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Ukrainian national symbols and what they mean. Symbols in Ukrainian folk culture

Every nation has its own symbols. If they say maple, then this is about the sign of Canada.

Vegetative symbols of Ukraine include viburnum, willow, oak, poplar, periwinkle, marigolds. Since ancient times they personify the beauty of Ukraine, the spiritual fortress of the people, testify to the love for the homeland.

There are many legends about folk symbols, they are sung in songs. They are used in rituals, customs, they are embroidered on shirts, towels. National symbols are our shrines.

Since ancient times, the most respected tree in Ukraine has been the most respected tree in Ukraine. willow.

“Without willow and viburnum, Ukraine is lacking,” says a folk saying. More than 30 species of this tree are represented in Ukraine. They say: “Where there is water, there is willow.” It fastens the banks with its roots, purifies the water.

When they dug a well, they threw a ball of willow logs to purify the water. A willow plank was placed in a bucket of water, and a mug was placed on it for drinking water. It was a kind of folk hygiene.
Under the willows, young people made a date, declared their love.
A large number of songs have been composed about the quiet, modest willow. The spirit of the Lion Nymph lives in the Ukrainian willow. Bowed willow branches evoke sadness and sadness.

Poplar is also a Ukrainian folk symbol. With a slender poplar, a flexible girlish camp and an unhappy girlish fate were compared. Many songs have been written about poplar, legends have been composed.

***
In one village lived a beautiful young girl named Fields and a brave guy named Striba. They loved each other. One day, the elders asked Strib to run to a neighboring village to find out if it was calm there. Striba ran, but, before reaching the village, he saw many enemies. Faster than the wind, he ran home, told everyone about how many enemies he had seen.

People decided to hide their livestock, property and wait in the mountains until the enemies leave their land. The god of lightning and thunder Perun saw people and decided to find out what happened and why they are here. Descending to the ground, Perun heard what the people told him. And here he saw Paul. He liked her utterly, and he said: "This girl is so beautiful that I will take her as my wife."
People were delighted, because not everyone is given such a high patron. And Striba, having heard, fell into a swoon. Seeing this, Perun said: "I see that you cannot build your grace on someone else's mountain. Therefore, let it be a draw." He hit the ground with a stick and where the girl stood, a slender green tree grew. People who were closer saw what happened, and those who were farther asked: "Where is Polya?" And they heard in response: “That’s the Fields.” And Perun took Strib with him and made him the God of the earthly winds ...
***

Always loved in Ukraine and healing beauty viburnum, which is a symbol of girlish beauty and tenderness. She grew up around every house.

It is beautiful both at the time of flowering, and when its leaves turn purple in autumn, and in winter, when its berries turn red against the background of white snow.

Girls embroidered viburnum on shirts, it was woven into a wreath. From a sprig of viburnum, a father made a flute to his son, and a little pigtail (crib) to baby girls.

Kalina is sung in songs, legends have been written about her. One of them tells how the beautiful young Kalina led the busurman enemies into the swamp. Many of them died, but the young beauty also died. At the place of her death, a bush grew, which, in honor of the girl, was called viburnum.

A wedding loaf was decorated with viburnum. A bouquet of oak and viburnum twigs was placed on the table in front of the young people. And on a wedding towel (towel) they embroidered viburnum with oak as symbols of girlish beauty and tenderness and masculine strength and strength.
A viburnum bush was also planted on the grave of a Cossack or Chumak who died.

The symbol of strength, power, longevity is oak.

Oak lives for a long time. A 1300-year-old Oak known in Ukraine, which grows in the city of Yuzefin, Rivne region. In with. Upper Khortytsya grows 800-year-old oak. The girth of its trunk is 8m. During a thunderstorm, electric discharges are most "attracted" by oak. Out of 100 lightning strikes on trees, 54 fall on oak.

Mothers embroidered oak leaves on their shirts for their sons so that the child would be strong and strong. They slept on oak furniture, which, according to legend, added strength during sleep. Oak, like other folk symbols, has healing properties. In the oak forest, people who suffer from heart disease feel good.

There are in Ukraine and symbolic plants. One of my favorite - periwinkle.

that plant was named so in honor of the love of the young man Bara and the girl Venka. A wedding loaf is decorated with periwinkle, it is planted around the house. Periwinkle is woven into a wreath by girls. It turns green even under the snow. Periwinkle is a symbol of love.

There are also many symbols in Ukraine animals. In princely times, the favorite animal was bull.

In Cossack times - horse.

In many thoughts, songs, the Cossack was sung, and his horse was also remembered here.

But the most beloved animal symbols of Ukraine are birds. People believed that in the spring the souls of the dead in the form of birds return to earth. And since these are the souls of the dead, where do they belong? In Paradise. And they return in the fall to paradise. Obviously, these two words formed warmer climes". And God entrusted the keys with the help of warm Edges to the cuckoo, - the legend says.

Opens cuckoo warm edges with keys, releases birds according to their turn on the ground. And in addition, God instructed the cuckoo to make people live long years. And she must fly to warmer climes earlier to meet other birds. Therefore, she does not have time to hatch the chicks and throws eggs into other people's nests. But be that as it may, no one ever spoke badly about the cuckoo in Ukraine. In folk songs, she was compared to a mother who takes care of her children;

Favorite bird is stork .

He was named in honor of the deity of goodness and love - Lelya. Well, as you know, children are born with the help of love. So the stork brings them to our homes.
They once said how long Lel lives in the soul of a good person, and the stork builds a nest in the yard of good people.

The symbol of melancholy in Ukraine is crane.

The chirping of cranes evokes sadness.

The mother's symbol is martin.

If the mother was dying, then the children put a swallow in her coffin, and they put an inverted rake on the gate and attached a swallow on top. So they stood for 40 days and everyone who walked past the courtyard knew that the one who supported the whole family had died. The fortress will be associated with the swallow, believe me.

The Ukrainian people are utterly melodious. An old legend tells about a bird, whose songs have become a translation for the bird style of the songs of our Motherland. This bird is nightingale

Old people said that once upon a time this beautiful bird did not visit Ukraine. Nested in distant lands and did not know the way there. But since the nightingales were utterly melodious, they flew all over the world and collected songs of all peoples for the Indian king.
One nightingale also flew to Ukraine, but there was nothing in the villages.

Why don't people live here? thought the nightingale. - No songs, no music is heard. But the sun went down, and people began to return home together. Songs were heard here and there. But the songs were sad. Hard work took all the strength. Here the nightingale sang and cheered them up. They forgot to love fatigue and sang to their overseas guest.

From all lands, nightingales flocked to the royal garden, with the songs they brought. But all this was already familiar to the king and he was angry. And then a nightingale from Ukraine sang under the windows, and the ruler lost his peace. In addition, he did not hear such songs - and ordered that nightingale to sing songs at night ...

Surprised, the nightingales flew together to Ukraine in the spring, to listen to these songs, translate them into a bird syllable, to sing in distant India. In Ukraine, they hatch chicks to continue the family where they heard the best songs in the world.

Do not count all those legends, fairy tales, songs, poems about symbols dear and dear to the Ukrainian heart. They are reproduced in embroideries on shirts and towels. Our key!

First, a boring but important paragraph. The official state symbols on our cheerful planet are the flag, anthem and coat of arms. The latter may also include a motto. This whole collection (a piece of cloth, a song and a picture) is created not only to have something to hang over the parliament or sing in stadiums. Most often, state symbols (which, in general, are characteristic of symbols as such) have a special meaning. In this case, a fundamental historical myth is fixed. As I demonstrated earlier, the fact that the USSR added the whole planet Earth to the coat of arms does not mean the desire of the artist to demonstrate his ability to draw circles, but the desire of the communists to spread the revolution to the whole world. The fact that two keys are drawn on the coat of arms of the Vatican under the papal tiara - from Paradise and Rome, unequivocally hints at where the owner of the white hat is located and what power he has. The fact that modern Russia has a flag like that of the Russian Empire, and a coat of arms like that of the Russian Empire, but the anthem is from those cheerful guys who, in the basement of a private house in Yekaterinburg, shot down all hopes for the restoration of this very empire, then this is already not a foundation and not a myth, but simply absurdity. One eagle head looks at the throne, the other - into the basement. In which direction to fly - it is not clear. We go to the instruments.

Even the Russians themselves intuitively feel this contradiction. Here, let's say, ahem, ahem, journalist Kashin is upset that the Russian anthem is not sung in the squares. As a replacement for the post-Soviet anthem, Kashin considers about ten melodies, including “Motherland” by “Civil Defense” and “This train is on fire” by the Aquarium group. Nevertheless, the journalist sadly concludes, ahem, none of the proposed options falls short “neither of the German anthem, nor of the Polish, nor even of the Ukrainian one.” What a pity. Kashin's conclusion: "That is, the Russians and Russia do not have a potential anthem and, possibly, a future."

Regarding the last sentence. Nonsense and wild, of course. Russia has an anthem even now. Its only and main problem is that it does not fit into an integral historical myth. That is why Mikhalkov's poems to the music of the USSR anthem will never become the main musical work of modern Russia. The problem is not in the melody - in the absence of a system.

Vladimir Cherna Book

Unbelievable, but true: unlike Russia, it was the chaotic, unsystematic, anarchist-gouging country called Ukraine that managed to put together an ideal system of state symbols. Moreover, all these symbols are tightly linked to the historical myth into a wonderful semantic system, which over the past year has strengthened to the strength of iridium. I repeat: all the key moments of Ukrainian history are somehow integrated into modern state symbols.

The chain of key moments of the Ukrainian historical myth at the moment looks like this: Kievan Rus - Zaporizhzhya Cossacks - UNR - World War II (with the UPA and Ukrainians in the Red Army) - independence - the war in Donbass. Viktor Yushchenko, when he was president, tried to integrate the Trypillian culture into this chain, but he failed to shove the unimpressed: well, the people of Trypillya had nothing to do with the Slavs, and therefore with the Ukrainians, no matter how hard you crack, Viktor Andreevich.

Let's go down the list from the beginning. Kievan Rus is firmly enshrined in the state symbols of Ukraine with the coat of arms of the country, the heraldic (this is important) trident (“trident”). The clarification about heraldry is important, because the Ukrainian emblem-trident has nothing to do with the trident-weapon. Well, the ancient Slavs did not use tridents and that's it. Here the Romans used it, and the Chinese too, and even the ninja turtles used it, but the Slavs did not.

The heraldic trident in its current form is almost an exact copy of the personal sign of Vladimir the Great, the baptizer of Rus'. This trident, like Vladimir Svyatoslavovich himself, descended from Prince Svyatoslav the Brave, whose personal sign was a bident. Vladimir slightly changed his father's "signature" by adding a third "tooth" to it. So more than a thousand years ago, the future coat of arms of Ukraine appeared. The descendants of Vladimir from the Rurik dynasty in every possible way finalized the “signature” of their ancestor, carrying out a kind of rebranding of the symbol, in which, nevertheless, the features of Svyatoslav’s bident and the trident of his son were guessed.

A separate footnote for those who like to drive common sense over zaumi bumps. Of course, in a number of cultures, the trident is a symbol of dark forces and the other world. Of course, it is with the trident pitchfork that the devils in hell stuff the souls of sinners into the cauldrons. Yes, the pagan god Zeus was depicted with a trident, and the no less pagan Poseidon, and, of course, Shiva, where without him. And... and what?

Of course, it can be assumed that Vladimir Krasno Solnyshko was actually Vladimir Chern Knizhenka, and deliberately chose the satanic symbol as his sign. Then let's admit that Rus' was baptized by a Satanist, and the Russian Orthodox Church recognized the Satanist as a saint and equal to the apostles, and this will end the discussion. And to look for a Hindu semantic load in the coat of arms of the Kyiv prince of the 10th century is a perversion for completely sick bastards. With the same success, you can pull an owl on a globe and report that Russia has an eagle on its coat of arms, and the United States has an eagle, and the Third Reich also had an eagle, and the Sumerians and Seljuk Turks have a double-headed one, but this does not follow that Russia is a country of American-Sumerian Seljuk Nazis. After - does not mean as a result, there is such a logical principle.

Let's go back to Ukraine and the trident. The origin of the coat of arms of Ukraine from the personal symbol of Prince Volodymyr is directly fixed in the Constitution: “The head element of the great Sovereign Emblem of Ukraine is the Badge of the Princely State of Volodymyr the Great (maliy Sovereign Emblem of Ukraine)”. That is, Ukraine officially declares the continuity of the modern state from Kievan Rus. Remember and move on down the list of key moments of the historical myth. The next station is the Zaporozhye Cossacks.

"... In front - Poroshenko ..."

... And immediately a clarification: not the Cossacks themselves as such, but the state formation of the Zaporozhye Host, in Ukrainian historiography - the Hetmanate. This cheerful state with borders blurred in the spirit of that time, chaos and militocracy (the power of the military, or, in other words, the junta), dear to the heart of any Ukrainian, left a good memory on Ukrainian lands and not very good memory on all neighboring ones. Which, however, is typical of most militocratic states.

The Zaporizhian Cossacks trampled on not only in most of Eastern Europe. It left a notable trace in the history of Ukraine, becoming, in fact, its main spiritual symbol. Daring, chaotic, barbaric, "three Cossacks - two hetmans" - modern Ukraine was reflected in the Zaporozhye Cossacks, as in a mirror.

There are, in fact, not so many single symbols of the Zaporizhian Army. The Cossacks did not have a common coat of arms, but there were seals. Oddly enough, a Cossack was most often depicted on them. In full growth, with a saber on his side and with a musket (self-propelled gun) on his shoulder. We will put it aside for now, along with the saber and musket, while we ourselves remember other symbols.

Again, the Zaporizhian Army as a state did not have a common flag, but there was (although not always) a Great banner that was the same for the entire army:

And the regiments, kurens and palanoks had other, small banners, of a wide variety of colors.

Especially often there were yellow or white symbols on a blue or crimson background. For the time being, we will set aside the yellow-blue banners for the Cossack, musket and saber, while we ourselves will deal with the crimson flags.

On the banners (including the Great Banner), the following symbols were most often found: the Cossack cross, the crescent, the hexagonal star. The use of a six-pointed star in modern Ukrainian symbolism has been out of the question since the beginning of the 19th century, when this symbol was finally assigned to the Jews. A similar story with the crescent moon: in the same nineteenth century, this symbol was assigned to the Ottoman Empire, and from there it passed to Turkey, its numerous Muslim neighbors and former subjects, such as Azerbaijan, Libya, Tunisia and Algeria. The fact that these symbols became one of the state symbols in Orthodox Ukraine of the twentieth century was out of the question.

Another thing is the cross.

Its special shape and historical background made it the main symbol of Ukrainian military glory. Therefore, the Cossack cross takes its place of honor exactly where it should: on the emblems and flags of the Ukrainian military and security forces. On the crimson flag of the Ukrainian army, like five centuries ago, there is again a yellow Cossack cross. He is on the flags of the Air Force, the Ministry of Emergencies, the SBU, the National Guard, border guards, and even for some reason at the penitentiary service. Only policemen stood out (they have a strange eight-pointed star of forty-eight rays), as well as sailors. Unlike our valiant police, in the case of the fleet, everything is just logical: the naval flag of Ukraine comes from the Cossack military naval banner granted to the Liman (Black Sea) flotilla of the Faithful Cossacks by Empress Catherine II in 1787.

In 1918, under Hetman Skoropadsky, the flag derived from the Cossack became the symbol of the fleet of the Ukrainian State. Under Skoropadsky, the blue cross acquired additional thin stripes along the edges, and a blue-yellow state flag with a trident appeared in the upper left corner.

In 1992, a group of naval officers, who were developing new symbols for the fleet of independent Ukraine, unanimously recommended that the flag developed under Skoropadsky be accepted unchanged. Later, changes were nevertheless made by removing the cross above the trident. It was in this form that the flag of the Ukrainian Navy was first raised on the landing ship "Donetsk" in the Crimea (irony of fate, damn it). A few years later, the flag of Ukraine disappeared from the naval flag, and then reappeared, but without the princely trident. It still exists in this form.

On the emblem of the Navy, by the way, is the same crimson Cossack cross.

Where else do we have Cossacks, except for the crosses on the emblems? Well, of course, in music. In the national anthem: "I'll show you, brother, the Cossack family." In the modern version of the anthem, by the way, only the first verse of the poem by Pavel Chubinsky is used, while in other verses there are flashes of “Moskal filth”, and “Bogdan, glorious ataman”, coupled with “cossackdom”. And the “Zaporozhye March”, also known as the “Cossack March”, is one of the main marches of the Ukrainian army. Let's not forget about the armed Cossack with the blue and yellow banner put aside and move on to the next key moments of Ukrainian history - the twentieth century.

Three "HP"

Actually, back in the middle of the 19th century, Ukrainians created and consolidated the so-called ethnic colors. The processes in the East and West of Ukraine, despite the fact that they were in different states, went along different roads to one point. On the lands of the Hetmanate (Centre and East), since the 18th century, a kind of standard for Cossack flags and coats of arms was established - golden symbols on a blue field. And a century later, in 1848, regardless of the Cossack traditions, in Western Ukraine, together with the national revival, the blue-yellow flags of the Russian kingdom resurrected from historical non-existence (Regnum Russiæ, in Ukrainian historiography - the Galicia-Volyn power, disappeared in the second half of the XIV century) . On the flag of the Russian kingdom, on a blue field, a golden lion was depicted, contrary to the laws of zoology, climbing a rock. During the Austrian "Spring of Nations" in 1848, a yellow lion on a blue background became the Ukrainian ethnic symbol, and blue-yellow (and yellow-blue) flags became the Ukrainian ethnic banner.

With the beginning of the collapse of the Russian Empire, blue and yellow colors as a symbol of the Ukrainian nation began to be used everywhere. It was also used by the UNR - the Ukrainian People's Republic, formed in 1917 as an autonomy within Russia. True, the Central Rada of the UNR was not in a hurry to fix the bicolor at the documentary level, so they managed to overtake them ... the communists. In December 1917, another UNR, the Soviet one, was proclaimed in Kharkov, which later, in order to avoid confusion, became known as the SUNR, then the UNSR, then the UNRS (as we see, it was not very possible to get rid of the confusion). This UNR(C) used a red flag with a yellow and blue national flag in the roof (that is, the upper left corner).

In 1918, it happened ... yes, a lot of things happened that year, but we are only interested in the Ukrainian Central Rada, which in mid-January adopted the blue and yellow naval flag with the golden trident of Volodymyr the Great. Finally it happened - the Ukrainian national colors merged with the future national coat of arms. A little later, after the maritime flag, the blue-and-yellow state flag was adopted, and at the same time the trident coat of arms. And a little later, having kicked each other, both UNRs were annihilated by the German allies of that UNR, which is without the migrating letter "C". The new state formation, the Ukrainian State, also known as the Second Hetmanate, headed by (surprise!) a hetman named Skoropadsky, left the blue-and-yellow flag unchanged, but approved the coat of arms corresponding to the rank - on a blue background, a golden Cossack with a saber and a musket (remember, did we put it aside?), and above the heraldic shield there is a golden trident.

Then the German allies left (World War I ended in defeat for them), Petlyura came instead, after which Skoropadsky signed a abdication and left after the Germans. In Kyiv, the UNR was again proclaimed under the control of the Directory, the flag of the UNR is still blue and yellow, the coat of arms is a golden trident on a blue field.

In parallel, the ZUNR was proclaimed in the West of Ukraine. The flag of the ZUNR is still the same blue and yellow as that of the Kyiv "colleagues". The coat of arms is a Galician golden lion on a blue background. And at the very beginning of 1919, the trident officially became the emblem of the West of the country. The Act of Zluka was signed between the UNR and the ZUNR, according to which the ZUNR was simply part of the UNR. Under the Act was sealed with a trident. From now on, it began to be used in Western Ukraine not only as a state emblem, but also as a national symbol.

Then there was a sad story. Instead of a banal civil war on the territory of Ukraine, hell has already begun, with the capture of Kiev back and forth, by Poles, Romanians, Czechs, communists, anarchists, White Guards, the remnants of the UNR army, just bandits and ideological bandits. From time to time on the territory of present-day Ukraine there were up to two dozen different smaller Ukraines. Sometimes there were so many Ukrainians that they climbed to the Kuban and Belarus. How it all ended, we know. The blue-yellow flag is prohibited, the flag of the Ukrainian SSR is first red, and then blue-red with a golden hammer and sickle. And an asterisk.

Trident joined NATO

Actually, by the middle of the twentieth century, Ukrainians already had an inseparable and harmonious system of national symbols. Moreover, this system, even though the Ukrainians did not have their own state, was recognizable all over the world. A vivid example.

The Italian Expeditionary Corps in Russia (CSIR), also known as the 8th Italian Army, during the Second World War pretty much got caught on the territory of the Ukrainian SSR. The Italians helped to occupy Odessa, took Stalino (now Donetsk), Gorlovka and Yenakiyevo (now Gorlovka and Yenakiyevo), then, to their misfortune, left Ukraine and went to Stalingrad. Near Stalingrad, the Italians, together with the Germans, got hurt in the ears, were surrounded and partially evacuated back to their homeland. The rest either evacuated ten years later, after captivity, or fertilized the Russian land.

It would seem that the heroic walk through the southern and eastern lands of the Ukrainian SSR, which turned into a collapse near Stalingrad, could not be associated with Italians with anything other than red hammer and sickle flags and shouts of “Za rodinu, mat’ vashu!”. An no. After the "Russian campaign" in the emblems of those units that were part of the Expeditionary Force, new symbols were introduced, meaning the heroic victories of Italian soldiers on the lands of the Ukrainian SSR. The symbol of this very Ukrainian SSR, by the way, at that time for a couple of decades was the red flag with the corresponding abbreviation and - since 1937 - in addition to the hammer and sickle. It was these flags that the Italians tore off the buildings in the captured cities.

But on the emblems of the Italian regiments - a completely different sign. Here he is:

And, of course, gaining independence - only under the "blakitno-zhovtim" and "trident". No other way.

The war in the Donbass, of course, did not affect the system of symbols of the fifty million nation, which had been established for a century. Seeing such photographs from the captured cities of Donbass is painful, but not fatal for a long time.

The current war has taken nothing away from the nation, but it has provided a potential motto, brash and therefore wonderful, “Glory to Ukraine.” Even the war gave us a single pantheon of heroes and common enemies. The Second World War divided the single historical myth of the nation into two opposite directions: there - the rebels, and there - the Red Army. Now the heroes are alone again - ATO soldiers. And their flag is not red-black and not scarlet, but blue-yellow. Correct.

But I'm not used to ending texts on an uplifting note, but I'm used to kicking someone. I would like to kick (this is at least) each of the people's deputies of Ukraine of all convocations since 1996 inclusive, who did not bother to accept the Great State Emblem of Ukraine, enshrined in the twentieth article of the Constitution. Here he is in the picture.

Remember, we put the armed Cossack aside? So here it is again. And the Galician lion is right there, and the seal of Volodymyr the Great, and the blue and yellow ribbon - all the key moments of Ukrainian history, all the symbols of Ukraine (except for the anthem, of course) are logically combined here into one system. The only thing, in the light of the war, I would add a little dill to viburnum and wheat - just to annoy you-know-whom. For taste. And so everything is fine. Perfect system. And the motto on the ribbon can again be added. For example, in Latin. "Gloria Ucraina" - does it sound?

P.S.: Oh, I decided to kick some more “shifters”. Well, those who are not for the blue-yellow flag, but for the yellow-blue. Darlings, since the appearance of the word "Ukraine", Ukrainians have used the yellow-blue flag only in the following cases:
- until 1918, that is, until the blue and yellow flag was legally fixed as the state symbol of the UNR;
- during the Second World War - but only members and associates of the OUN (M), which most closely collaborated with the Nazis;
- in any year between these points and after them - out of ignorance, natural stupidity or because of a combination of these factors (I remembered at school that “yellow-black”, so let it hang, what's the difference).

Choose, my dears, which of the indicated points makes you ardently desire to continue to turn the flag over and finally do something useful. If you want to turn something over, turn over the piggy bank and give the money that has fallen to the army. There will be more benefits. I said everything.

Today we will try to tell you about the state symbols of Ukraine. This is a country with an interesting and original history, and Ukrainian symbols are rooted in ancient times. As you will learn later, some signs have been known since the early Middle Ages.

We will try to trace the history of the formation of each of the national symbols, completing the sections with a description of modern state attributes. You will also learn about the symbols of the President of Ukraine.

State symbols

The Constitution of Ukraine legally defines the following State symbols of Ukraine: the state flag, the state anthem and the state emblem.

All these attributes were adopted, in accordance with the resolution of the Verkhovna Rada, in January - February 1992. Only the final text of the anthem was approved in March 2003.

Below we will consider Ukrainian symbols in more detail. Photos of various state signs will be given in the relevant sections.

The history of the origin of the coat of arms

The oldest symbol was first mentioned on the seals of the princes of the Rurik family. But there were different versions of bidents and tridents. Each new prince tried to make his own changes to this symbol. The most similar version of the badge is the seal of Volodymyr the Great.

Where did this image come from anyway? Researchers offer us two versions. According to the first, this is a slightly modified two-pronged sign of the Khazar Khaganate, which is found in large numbers on coins and vessels.

The second option is more plausible. Based on the fact that Rurik came to Rus' from Scandinavia, many in his squad wore the protective sign "Thor's hammer". It later evolved into a stylized falcon that swoops down to attack its prey.

It is this version that is today the most historical. There is, however, another option. Some researchers see a combination of pitchfork, anchor and scepter in the trident. There is even a reading of the encrypted word "will" in the curlicues of this sign.

Thus, the indisputable fact is only that this symbol belongs to the eighth to tenth century.

After the collapse of Kievan Rus, this symbol also disappears for several centuries. The seal depicts a crowned lion, and in the Zaporizhzhya army, a Cossack with a musket was a distinctive sign.

In the process of joining some lands to Muscovy, all symbols were replaced by a double-headed eagle.

The return to the trident occurs only during the Ukrainian People's Republic. Further, it is replaced by a golden lion and a Cossack on a blue background in the Ukrainian state and a hammer and sickle in the Soviet Union.

The final restoration of the trident took place only in 1992. But this will be discussed further.

Modern coat of arms

The first national symbol of Ukraine, which we started talking about, we have previously reviewed a brief history of its formation. In the modern state, theoretically, this symbol consists of the Great and Small coats of arms. But in fact only the latter exists. The Greater Coat of Arms is still at the stage of the bill.

Judging by its text, it should have a trident, as a symbol of Volodymyr the Great, a Cossack with a musket (Zaporozhian army) and a lion with a crown (a sign of the Galicia-Volyn state).

The small coat of arms was approved in February 1992 by a decree of the Verkhovna Rada. It depicts the sign of the Kyiv prince Vladimir the Great, who baptized Rus' in 988.

There are official color and black and white versions of the Small Coat of Arms, a separate sign of Prince Vladimir and a detailed scheme for constructing the coat of arms.

Flags in different periods of history

As we have already seen, the national symbols of Ukraine have changed in different periods of history. The flag was no exception. The colors that adorn the cloth today were only re-adopted after the collapse of the Soviet Union, in 1992. What happened before this?

The Lviv banner (a yellow lion on an azure background) was the first documented evidence of such a coloration. This event refers to the distant year 1410, when the Battle of Grunwald took place.

The Hetmanate of 1755-64 had standards with the same colors. The first actual use of two horizontal stripes was the flag of the Black Sea Cossack army, which Alexander I awarded him.

In 1848, these colors are used by the Lviv Main Russian Rada, during the revolution in the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

During the Soviet Union, the main color was red, but until 1941, Subcarpathian Rus had a blue and yellow flag.

Modern national flag

So, the national symbol of Ukraine, which we are talking about now, is the flag. Earlier, we considered the various stages of its development.

Now it is important to make a remark regarding its exact coloring. It is only defined in the Pantone Matching System. There, the yellow corresponds to the shade with the code "Pantone Coated Yellow 012 C", and the blue corresponds to "Pantone Coated 2935 C".

If you do not know this specificity, then the flags of several cities and regions may seem like an exact copy. Among them are such cities as Bieberbach an der Risse, Chemnitz, Gryfow Slensky, the Herrera region, Lower Austria and others. Also, a similar flag was until 1918 in the Duchy of Brunswick.

The official version of the decoding of flowers is a blue sky over a yellow field of wheat.

History of the anthem

The state symbols of Ukraine also include the anthem. The history of its writing goes back to 1862. Then the Ukrainian poet and folklorist Chubinsky wrote the famous poem "Ukraine has not died yet."

Judging by the recollections of eyewitnesses, the writing was influenced especially by the Serbian national song. Although, upon closer examination, the Ukrainian anthem very much resembles the Polish “Dombrovsky March”.

Chubinsky's poem was first published in 1863 in a Lvov magazine. Over time, it becomes quite popular in Western Ukraine. It was at this time that Verbitsky became interested in him, who performed this composition for the first time in Przemysl.

From 1917 until 1939 this song was used as the national anthem. In Soviet times, when national Ukrainian symbols were not very welcomed, there was a different composition, to the words of Tychyna, and in 1992 the old anthem was restored.

As you have seen, the symbols of Ukraine are often similar to the attributes of other peoples. Let's take a few examples.

The Ukrainian anthem is reminiscent of the Polish anthem "Jeszcze Polska nie zginęła", based on the "Dąbrowski March". The Illyrian Croatian movement had a similar song - "Još Hrvatska ni propala".

All these compositions are united by one idea - the people's movement in the struggle for independence.

State symbols of the President of Ukraine

The state symbols of Ukraine also include the symbols of the head of state. These include the standard, badge and mace. Let's talk more about each of them.

The presidential standard is a blue canvas, in the center of which is the symbol of Ukraine - a trident. The cloth is made in the form of a square with a gold trim and fringe. Its handle is wooden, and the pommel is in the form of an onyx ball.

Until 1999, it was the only one. But then the shaft was made very richly and skillfully, and the canvas was simple. Today, the fabric is embroidered on special equipment. On one side, over a million stitches were made with a thread of pure and yellow gold. The trident, in view of the used lining, received volume.

A similar technique has been used to create flags in the UK, France and the US.

What is the Ukrainian symbolism of the head of state without the traditional hetman's mace? This insignia is made of and decorated with a special ornament and precious stones.

The handle of the seal is decorated with lapis lazuli and resembles a picture of our planet from space. The seal depicts a small coat of arms and the inscription "President of Ukraine".

The badge of the president is made in the form of an order chain with 6 medallions.

Thus, in this article, we got acquainted with the Ukrainian state symbols.

Symbols make up the history of the people, reflect their way of life. Ukrainians, as a nation of farmers, have the sun, the earth with all its properties, ears of corn in the language of symbols. The Trypillia culture is very rich in symbols: it was designated at the end of the 19th century. researcher-archaeologist V. Khvoyka, not far from the village. Tripoli, on the Dnieper, as a result of which it got its name. This culture was geographically characteristic of the Right-bank Ukraine, from the Dnieper to the Danube. It was characterized by a very high level of development, spiritual and economic.
Many symbols that live to this day originated from there and are inherent in their worldview. For him, the perception of the Universe as a whole was especially characteristic, and in the images it was three-dimensional. This is clearly seen in the ceramics of that time. Thus, Heaven as the highest level was depicted by a wavy line at the top of the dish. Under it were the Heavenly Forces, that is, the sun, stars, moon, which create the cycle of life in nature. Even lower is the Underworld, which is visible as two parallel lines. We can now see these symbols in Ukrainian folk art. The traditions of the Trypillian culture in pottery are especially well preserved: almost all the dishes are painted like that time. In embroidery, you can often find the Tree of Life - a favorite symbol of Ukrainians. Also, embroiderers, for example, love and revere the image of the Great Mother, the Protector of the Family: it is often found on embroidered shirts, towels, shirts, and is composed of geometric motifs.

Egg

A rich symbol is the egg - a sign of the immortality of the soul, life and the universe. This favorite symbol of Ukrainians has been with them for a very long time. A researcher dealing with the issue of symbols believes that Easter eggs were in the days of paganism and were a sign of a solar cult. If the birds were the messengers of the spring resurrection of nature and man, then their eggs are a symbol of the sun, rebirth, life. The same researchers are inclined to believe that pysanka has more than 100 symbolic images. So, krivulka, she is endless to them, as a symbol of the beginning and end, meant the thread of life, the eternal movement of the sun. Trigver, also known as a tripod, as some scientists believed, denoted the sky, air and earth, while others believed that it was a symbol of air, fire and water. Still others saw in it a symbol of life, and there were those who interpreted it as a sign of heaven, earth and hell. The gamut of colors of pysanka also carried its symbols. For example, red meant the joy of life, love, yellow meant the harvest, month and stars, green meant the plant world in all its wealth, rebirth or Sunday, blue meant clear skies and health, earth meant bronze, respect for the souls of deceased relatives was black -white. Ukrainians believed that Easter eggs had great magical powers. They were used as a sign of love, giving to the chosen person. Traditional medicine pumped them out of the disease. Easter eggs also played a big role in the economy: the consecrated symbols were buried in the ground, which was supposed to bring a rich harvest, they were put in a coffin, or in a manger for livestock. Pysanka husks were thrown on the roof of the house - fortunately. Over time, Christianity came to Ukraine, and this changed some positions in the worldview, including the symbolism of pysanka. Now she carried joy and faith in the Resurrection of Christ. The towel was considered another national amulet. The whole life of Ukrainians is very closely connected with this subject: bread and salt served on an embroidered towel is a sign of hospitality, high respect for the guest. The appearance of babies was also accompanied by a towel; That is, the entire life path of a person was associated with this deep symbol. Depending on what the goal was set when creating the towel, the embroidery on it was also different: colors, symbols, location of the thread, and the like. By color and pattern itself, one could read stories of love, friendship, sadness.

Wreath

Another traditional amulet was considered a wreath. Interestingly, not only girls could decorate themselves with it, but they often used it in decorating their homes and interiors. His image could be found on the same embroidery, tablecloths, towels, clothes. And it’s impossible to imagine the holiday of Ivan Kupala without wreaths - what are Kupala fortune-telling without them! Unmarried girls floated wreaths on the water that very night, from the sixth to the seventh of July, and waited with bated breath who would catch him: after all, he would become her companion for life. According to Ukrainian folk belief, a wreath woven from fresh flowers will protect a girl from trouble and bad thoughts. The flowers in the wreath were very diverse - up to 12 different types of this living beauty could be woven, because each flower also had its own meaning: the rose symbolized love; cornflower meant simplicity and tenderness; white lily - purity, innocence, she was, according to beliefs, the flower of the Virgin Mary. Chamomile carried peace and tenderness, immortelle - health, peony - longevity, mallow - beauty, but coldness, viburnum - girlish beauty and is generally a symbol of Ukraine. A periwinkle must be woven into the wedding wreath - this is a symbol of true and eternal love. Such a wreath is a wonderful amulet against trouble and the evil eye.

The wreaths were very nice with colored ribbons tied to them. Their color and place in the wreath also had their own meanings. In the center there should be a light brown ribbon - it symbolizes the land-nurse; on the sides of it are two yellow ribbons - this is a sign of the sun; further light green and dark green ribbons are wildlife, beauty, youth. Then blue and blue - water and sky. Further, on one side, orange is bread, on the other, purple is a sign of reason, raspberry is sincerity, pink is wealth. White ribbons are knitted from the very edges - a symbol of purity. The sun was sewn on the bottom of the left ribbon, the moon on the right.

Plants

Symbolic and plant world in Ukraine. There are plants that everyone loves, and there are those that they try to avoid. So, favorite plants for Ukrainians are willow, sunflower, periwinkle, and, of course, viburnum. Willow, for example, is a symbol of fertility, beauty, continuity of life. It is a very stable, fertile and unpretentious plant - it can take root everywhere, a tree grows out of it in the simplest conditions. In Ukraine, willow was considered a sacred tree, and the sixth week of fasting before Easter was called Verbny - this week they sanctified willow, the branches of which then served as a talisman for people.
Periwinkle was considered a symbol of eternity: its small, inconspicuous flowers have always adorned Ukrainian forests and groves, and they also contain a great healing power that heals diseases. That is why people gave this modest flower their love, which sings of it in folklore. Kalina has always been a symbol of beauty, happiness, love. Once upon a time, this plant was associated with a large fiery trinity - the Sun, Moon, Stars. The name viburnum comes from the ancient Sun-Kolo - it was believed that the plant was associated with the birth of the Universe. It was customary to plant Kalina near the house - this is how she protected the building. Beads were made from viburnum berries, she decorated wedding loaves, she was also in the bride's wreath. The sunflower was considered a symbol of the Sun, joy, life itself.

Birds

Among the birds, the most beloved bird, without a doubt, was the famous stork - a symbol of parental love, family values, fertility. He gave the family well-being, peace, symbolized love for his native land. The yard where the stork chose a place for his nest was happy, because he was bypassed by adversity, grief and illness. Those who took it upon themselves to destroy the stork's nest were to be punished by heavenly punishment with fire. The stork has always been a symbol of the rebirth of the earth, a harbinger of spring. In addition, he performed an important function - to bring children into the family. It was believed that if a girl sees a stork far in the sky for the first time in spring, then this year she will definitely get married, but if she sees her sitting in a nest, she will stay at home, in her parental family.

Symbols of statehood

Folk symbols have played a big role in the formation of symbols of power in different times.

The military foreman had his own signs of power, and her symbols were kleinods: a banner, a bunchuk, a mace with all its varieties, an inkwell, a seal and timpani. Kleinods were kept in the military treasury, in the Sich fortress. It was customary to make a mace, timpani and a wand in silver, the top of a bunchuk was usually made in gold.

The loss of the Kleinods was considered a great shame, these symbols were so important for the Sich. Kleinodes were first donated to the Zaporizhian Sich by the King of Poland, Stefan Batory, in 1576. The coat of arms of the Zaporizhian Sich was depicted on the Sich seal - it was a Cossack with a saber. It was the most important element of the coat of arms of the Zaporozhye Host itself, and later of the Hetmanate. Historians consider the date of formation of this coat of arms to be 1578, when the King of Poland, Stefan Batory, sent the coat of arms on a seal to the hetman of Zaporozhye, J. Orishovsky, along with other Kleinods. The oldest imprint of the seal with this Cossack with a musket can be seen on the universal of Hetman G. Loboda, published on August 31, 1595 in Korsun. So in the XVI-XVIII centuries. a Cossack with a musket was minted on the seals of the hetmans of Ukraine, the governing bodies of the Hetmanate, and others. It was displayed on the flags, regimental and hundreds - as indicated by the order of hetman K. Razumovsky.

The Galicia-Volyn state had its own symbol - the golden lion. For the first time, his image can be seen on the seal of the princes of Galicia-Volyn, Andrei II and Leo II. They called themselves the rulers of Rus', Vladimir and Galich. One version says that the lion came from the Romanovich dynasty, and from the first half of the 14th century. became the coat of arms of the state of Galicia-Volyn with Lviv as the administrative center. The oldest city seal, known to everyone, was with the image of a walking lion against the background of the city gates, which were open, with their three towers and loopholes, and it was attached to the parchment letter of the Lviv magistrate (1359).

Coat of arms

From the folk symbols of different times and from the signs of state formations in Ukraine, the symbols of the state of modern Ukraine arose and formed - its famous coat of arms and flag. In the Ukrainian coat of arms, the trident has become the main part - a symbol of power, a symbol of statehood, known since ancient times. Its appearance cannot be determined for sure, because it has been revered and known for a very long time - as a magical amulet, a sign of power. In the old cultural monuments of our era, you can see it, and the chronicles first mention it in the 10th century. Soon the trident became the coat of arms of the Kyiv state, it was depicted by the Rurikoviches as a family coat of arms, however, sometimes with minor changes. For the first time, the trident appeared on the press with Svyatoslav Igorevich, later - on the pieces of silver of Prince Vladimir. Regarding the origin of the trident, you can hear many different versions, both with religious and material history. It was on coins, on bricks - of the Church of the Tithes, on the tiles of the Assumption Church (Vladimir-Volynsky), on many other ruins of churches and fortresses, household items, and the like. When the Ukrainian state was reviving (February 12, 1918 - the Small Council of the UNR, March 22, 1918 - the Central Rada), the trident was approved as the main element of the coats of arms of the UNR, both small and large.

Vasily Krichevsky was the author of these projects. At the same time, the seal was also approved, also large and small, with the image of a trident. He was on credit notes (banknotes) of the state. The trident was kept as part of the coat of arms both during the time of the Hetmanate and during the period of the Directory. The emblem of the Ukrainian Black Sea Fleet is also a trident, however, like other various associations, national and church. On March 15, 1939, the trident was approved as the state emblem by the Seimas of Carpatho-Ukraine. The Soviet authorities banned the use of the image of the trident, because it was perceived as a symbol of Ukrainian independence, resistance and nationalism. But when the Ukrainian national statehood was restored, the Decree of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine "On the State Emblem of Ukraine" again approved the sign of a golden trident against a blue background, as a small State Emblem of Ukraine. It was considered a part, the main element of the large State Emblem. So the trident became the official sign of our country. This is confirmed by the Constitution of Ukraine.

Another very important symbol of the statehood of Ukraine is a Cossack with a musket. It was part of the image of the large coat of arms during the liberation struggle, today, according to the Constitution of Ukraine, it is part of the Great State Emblem (which, unfortunately, has not yet been approved).

Flag

Another state symbol based on national symbols is the national flag. This is a banner, which consists of two large equal horizontal parts, one blue, the other yellow. The ratio of its width to its length is 2:3. The yellow represents a field full of wheat, the sun; blue is the color of the free sky, clear water. Everything that supports life on earth.

That is why this combination of colors is life-affirming, life-giving and strong. These colors were already in the coat of arms of the Russian kingdom of the XIV century. They can be seen on the coats of arms of Russian lands, on the arms of princes, the gentry of the Middle Ages and early modern times. The flags of the Zaporizhia Army were made of blue linen, on which a knight is placed in gold or scarlet robes, with a gold ornament. The banner was the state flag of the Ukrainian People's Republic and in 1917-1921. In the Western Ukrainian People's Republic, the blue-yellow flag was proclaimed on November 13, 1918, and on March 15, 1939 - in Carpathian Ukraine.
The colors themselves and their order were approved by the Decree of the Ukrainian People's Rada (June 27, 1939): it indicated that blue and yellow were considered the main colors of the flag. The symbol of the Ukrainian national resistance during the 20th century was the white-haired man, during the opposition to the communist Soviet regime. On April 26, 1988, the national flag was raised for the first time in Ukraine - this was done by Yu. Voloshchuk in Lvov at a rally on the anniversary of the Chernobyl accident. On March 14, 1990, the national flag was raised in Stryi, the city that became the first Ukrainian, over the city council. Further, in March-April 1990, the blue-yellow flag was officially recognized in Ternopil, Lvov, Ivano-Frankivsk. The flag was raised near the city council building. And on August 23, 1991, this flag was introduced by a group of deputies into the session hall of the Verkhovna Rada. Later, this very day was fixed as the Day of the State Flag of Ukraine - by the Decree of the President of Ukraine L. Kuchma (dated August 23, 2004).

This Decree - in order to honor the history of the Ukrainian state, numbering many centuries, to cultivate respect among citizens for the state signs and symbols of Ukraine - established a new public holiday, the Day of the State Flag of Ukraine, on August 23. When the independence of Ukraine was proclaimed on September 4, 1991, the blue and yellow flag was raised over the parliament building. In 1992, the status of the state flag was officially and legally assigned to the blue and yellow flag. On February 12, 1992, the flag was hoisted on a sea merchant ship in Valencia, a Spanish port, this event was initiated by the captain of the m / v "Kremenchug" V. Kislovsky.

The decision to raise the flag on Ukrainian ships in general was made later. For the first time, it was officially solemnly raised on September 11, 1992 on the ship "Ivan Franko", Odessa port.

The whole life of a person goes along with symbols that remind him of his folk and spiritual roots, national identity and dignity, remind him of his language, country and roots.

Egg