flag was used during Byelorussian collaboration with Nazi Germany, being used by the Belarusian Central Council and appearing on arm patches and other insignia worn by the Belarusian Auxiliary Police, Belarusian Home Defence, and later the Belarusian division of the Waffen-SS. However, Duzh-Dushewski, the creator of the flag, refused to cooperate with the Nazi occupation forces and hid a Jewish family in his house, for which he was sent to the Pravieniškės labor camp.{{cite news |date=10 February 2011 |script-title=ru:Клавдий–строитель |trans-title=Claudius the Builder |work=Sovetskaya Belorussiya – Belarus' Segodnya |language=ru |access-date=25 December 2020 |url=https://www.sb.by/articles/klavdiy-stroitel.html |archive-date=25 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225192121/https://www.sb.by/articles/klavdiy-stroitel.html |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Wilson |first=Andrew |year=2011 |title=Belarus: The Last European Dictatorship |publisher=Yale University Press |location=New Haven, Connecticut |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=jZJntMQtkSYC&pg=PA110 110] |isbn=978-0-300-13435-3 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=jZJntMQtkSYC&q}} }}

After World War II, the flag was used by the Belarusian diaspora in the West and by a few groups opposing the Soviet government in Belarus itself. In the late 1980s, amid Mikhail Gorbachev's perestroika and glasnost program, the flag began to be used as a symbol of national revival and democratic changes in the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, which led to the end of the Soviet Union. This concerned the Baltic republics and Western Belarus, one of the last remaining territories occupied by the Soviet Union, leading to Lithuania re-establishing its national symbols in 1988, with Latvia and Estonia following suit as well as nearby Ukraine in 1990.

After the Belarusian Popular Front's proposal, the flag became the new flag of Belarus when it became an independent country in 1991. Following the dubious{{Cite news |last=Pastukhov |first=Mikhail |date=2019-05-14 |title=Pahonia And White-Red-White Flag Remain State Symbols Of Belarus |url=https://charter97.org/en/news/2019/5/14/334022/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210808222839/https://charter97.org/en/news/2019/5/14/334022/ |archive-date=2021-08-08 |access-date=2025-04-18 |website=charter97.org |publisher=Charter97 |language=en |quote=All these factors suggest that the vote was held under duress, most likely with serious fraud. There is evidence (for the most part – from the BPF observers) that, especially in rural areas, there were violations of the law, stuffing. The "referendum" of 1995 and its outcome cannot be recognized as legitimate. This means that the symbols that acted according to the laws of 1991, remains legal and legitimate, which is also true about the status of the Belarusian language," – ex-judge of the Constitutional Court of Belarus Mikhail Pastukhou concluded}}{{Cite news |last=Navumchyk |first=Siarhei |date=2019-05-14 |title=Рэфэрэндум-95 пра сымболіку і мову ня быў легітымным |trans-title=Referendum-95 about symbols and language was not legitimate |url=https://www.svaboda.org/a/27734568.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://archive.today/20250418163155/https://www.svaboda.org/a/25383715.html |archive-date=2025-04-18 |access-date=2025-04-18 |work=Радыё Свабода |language=be}} 1995 Belarusian referendum, the white-red-white flag was abolished as a state flag, replaced by one similar to that used in the Soviet era, and Alexander Lukashenko's supporters tore it to pieces on the roof of the Presidential Administration of Belarus.{{cite web |title=Як у беларусаў забралі нацыянальны сцяг і герб. Сёння – гадавіна рэферэндуму |url=https://naviny.belsat.eu/news/syonnya-23-ya-gadavina-referendumu-pa-zmene-dzyarzhaunyh-simvalau/ |website=Naviny.belsat.eu |publisher=Belsat TV |date=14 May 2018 |language=Belarusian |access-date=18 May 2022 |archive-date=10 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220410224214/https://naviny.belsat.eu/news/syonnya-23-ya-gadavina-referendumu-pa-zmene-dzyarzhaunyh-simvalau/ |url-status=dead }} However, some people, such as Mikhail Pastukhov and Siarhei Navumchyk, still claim that the White-red-white flag, as well as the Pahonia, are still the de jure symbols of Belarus, due to the proclaimed illegality of the referendum.

File:2020 Belarusian protests — Minsk, 16 August p0024.jpg.]]

After 1995 the white-red-white flag has been used as a symbol of the opposition to the regime of Lukashenko, most notably during protests after the 2006, 2010, 2015, and the 2020 presidential elections and at mass rallies on Freedom Day celebrations as well as Dziady memorial marches. The flag is not officially banned from public usage, but is treated by the authorities as an unregistered symbol which means that demonstration of it by political activists or sports fans can lead to arrests and confiscation of the flags.{{cite news |last=Gurnevich |first=Dmitry |date=7 March 2006 |script-title=be:Затрыманьні на рыцарскім фэсьце |trans-title=Detentions at a knight's festival |work=Polskie Radio |language=be |access-date=28 June 2012 |url=http://www2.polskieradio.pl/eo/dokument.aspx?iid=38706 |archive-date=5 March 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160305064916/http://www2.polskieradio.pl/eo/dokument.aspx?iid=38706 |url-status=live }}{{cite book |year=1949 |title=Congressional Record |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=X5he5x2382IC&q=Belarusian+flag&pg=PA2773 2773] |publisher=U.S. Government Printing Office |location=Washington D.C. |isbn=978-0-7425-5558-7 |access-date=26 August 2012 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=X5he5x2382IC}} }} In early 2010, political activist Siarhei Kavalenka was arrested for placing a white-red-white flag atop a Christmas tree on the central square of Vitebsk. The court gave Kavalenka three years of suspended sentence which was followed by a second arrest and Kavalenka's several weeks long hunger strike. The hunger strike was interrupted by force-feeding on 16 January 2012.{{cite book |author=Human Rights Watch |year=2011 |title=World Report 2011: Events of 2010 |page=[https://books.google.com/books?id=Rn8f02dV8_AC&q=Belarusian+flag&pg=PA407 407] |publisher=Seven Stories Press |location=New York, New York |isbn=978-1-60980-151-9 |access-date=26 August 2012 |url={{google books|plainurl=y|id=Rn8f02dV8_AC}} }} According to Vadzim Smok in his research paper of 2013, only 8% of Belarusians considered the white-red-white flag as Belarus' true flag.{{Cite book|last=Smok|first=Vadzim|url=https://belarusdigest.com/papers/belarusianidentity.pdf|title=Belarusian Identity: the Impact of Lukashenka's Rule|date=9 December 2013|publisher=Ostrogorski Centre|location=Minsk-London|pages=17|author-link=Vadzim Smok}}

The flag has been widely used by opposition supporters during the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests in rallies in support of presidential candidate Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, and later after the disputed elections, in which, according to the official statement of the Central Election Commission, the current president of the country, Alexander Lukashenko, won the majority of votes. A popular variant used by protesters is the white-red-white flag with the historic Pahonia coat of arms. Initially though, there are reports that some opposition supporters have also used the current flag.{{cite news |last=Roth |first=Andrew |date=31 July 2020 |title=Huge crowds rally for Belarus opposition leader in run-up to presidential election |work=The Guardian |access-date=25 December 2020 |url=http://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/31/huge-crowds-rally-for-belarus-opposition-leader-in-run-up-to-presidential-election |archive-date=12 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201012231338/https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/jul/31/huge-crowds-rally-for-belarus-opposition-leader-in-run-up-to-presidential-election |url-status=live }}{{cite news |date=31 July 2020 |title=Tens of thousands rally in Belarus despite pre-election crackdown |work=Al Jazeera English |access-date=25 December 2020 |url=https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/07/tens-thousands-rally-belarus-pre-election-crackdown-200731074941570.html |archive-date=25 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225192209/https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/7/31/tens-of-thousands-rally-in-belarus-despite-pre-election-crackdown |url-status=live }} As of 7 December 2020, Belarusian authorities are drafting a law that could ban the white-red-white flag.{{cite news |date=12 July 2020 |title=MP: law against glorification of Nazism may appear "in near future" |work=European Radio for Belarus |access-date=12 July 2020 |url=https://euroradio.pl/en/mp-law-against-glorification-nazism-may-appear-near-future |archive-date=25 December 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201225192122/https://euroradio.pl/en/mp-law-against-glorification-nazism-may-appear-near-future |url-status=live }}

The flag is used by the Kastuś Kalinoŭski Regiment, a group of Belarusians fighting for Ukraine in the Russo-Ukrainian War. The flag features the emblem of the regiment overlayed on the white-red-white flag, and is also sometimes seen displaying the Ukrainian trident with the Columns of Gediminas.{{Cite web |last=Журавель |first=Дмитро |date=2022-12-26 |title=В Україні з'явився "Білоруський Добровольчий Корпус" (ВІДЕО) |url=https://shotam.info/v-ukaraini-z-iavyvsia-biloruskyy-dobrovolchyy-korpus-video/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=ШоТам |language=uk}}{{Cite web |title=Білоруси створили в Україні "Білоруський Добровольчий Корпус" |url=https://mil.in.ua/uk/news/bilorusy-stvoryly-v-ukrayini-biloruskyj-dobrovolchyj-korpus/ |access-date=2025-01-31 |website=Мілітарний. Чесні новини про армію, війну та оборону. |language=uk}} A similar flag was also used by the Pahonia Detachment, a now-disbanded detachment of Belarusians in the Ukrainian Ground Forces.

The white-red-white flag is almost identical to the flag of Wyszków in Poland, the flag of Berlare in Belgium, and the flag of the Atlántico Department in Colombia. The unrelated flag of Austria has the colours reversed.

Creators of the so-called "Russian anti-war flag" used in the 2022 anti-war protests in Russia list the similarity to the white-red-white flag as among its advantages.{{ulist|{{cite web |script-title=ru:У антивоенного движения появился новый символ протеста — бело-сине-белый флаг. "Медуза" рассказывает, кто и зачем его придумал |language=ru |trans-title=The anti-war movement has a new symbol of protest – the white-blue-white flag. Meduza reveals who invented it and why. |author-first=Саша [Sasha] |author-last=Сивцова [Sivtsova] |department=истории (Stories) |website=Meduza |publisher=Medusa Project SIA |publication-place=Riga, Latvia |date=2022-03-14 |url=https://meduza.io/feature/2022/03/14/u-antivoennogo-dvizheniya-poyavilsya-novyy-simvol-protesta-belo-sine-belyy-flag-meduza-rasskazyvaet-kto-i-zachem-ego-pridumal |access-date=2022-03-14 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220319215754/https://meduza.io/feature/2022/03/14/u-antivoennogo-dvizheniya-poyavilsya-novyy-simvol-protesta-belo-sine-belyy-flag-meduza-rasskazyvaet-kto-i-zachem-ego-pridumal |archive-date=2022-03-19}}|{{cite news |title=A new symbol of Russia's anti-war movement Meduza explains the origins of the white-blue-white flag |author-first=Саша [Sasha] |author-last=Сивцова [Sivtsova] |translator-first=Sam |translator-last=Breazeale |date=2022-03-16 |department=Stories |newspaper=Meduza |publisher=Medusa Project SIA |publication-place=Riga, Latvia |url=https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/03/16/a-new-symbol-of-russia-s-anti-war-movement |access-date=2022-03-17 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220316201700/https://meduza.io/en/feature/2022/03/16/a-new-symbol-of-russia-s-anti-war-movement |archive-date=2022-03-16 |quote=[...] The proposed new flag: [...] resembles the Belarusian white-red-white protest flag [...]}}}}{{cite news |title=Ukraine-Krieg: Neue russische Flagge aufgetaucht – das steckt dahinter |language=de |trans-title=Ukrainian war: New Russian flag appearing – the background |author=mg |work=Der Westen |publisher=FUNKE Digital GmbH / Funke Mediengruppe |publication-place=Berlin, Germany |date=2022-03-22 |url=https://www.derwesten.de/politik/ukraine-krieg-news-russland-putin-flagge-proteste-id234889215.html |access-date=2022-03-25 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325142007/https://www.derwesten.de/politik/ukraine-krieg-news-russland-putin-flagge-proteste-id234889215.html |archive-date=2022-03-25 |quote=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. |trans-quote=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.}}{{cite web |title=Die Flagge des schönen Russlands der Zukunft |language=de |trans-title=The flag of the beautiful Russia of the future |work=Lexas Laenderservice |editor-first=Werner |editor-last=Tiesbohnenkamp |publisher=Informationsvermittlung Dr. Werner Tiesbohnenkamp |publication-place=Gütersloh, Germany |date=March 2022 |url=https://www.laenderservice.de/flaggen/europa/russland/whitebluewhite.aspx |access-date=2022-03-25 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220325143024/https://www.laenderservice.de/flaggen/europa/russland/whitebluewhite.aspx |archive-date=2022-03-25 |quote=Die weiß-blau-weiße Flagge ähnelt auch der Flagge des freien Belarus — Weiß-Rot-Weiß. |trans-quote=The white-blue-white flag is similar to the flag of the free Belarus - white-red-white.}}{{cite news |title=Putin-Gegner: Unter einer neuen weiß-blau-weißen Flagge formiert sich Widerstand |language=de |trans-title=Putin opponents: Resistance is forming under a new white-blue-white flag |author-first=Ulrich |author-last=Krökel |date=2022-03-30 |department=Ausland (Foreign countries) |newspaper=Badische Zeitung |publisher=Badischer Verlag GmbH & Co. KG |publication-place=Freiburg, Germany |url=https://www.badische-zeitung.de/unter-einer-neuen-weiss-blau-weissen-flagge-formiert-sich-widerstand--211046114.html |access-date=2022-03-30 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220330224922/https://www.badische-zeitung.de/unter-einer-neuen-weiss-blau-weissen-flagge-formiert-sich-widerstand--211046114.html |archive-date=2022-03-30 |quote=Die Exil-Oppositionellen verweisen auf Belarus. Dort versammelten sich im Sommer 2020 bei Massenprotesten gegen Machthaber Alexander Lukaschenko Zehntausende im Zeichen der alten weiß-rot-weißen Flagge. Es gibt weitere Vorbilder [...] |trans-quote=The exile oppositionists refer to Belarus. Under the sign of the old white-red-white flag tens of thousands gathered there in mass protests against the leader Alexander Lukashenko in the summer of 2020. There are other inspiring examples [...]}}

{{Portal|Heraldry|Portal|Belarus}}

• Flag of Belarus
• White-blue-white flag
• Flag of South Vietnam, sometimes used in a similar manner

{{Notelist}}

{{Reflist}}

{{Wikisource}}

{{Commons category|Flag of Belarus (white-red-white)}}

• {{FOTW|id=by_1991|title=Belarus - Historical Flag (1918, 1991-1995)}}
• [https://www.radabnr.org/en/the-white-red-white-flag-of-belarus/ The white-red-white flag of Belarus – Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic]

{{portal bar|Belarus}}

Category:National flags

Category:National symbols of Belarus

Category:Flags introduced in 1918

Category:Flags introduced in 1991

Category:Flag controversies

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