Flag of Belarus

What the flag means

There is no official interpretation of the colours. President Alexander Lukashenko has described red as freedom and the sacrifice of earlier generations, and green as life. The hoist pattern was designed in 1917 by Matrona Markevich from local plant and flower motifs, and resembles the patterns on traditional rushnyk cloths.

History

The flag is a modified version of the Byelorussian SSR flag of 1951, without the hammer, sickle and star and with the ornament colours reversed. It replaced the white-red-white flag, used since 1991, after a referendum on 14 May 1995 in which 75.1% of those voting approved the new state symbols. Opposition figures disputed the legality of the vote. A presidential decree of 7 June 1995 described the flag, and a 2012 standard made the ornament thicker.

Opposition groups and the diaspora still use the white-red-white flag, which was carried widely in the 2020–2021 protests. The government has banned its display.

Earlier flags of Belarus

1. 1951–1991Red over green, white-on-red hoist ornament, gold hammer, sickle and star
2. 1991–1995Horizontal white, red and white stripes, first used in 1918

Flags of Belarus's neighbours

• Latvia
• Lithuania
• Poland
• Russia
• Ukraine