White-blue-white flag

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Flag of Russian anti-war protests
White-blue-white flag in Tbilisi, Georgia, on 2 March 2022
Russian anti-war flag and Ukraine state flag in Limassol, Cyprus, on 5 March 2022[1]
Flag held by a man in Toronto, Canada, on 8 March 2022

The White-blue-white flag (Russian: Бело-сине-белый флаг, БСБ, Belo-sine-bely) is a symbol of 2022 anti-war protests in Russia.[2][3][4][5][6]

Creation and symbolism[edit]

Several people created the idea of the white-blue-white flag independently, almost simultaneously shortly after the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine started on 24 February 2022. Berlin-based user experience (UX) designer Kai Katonina, a Russia-based art manager with the pseudonym "Fish Sounds" (Звуки Рыб),[2][3][4] also known as "AssezJeune" (translating as Young enough),[7] are each attributed with having created the flag.[8]

One of the reasons for replacing the red stripe of the flag of Russia by a white one is to remove the association with "blood and violence".[1][9][10][11][12][13][6] AssezJeune, one of the creators of the flag, stated: "The red on the modern Russian flag is associated not just with blood, but with its military power and autoritarian strength. So, this is not just the removal of blood, but, most importantly, the removal of the cult of militarism and violence. WBR is a historical authoritarian flag introduced by Tsarist Russia. It's also associated with militarism, with Russian imperial cores."[8]

It was first used on social media networks on 28 February 2022[2][3][14] and was widely accepted by opposition forces.[15]

According to activists using the flag, it symbolizes the struggle for peace and freedom of thought.[16]

The analogy with the Belarusian white-red-white flag widely used during the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, and the similarity to the flag of Veliky Novgorod, in which the government of the Novgorod Republic had a reputation for developing democractic governance, are also seen as motivations for the flag.[2][3][6] The middle blue stripe is close in hue to the Russian flag during the post-Soviet era of Boris Yeltsin, used between 1991 and 1993.

Usage in anti-war protests[edit]

See also: 2022 anti-war protests in Russia

It was used at anti-war protests in Tbilisi, Georgia,[17] as well as in Germany,[18] on Cyprus[1][19] and Yekaterinburg, Russia.[20]

On 6 March 2022, Anna Dubkova, a resident of Moscow, was detained by a police officer as part of the Interception plan because of the white-blue-white flag placed on her car. The protocol says that the flag is a symbol "... of anti-war protests, common among the opposition forces." Anna Dubkova was sentenced by the court to arrest for a period of 15 days under Article 19.3 of the Code of Administrative Offenses.[21]

While not adopted by a particular organisation, the flag has widespread appeal among protesters who oppose the Russo-Ukrainian War, and has an official website explaining itself in multiple languages.[16]

Colour scheme[edit]

Colour model White Azure White
CMYK 0.0.0.0 100.41.5.0 0.0.0.0
RGB (255,255,255) (0,131,214) (255,255,255)
HTML #FFFFFF #0083D6 #FFFFFF

Similar flags[edit]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ a b c Jordans, Frank (2022-03-13). "Anti-war protests across Europe, small rallies in Russia - Tens of thousands of people have rallied in cities across Europe to protest against Russia's ongoing war in Ukraine". ABC News. Archived from the original on 2022-03-20. Retrieved 2022-03-20 – via Associated Press. In Cyprus, dozens of Russian nationals joined Ukrainians in the coastal resort town of Limassol Sunday to protest the war in Ukraine. About 50 Russians converged on Limassol's promenade prior to joining with other protesters to chant slogans such as "Stop the war, stop Putin" and waving blue and white flags they said where the Russian national flag without the red stripe that represented "blood and violence."; Jordans, Frank (2022-03-13). "Anti-war protests held across Europe". Irish Independent. AP. Archived from the original on 2022-03-17. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  2. ^ a b c d e У антивоенного движения появился новый символ протеста — бело-сине-белый флаг. "Медуза" рассказывает, кто и зачем его придумал [The anti-war movement has a new symbol of protest - the white-blue-white flag. Meduza reveals who invented it and why.]. Meduza (in Russian). Riga, Latvia: Medusa Project SIA. 2022-03-14. Archived from the original on 2022-03-19. Retrieved 2022-03-14.
  3. ^ a b c d "A new symbol of Russia's anti-war movement Meduza explains the origins of the white-blue-white flag". Meduza. Riga, Latvia: Medusa Project SIA. 2022-03-16. Archived from the original on 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  4. ^ a b "Weiss-blau-weisse Flagge – das neue Symbol von Russlands Anti-Kriegs-Bewegung: Weiss-blau-weiss als Hoffnung – die neue Flagge der Anti-Kriegs-Bewegung" [White-blue-white flag - the new symbol of Russian's anti-war movement: White-blue-white as symbol of hope - the new flag of the anti-war movement]. International: Gesellschaft & Politik. watson [de] (in Swiss High German). Zürich, Switzerland: FixxPunkt AG. 2022-03-16. Archived from the original on 2022-03-19. Retrieved 2022-03-19.
  5. ^ Мнение: "Уже есть первые звоночки — появление альтернативной государственной символики России (бело-сине-белый флаг)" [Opinion: "There are already the first signs - the emergence of an alternative state symbolism of Russia (white-blue-white flag)"]. В мире (In the world). ex-press.by (in Russian). Borisov & Zhodzina, Belarus. 2022-03-04. Archived from the original on 2022-03-20. Retrieved 2022-03-20. уже есть первые звоночки — появление альтернативной государственной символики России (бело-сине-белый флаг). [there are already the first signs - the appearance of an alternative state symbolism of Russia (white-blue-white flag)]
  6. ^ a b c Sygar, Michail (2022-03-21). "Russland ist ein gescheiterter Staat: Nächstes Jahr in Nowgorod - Auf nach Nowgorod: Das neue Russland braucht eine Flagge ohne Blut" [Russia is a failed state: Next year in Novgorod - To Novgorod: The new Russia needs a flag without blood]. Spiegel Ausland (Essay) (in German). Hamburg, Germany: DER SPIEGEL GmbH & Co. KG. Archived from the original on 2022-03-22. Retrieved 2022-03-22. Die Russen, die gegen den Krieg in der Ukraine protestieren, haben vor einer Woche damit begonnen, eine neue Heimat für sich zu erfinden. Es ist noch nicht klar, wo, wie und wann sie entstehen wird. Aber ein neues Symbol hat sie schon: eine Flagge mit drei Streifen – weiß, blau und wieder weiß. Schon wenige Tage nach der Invasion schrieben viele Russen in sozialen Medien, dass sich die weiß-blau-rote Trikolore diskreditiert habe und das neue Russland, das irgendwann nach Putin entstehen wird, eine neue Flagge brauche – ohne Blut darauf. Der rote Streifen solle daher durch einen zweiten weißen Streifen ersetzt werden: die Farbe des russischen Schnees und der Reue. [A week ago, Russians, who are protesting against the war in Ukraine, started inventing a new homeland for themselves. It is not yet clear where, how and when it will emerge. But it already has a new symbol: a flag with three stripes - white, blue and white again. Just days after the invasion, many Russians wrote on social media that the white-blue-red tricolor had become discredited and that the new Russia that will emerge sometime after Putin needed a new flag – without blood on it. The red stripe is therefore to be replaced by a second white stripe: the color of Russian snow and of regret.]
  7. ^ AssezJeune
  8. ^ a b Rockwell, Fredo (2022-03-12). Russia's anti-war flag | Flag of the "Future Russia". Archived from the original on 2022-03-13. Retrieved 2022-03-13 – via YouTube. [12:34]
  9. ^ Armitage, Susie (2022-03-11). "Russian flags come down in New York's Little Odessa: 'Putin has turned it into a fascist symbol' - Russia's invasion of Ukraine reverberates in Brighton Beach, home to one of the world's largest concentrations of immigrants from the former Soviet Union". The Guardian. Brighton Beach, Brooklyn, New York, USA: Guardian News & Media Limited. Archived from the original on 2022-03-16. Retrieved 2022-03-20. Down on the Brighton Beach boardwalk, some anti-war Russians on 6 March rallied around a brand-new flag they have chosen to represent them: a single blue band on a white background. […] "We decided we can no longer use the Russian tricolor, because Putin has turned it into a fascist symbol," said Alex Zaporozhtsev, an activist with the group For Freedom in Russia, which has organized protests against the Putin regime for over seven years. "We decided to take away the red stripe – it's the color of blood – and make it white." He said the new flag was conceived in a group chat for Russian opposition activists living around the world and made its debut shortly after the invasion.
  10. ^ "Anti-war Protests Across Europe, Small Rallies in Russia". Voice of America. 2022-03-13. Archived from the original on 2022-03-14. Retrieved 2022-03-17.
  11. ^ Cords, Suzanne; Oelze, Sabine; Braun, Stuart (2022-03-06). "Culture rallies for Ukraine in Berlin: A "Concert for Peace" headed by star conductor Daniel Barenboim, and a later rally by literary luminaries at the site of the Nazi book burnings, bookended a day of solidarity with Ukraine". Arts. Deutsche Welle. Archived from the original on 2022-03-19. Retrieved 2022-03-19. One protester at Bebelplatz named Nikitia Batalov held up a blue and white flag. "This is a Russian flag without a red stripe, without a red bloody stripe of Russia, without Putin," she told DW, explaining that half her family live in Ukraine and half in Russia.
  12. ^ LaFlamme, Lisa; Jones, Alexandra Mae (2022-03-06). "Russian families divided over attack on Ukraine, some misled by state media". CTV News. Canada: Bell Media. Archived from the original on 2022-03-19. Retrieved 2022-03-19. Several members of the crowd carried a blue and white striped flag, a symbolic version of the Russian flag, which normally has a red stripe on the bottom. The protesters said Putin had destroyed their flag, so they changed it by rubbing out the red. "We decided we can just take our Russian flag and just wash it from all this blood and just have this blue-white flag," Valaria said.
  13. ^ Naylor, Aliide (2022-03-10). "Amidst a Crackdown, Russia's Anti-War Artists and Activists Try To Reclaim the Streets". Opinion. ArtReview. London, UK: ArtReview Ltd. Archived from the original on 2022-03-20. Retrieved 2022-03-20. Even if Russians can't reference the ongoing war, many have changed their profile pictures to black or white to indicate mourning or the need for peace. Instead of using the Ukrainian flag online (some people might not feel safe overtly indicating they are pro-Ukraine), you sometimes see people posting the Russian tricolour, with an extra white band replacing the red – the logic being that it is the Russian flag but 'without the blood'.
  14. ^ @luckykirs (2022-02-27). Кстати говоря я уже давно держу эту идею в голове и скажу её. Русскиим за границей(в частности Европе и Балтике) уже давно надо придумать свою символику для того чтоб меньше использовать триколор рф. Я могу предложить свой вариант: БСБ (БЕЛО СИНЕ БЕЛЫЙ) [By the way, I have been keeping this idea in my head for a long time and I will say it. Russians abroad (in particular Europe and the Baltic) have long needed to come up with their own symbols in order to use the tricolor of the Russian Federation less. I can offer my own version: BSB (WHITE BLUE WHITE)] (Tweet) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2022-02-27. Retrieved 2022-03-07 – via Twitter.
  15. ^ В твиттере придумали новый флаг России - бело-сине-белый [Twitter came up with a new flag of Russia - white-blue-white]. Memepedia (in Russian). 2022-03-03. Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  16. ^ a b Morovov-Sheiner, Mitia, ed. (March 2022). Флаг прекрасной России будущего [Flag of the wonderful Russia of the future]. whitebluewhite.info (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-03-06.
  17. ^ крошка цейтнот 🤍💙🤍 [@Inga_Kudracheva] (2022-03-02). Сегодня в Тбилиси уже вышли ребята с этим флагом! [Today, guys have already come out with this flag in Tbilisi!] (Tweet) (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2022-03-09. Retrieved 2022-03-13 – via Twitter.
  18. ^ Dudley, Dasha. Фотографии с нашей вчерашней демонстрации в Берлине. [Photos from our demonstration in Berlin yesterday.]. Facebook (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  19. ^ @Vokabre (2022-03-02). "The chat of the diaspora of Russia in Toronto shared a video from an anti-war protest of the diaspora of Russia in Cyprus..." (Tweet) (in Russian) – via Twitter.
  20. ^ На улицах Екатеринбурга развешивают зеленые ленточки против военных действий в Украине [On the streets of Yekaterinburg hang green ribbons against military operations in Ukraine]. itsmycity.ru (in Russian). Retrieved 2022-03-07.
  21. ^ Суды и другое давление из-за акций в поддержку народа Украины и против войны [Legal and other pressure against actions supporting the people of Ukraine and against the war]. OVD-Info (in Russian). Archived from the original on 2022-03-17. Retrieved 2022-03-07.

External links[edit]

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