Flag of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic

This flag was adopted by the Byelorussian SSR on December 25, 1951. Image File history File links Flag_of_Byelorussian_SSR.svg Summary The flag of Byelorussian SSR. Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Byelorussian SSR Flag of Byelorussian SSR ... Image File history File links Flag_of_Byelorussian_SSR.svg Summary The flag of Byelorussian SSR. Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Byelorussian SSR Flag of Byelorussian SSR ... State motto: Belarusian: Пралетарыі ўсіх краін, яднайцеся! Translation: Workers of the world, unite! Capital Minsk Official language Belarusian, Polish, Russian and Yiddish (before WWII) Established In the USSR:  - Since  - Until January 1, 1919 December 30, 1922 August 25, 1991 Area  - Total  - Water (%) Ranked 6th in the USSR 207,600 km² negligible Population  - Total   - Density... December 25 is the 359th day of the year (360th in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 6 days remaining for the year. ... 1951 (MCMLI) was a common year starting on Monday; see its calendar. ...

Prior to this, the flag was red with the Cyrillic characters БССР (BSSR) in gold in the top-left corner, surrounded by a gold border. The Cyrillic alphabet (pronounced , also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is an alphabet used for several East and South Slavic languages—Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian—and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ...

Between 1937 and the adoption of the above flag in the 1940s, the flag was the same, but with a gold hammer and sickle above the Cyrillic characters and no border. 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The 1940s decade ran from 1940 to 1949. ... The symbol as it appeared on the Soviet flag The hammer and sickle as it appears on Communist Party of China flag since 1917. ...

Between 1919 and 1937, the flag was red, with the Cyrillic characters ССРБ (SSRB) in the top left-hand corner. In early 1919, a plain red flag was used. Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ... 1937 (MCMXXXVII) was a common year starting on Friday (link will take you to calendar). ... The Cyrillic alphabet (pronounced , also called azbuka, from the old name of the first two letters) is an alphabet used for several East and South Slavic languages—Belarusian, Bosnian, Bulgarian, Macedonian, Russian, Rusyn, Serbian, and Ukrainian—and many other languages of the former Soviet Union, Asia and Eastern Europe. ... Year 1919 (MCMXIX) was a common year starting on Wednesday (link will display the full calendar). ...

Design on the 1951 flag

In the end of the 1940s, the political need had arised to have somewhat visually different designs of the flags of the USSR republics, especially for those being the UN members. For the BSSR flag, the image of the Belarusian folk design had been finally chosen as a distinctive feature of the flag. Then the picture of the embroidery on the «ruchnik» (handtowel) had been found in the pre-WW2 archives of the Belpramsavyet. The embroidery had been made in 1917 by peasant Ms. Matrona Markyevich of the village Kastsilishcha of the Sennin region, and had been named «The Rising Sun». Artist M. I. Gusyew had prepared the project of the BSSR flag, basing it on the embroidery, with several symbolic elements added.

Symbolically, the design on the BSSR flag is decoded as follows (considering design strip positioned horizontally):

• the central rombe figure symbolises the rising Sun;
• the horn-like figures to the left and right of it symbolise wealth and welfare;
• the figure inside of the rombe is the «key to happiness»;
• the rectangular figure with the smaller rectangulars adjoining from the left and right is the «votive sign», expressing the desire for fulfilling of the hopes;
• the pattern figure symbolises bread (that was absent from the original embroidery, added after some discussion) ;

Note: All proper names and places' names in this article are rendered in BGN/PCGN.

References

• Басаў А. Н., Куркоў І. М., Флагі Беларусі ўчора і сёння / Пер. А. Н. Найдовіч. – Мн.: Полымя, 1994. ISBN 5-345-00730-6

See also

• Flag of the Soviet Union
• Coat of arms of the Byelorussian SSR
• Flag of Belarus