«I am the Nation…»
Pavlo Tychyna

«Ukrainian poet doesn't have to have good or bad attitude to Ukrainians, 
moreover – I am Ukrainian nationalist, who every poet should be»
Moysey Fishbein

We are the Ukrainians. Regardless of ethnic origin, we – Ukrainians, Russians, Jews, Germans, Crimean Tatars – are pat of the Ukrainian political nation. We are the Ukrainian nation.Ukrainian symbols define our identity, contribute  the formation of national consciousness and identity, represent the uniqueness of Ukrainian culture and traditions of the people, its customs and ethnomentality.

One of such national Ukrainian symbols is the State Flag of Ukraine. On August 23 Ukraine will be celebrating National Flag Day. Since 2004, this holiday has become a national holiday in Ukraine. Earlier it was celebrated only in Kyiv at the municipal level, and even earlier this holiday didn't exist at all. Although the yellow and blue flag, as a symbol of Ukrainians, has existed since ancient times.

Usage of blue and yellow colors in our area has a very long history and dates back to the Kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia. From the Middle Ages, yellow (gold) and blue (blue, azure) colors were used on the coats of arms of Kievan Rus' cities, princes, gentry. From the seventeenth century regimental and hundreds of Cossack flags of the Zaporozhian Army were often made of blue cloth, on which images of crosses, stars, and weapons were painted in yellow. We see the combination of yellow and blue colors on the Cossack flags of Kyiv, Poltava, Lubny and other regiments.

Ukrainian patriots under blue-yellow flags in 1917–1921 fought for a free, independent Ukraine and laid the foundations of Ukrainian statehood. In March 1918, the blue-yellow flag officially became a symbol of the Ukrainian National Republic. On November 13, 1918, the blue-yellow flag was approved as the state symbol of the West Ukrainian People's Republic.

In Soviet times, this symbol was banned. Every day and every moment for decades, Bolsheviks propaganda discredited the leaders of the Ukrainian liberation movement and did everything possible to desecrate the national symbols of the Ukrainian people and at the same time impose another - foreign and artificial. The "reddening" of the population was comprehensive and so massive that it would seem that national symbols are already buried forever.

But, despite the fierce resistance of the communist regime, in the late 1980s national symbols began to revive again in Ukrainian towns and villages. And in September 1989, that is, at the most crucial stage of Ukrainian modern history, the People’s Movement of Ukraine approved the blue-yellow flag as a national symbol with its resolution “On National Symbols” at the constituent congress.

The blue-yellow flags were the main Ukrainian symbol on the Euromaidan in 2014, they were consecrated with the blood of heroes defending the state from Russian aggression in eastern Ukraine, there were fierce battles. They were raised over the recaptured Ukrainian lands, Ukrainian soldiers rescued them from the rubble, risking their lives.

The Ukrainian flag, as a state symbol, has already gone down in history and testified to the existence of the Ukrainian state itself. Every year it becomes more and more popular. The combination of yellow and blue colors is now very fashionable among Ukrainians. It is chosen for jewelry, in clothing, even in shoes.

After the Euromaidan in 2014 in the Dnipro volunteers painted yellow and blue even city fences along the roads, and car drivers and passers-by gave them money for paints without appeals, without any hesitation.

During the relatively short period of Ukraine's independence, the state flag became known throughout the world. The best athletes in the world proudly throw a blue and yellow flag on their shoulders.

Ukrainians abroad often identify themselves with Ukrainian flags. Groups organized by the Museum "Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine" and the Ukrainian Institute for Holocaust Studies "Tkuma" together with the Yad Vashem Holocaust Memorial Complex in Israel aren't the exception.

Ukrainian flags, signed by Ukrainian defenders, covered in blood and shreded are now the museum exhibits.

There is such flag in the Museum "Jewish Memory and Holocaust in Ukraine".

In 2018, a huge Ukrainian flag was installed in the upland part of the city of Dnipro on a flagpole 72 m high and now it can be seen from afar from all sides.

On the morning of August 15 this year, the 20-meter Ukrainian flag on black and red balloons was launched from the Chongar checkpoint towards the Crimea. This flash mob was carried out by Crimeans, who were forced to leave their homes and leave the peninsula. They didn't wait for the Flag Day, the wind in the southern direction was exactly on the 15th.

Today, the State Flag of Ukraine is a symbol of our independence, our European future, it is a symbol of free, invincible and full human dignity. So it is and so it should be.

So, happy Day of the National Flag to you, dear Ukrainians!