Coat of arms and the flag of Lithuania

The official state symbol of the Republic of Lithuania is the flag of Lithuania. It is made in the form of a rectangular banner, on which are drawn three identical horizontal tracks. The upper one is made in yellow, the middle one is green, and the lower one is red. The width of the flag refers to its length as 3: 5.

Detailed description of the Lithuanian flag

In 1992, the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania was adopted by referendum. Its fifteenth article defines colors in which the national flag is colored : red, yellow, green. The Law on State Banners determines their order and provides a detailed description. The flag of Lithuania in 1988-2004 has a proportion of 1: 2. It is the same as the banner of the Lithuanian SSR. Since the first of September the coefficient has been changed to 3: 5. The yellow color represents light and sun, green symbolizes the grass, and the red one tells about the blood shed for Lithuania.

Use of the Lithuanian flag

The Law on State Flags regulates the use of the State Flag of Lithuania, flags of other countries and other flags. The newest edition of this document took place on September 1, 2004. According to the fifth article of this law, the flag of Lithuania is constantly raised on such buildings as:

• Residence of the President.
• Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.
• The main election commission.
• The Constitutional Court and other courts.
• General Prosecutor's Office.
• The Lithuanian bank.
• The Government of Lithuania, the Ministry and the administration of the heads of counties.
• Gedemin's Tower in Vilnius.
• Councils of local governments.
• In places of border control. These include international airports, railway stations, river and sea piers, and so on.

The Lithuanian national flag is also posted on the structures of local government. He is raised here on masts and flagpoles. They are adorned with public associations, organizations, departments and firms of any form of ownership. He is hung out on residential buildings on national holidays. August 23 marks the Day of the Black Ribbon, and September 23 - Day of the Genocide of the Jews. It is in these days that the banners are lowered and supplemented with black mourning ribbons.

Little Lithuanian history

The image of the national banner of Lithuania was formed in 1917-1918. In the process, Lithuanian national decorative and applied art and traditions of heraldry were taken into account. The draft of the Lithuanian banner was developed by the commission. It included a public figure and scholar Jonas Basanavicius. Members of the commission were also the artist Atanas Zhmuidzinavichyus and local historian, artist, archeologist Tadas Daugirdas.

J. Basanavichyus decided to paint the flag of Lithuania in colors popular in Lithuanian folk textiles. The artist A.Zhmuidzinavichyus immediately prepared a project with stripes of green and red colors. After all, these paints were most often caught in the eyes of people's tissues. And T. Dagirdas proposed to introduce a yellow strip, symbolizing the dawn. So, the Lithuanian Council approved the red-yellow-green tricolor on April 19, 1918 as a temporary Lithuanian flag.

And what was the flag of Lithuania? In the Constitution of 1928 the national flag is painted with yellow, green and red stripes. Then it is replaced by a red banner with a sickle and a hammer and the name of the republic. In 1953, the flag was modernized. On it were drawn three horizontally arranged colored bands of red, white and green flowers with a five-pointed star, a gold sickle and a hammer.

Day of the Banner of Lithuania

In the summer of 1988, the red-yellow-green tricolor became publicly used as a national flag. At the suggestion of Sajudis on October 7, 1988, the ceremony of erecting a national banner on the Gedemin tower in Vilnius took place. The banner was legalized again. It acquired a formal status as the banner of the Lithuanian SSR. Accordingly, some amendments were made to the Constitution of Lithuania by the Supreme Council. In 1989, the Presidium of the Supreme Council approved its colors.

On the Gedemin tower in Vilnius, the Lithuanian flag was first raised on January 1, 1919. A small volunteer group of Lithuanian military formations took part in this ceremony. In memory of this event, among other celebrations and memorable days, the day of the Flag of Lithuania was established on January 1.

National flags are symbols of sovereign states in general, regardless of the number of nations living on their lands. Flags of Latvia and Lithuania, Estonia and other countries, anyone can buy at souvenir kiosks, specialized stores (including the Internet).

The coat of arms of Lithuania

The official state emblem is the coat of arms of Lithuania. It is established by the fifteenth article of the Constitution of the Republic of Lithuania and is described in the Law on the National Monogram. It comes from the coat of arms of the Great Lithuanian Principality. The Lithuanian emblem depicts a scarlet field on which there is a silver rider. The rider sits on a silver horse. Over his head, he raised his right hand, in which he holds a sword of the same metal. In the left hand, the rider has an azure shield with a double golden cross. Bridle and saddle are made in azure color, and the handle of the sword, harness connections, stirrups and other small items are painted with gold paint.

History of the Lithuanian coat of arms

This is a wonderful country in Lithuania! The flag and the coat of arms deserve all praise! After all, they were created by skilled craftsmen. The diploma with a seal depicting "Chasing" refers to 1366. The rider with the sword was depicted against the backdrop of the heraldic shield from the end of the fourteenth century. Usually it was painted on the seals of Vitovt and Jagiello. The coat of arms "Pogonya" from the beginning of the fifteenth century became the emblem of the Lithuanian principality. The direction of attack of the rider and the color of the coat of arms was established from the middle of the fifteenth century.

Later, the coat of arms of the Lithuanian principality became part of the monogram of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. After the third division of the Commonwealth, some of the lands of the Lithuanian principality were incorporated into the Russian state. And in 1795 the coat of arms of Lithuania was included in the coat of arms of Russia.

"Pursuit" was also used in the arms of Vilna and Vilna province. Since 1988 the monogram of Lithuania has been widely used as a national symbol. In 1990, the Lithuanian Supreme Council approved the law "On the arms and the name of the state." By this law, the pre-war coat of arms was revived. The initial reference colors and forms specified the Resolution of the Restorative Seim on September 4, 1991.