This article was accepted into the corpus but its outbound wikilinks were never NER-processed — typical at the deepest BFS hop or when the run's entity cap was reached. No expansion funnel to show.
| Victory Banner (flag) | |
|---|---|
| Name | Victory Banner |
| Caption | The original Victory Banner raised over the Reichstag, 1945 |
| Adoption | 1945 (surrender of Nazi Germany) |
| Designer | Red Army servicemen |
| Type | military banner |
Victory Banner (flag) The Victory Banner is the flag famously raised by Red Army soldiers over the Reichstag in Berlin at the end of the European theatre of World War II in 1945. It became a potent symbol in the immediate postwar period across the Soviet Union, the USSR leadership, and successor states, appearing in ceremonies, memorials, parades and museums connected to Joseph Stalin, Georgy Zhukov, and Vyacheslav Molotov. The banner's image has been reproduced in works by Yevgeny Khaldei and referenced during events such as the Victory Day celebrations, the Nuremberg Trials, and Cold War commemorations involving the United States, United Kingdom, and France.
The flag's provenance is tied to the final assault on Berlin during the Battle of Berlin under direction from the 1st Belorussian Front commanded by Georgy Zhukov and the 2nd Belorussian Front commanded by Konstantin Rokossovsky. Soldiers of the Soviet Armed Forces, including men from units associated with the Red Banner, carried a crimson banner into the city and hoisted it on the ruins of the Reichstag building after German capitulation following Adolf Hitler's suicide and the German Instrument of Surrender. The image captured by photographer Yevgeny Khaldei and later circulated by the TASS news agency became emblematic across Moscow, Leningrad, and Stalingrad memorial culture. The original banner was transferred to state institutions such as the Central Museum of the Armed Forces and displayed alongside trophies from the Eastern Front, including captured standards from the Wehrmacht and material from the Flossenbürg concentration camp and Sachsenhausen exhibitions.
The banner is a rectangular crimson cloth featuring a gold hammer and sickle, a gold-bordered red star, and an inscription denoting the 1st Belorussian Front and the regiment involved in the Battle of Berlin. Design elements follow heraldic and vexillological precedents established by the Bolshevik leadership and the RSFSR standards. Dimensions and manufacture trace to wartime production in workshops associated with the People's Commissariat for Defence and textile factories in Moscow and Gorky, with stitching techniques consistent with banners preserved in the State Historical Museum and comparative pieces in the Tretyakov Gallery. The banner's materials resemble other mid-1940s Soviet regalia such as orders like the Order of Lenin, the Order of the Red Banner, and the Order of Suvorov.
As a symbol, the banner evokes the defeat of Nazi Germany, the sacrifice of Soviet forces at battles including Operation Bagration, Siege of Leningrad, and Battle of Kursk, and the postwar ascendancy of the USSR in Eastern Europe and the United Nations. Political leaders such as Joseph Stalin, Nikita Khrushchev, and Mikhail Gorbachev invoked the banner in speeches addressing veterans of the Great Patriotic War and during anniversaries observed by organizations like the veteran associations and the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The banner entered popular culture via films like the Moscow Does Not Believe in Tears era memorial footage, documentaries produced by Mosfilm and international commentaries in newspapers like Pravda, Izvestia, and the New York Times. Its image influenced monuments such as the Soviet War Memorial (Treptower Park) and the Monument to the Heroes of the Battle of Stalingrad.
The banner is central to Victory Day parades held on Red Square under the auspices of the Ministry of Defence and staged by units like the Presidential Regiment with participation from veterans of formations such as the 78th Guards Rifle Division. Replicas are carried in wreath-laying ceremonies at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (Moscow) and in state visits by leaders including Vladimir Putin, Boris Yeltsin, and international dignitaries from Germany, Poland, and United States delegations. It appears in museum exhibits at the Central Armed Forces Museum and has been included in diplomatic contexts like exchanges between the Russian Federation and institutions in Berlin after reunification and during commemorations by the European Union and Nordic Council delegations.
Multiple replicas of the banner exist, produced by museums, veterans' groups, and military units in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and Khabarovsk. Some replicas are housed in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces, the State Historical Museum, and the Museum of the Great Patriotic War (Minsk), while others appear in international collections such as the Imperial War Museum and the Bundeswehr Military History Museum as part of exchanges with institutions like the Deutsche Historische Museum. Artistic renditions by photographers and painters such as Yevgeny Khaldei and works displayed at the Tretyakov Gallery have inspired stage props used in productions at the Bolshoi Theatre and in films archived by Gosfilmofond. Commemorative versions have been produced for anniversaries like the 20th, 50th, and 75th anniversaries of Victory Day and distributed by organizations including the Russian Veterans Committee and municipal authorities in Sevastopol.
The banner's use has been subject to legal and political debates involving laws passed in the Russian Federation addressing state symbols, restrictions introduced in some post-Soviet states such as Ukraine and Baltic states after 1991, and court cases heard in regional tribunals including instances brought before the European Court of Human Rights. Controversies involve protests in cities like Riga, Tallinn, and Kyiv when replicas have been displayed during rallies, diplomatic incidents between Russia and Germany concerning public commemorations, and disputes over ownership between museums including the Central Museum of the Armed Forces and archives in Moscow and Berlin. Debates have also emerged within international bodies such as the Council of Europe and among political groups like the Communist Party of the Russian Federation and liberal parties during anniversaries of the Yalta Conference and discussions of decommunization laws.
Category:Flags of Russia Category:Soviet symbols