Armenia is a very ancient country, and it can be said that it is a heroic story. The country is kind and hospitable, but ruthless to the enemy and has the capacity to achieve its goals. The Armenian flag fully reflects the basic qualities of its inhabitants and the history of the country as a whole.
Ancient Armenian Flag
Armenia existed as early as the 12th century BC. e. At that time, the country was called Armé-šumbria, and under this name, the roots of the modern name have already been revealed. It is difficult to say if there was already an Armenian flag at that time, or exactly how it looked. The very first banners known now are the “History of Armenia”, written by Favstos Buzenda in the 5th century of that era, as well as images found on church frescoes and ancient works.
Accurate information is the time of creation, namely the 4th century and the main background of the fabric – red. Moreover, there is no doubt that the oldest flag of Armenia was also the image of two eagles. The details of the appearance of this heraldic bird cannot be established. Some scientists have concluded that they hold bows with their paws, while others believe that vultures squeeze some beast. A third researcher generally thinks that this image is just an ornament, although some sort of Armenian flag on the then flag – although acknowledging that the question is open.
One thing is certain. Different countries on Earth have ancient flags.
Provincial Armenian Flag as Cilician Banner
The following mention of how the flag was seen Armenia already lives in the 10th-14th centuries of our time. In this century, under the rule of the kingdom of Lily, the kingdom of Cilicia prospered. The contraction for this historical data has changed. First of all, it was visually divided into three horizontal parts. The colors of the Armenian flag at the time (red, blue, yellow: top to bottom) meant that King Levon had an alliance with his two brothers and sisters. We can say that the Cilician banner was used as a prototype for the present.
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However, at this stage, historical Cilicia cloth was not the only one. In parallel with this, there were other types as well. The “alternative” Armenian flag remained red centuries ago, but the figure of an eagle was replaced by a figure of a cross. Perhaps it was a symbol of the faithfulness of the Christian state and its spread.
Additional Variations of the Armenian flag
The 14th century brought the banner to a new look. What was the Armenian flag at this point? A fourth is added to the same strip of the previous three colors, i.e. pure white. According to another view, it represented people’s resilience, or spiritual purity, or devotion to Christianity. In most cases, the combination of all these semantic meanings is close to the truth.
Two centuries later, the Armenian flag was changed again. A white stripe went into oblivion, but on the top of the fabric appeared a pattern of crucifixes adorned with a semicircle with a white star in eight rays. At that time, Armenia fought the Persians and Turks for freedom, a struggle symbolized by the blade. The star also depicted Armenian princes who founded alliances to resist invaders.
Almost Modern
For a long time, a significant portion of the Armenian people were forced to live far from their homeland. In foreign lands, exiles organized a powerful diaspora and remained faithful to the customs, history and traditions of their homeland. It is one of the diasporas like France, the flag of Armenia should have one more intermediary. In this example, we still have 3 bands, but they are vertical. The color has also changed. Now it was red-green-white. The sheer stripes symbolize the rainbow shown to Noah when he came down from the ark (we recall that most historians and religious scholars tend to think that the ark landed on the Armenian mountains).
Armenian flag Color
The color of the new banner is also Christian. White – all iridescent colors and at the same time the purity and spirituality of the teachings of Christ. Red represents Easter, green. Sunday follows. (The Armenian church calendar Easter Sunday and what follows are in this color).
For the first time, the Republic of Armenia turned 1820 century. It is interesting to see what the Armenian flag looked like at that time. In fact, the look is back in the Sillier era. Again, the stripes lie horizontally and the color closely matches the Rubenid. The only thing that turned yellow was orange. The main explanation for the replacement is a more harmonious color combination.
Soviet-Era
At this time a separate republic of Armenia stayed for a long time. Two years later, she became part of the Soviet Union, and her flag was changed again. The canvas turns red again, but the abbreviation appears instead of the image in the upper left. By 1937 it looked like an SSRA, turned into the autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, with the addition of a memorable sickle and hammer. It should be clarified that the letters of the first and second abbreviations were Armenian.
1952 brought a new innovation to the flagArmenia. First, a blue bar was added from below with the designation of Lake Seba. Second, 5 stars have been added to the sickle and hammer. In this form, the Armenian flag lasted until the collapse of the Union.
What does the Armenian flag look like
Current banner – Back to the first Republican Party. It has been a familiar form since August 90 of the last century. The flag of Armenia, the photo of which is nearby, is a square with three stripes. In fact, the emblem on the banner has changed. The red part combines multiple interpretations at once. First of all, this is the Armenian blood that was poured out in the long war of liberation. The second meaning of color is Christianity, defended by the Armenians for centuries. And the third is the free Armenian Mountains.
The blue bars represent the peaceful Armenian skies, clean rivers. Orange reflects the main qualities of people: creative creativity, national hard work and openness to everything new and progressive.
Armenian Disputes and Suspicions
Not all citizens of the country approve the choice of tricolor panels. Many believe it is more historically true to prefer the scarlet flag, which has been with the Armenians for centuries. Some people tend to believe that the shape of modern banners is an artificial idea that does not reflect the history and inclinations of the Armenians. At the same time, some radical citizens argue that the Christian cross should be removed, taking the Silesian red background as a basis.
They explain this in two ways. First, the church and the state are now separated. It is not correct to depict the religious sign of one church as a national symbol since parts of the population profess a different religion. Secondly, the sign of eternity is considered a primitive and eternal Armenian symbol. According to the opinion of such Armenians, it is he who should be depicted on the flag.
It’s hard to say how fair the requirements are. Only historians dealing specifically with Armenia can evaluate the fidelity of such statements. To this day, the flag of the country has remained and is known around the world as a three-color version.
Armenian Flag Different status symbols
Every country not only has good banner quality but also its symbol. A sentence is also needed in which all the aspirations of people, their history, and basic principles can be expressed. Armenia is no exception. Coats of arms and flags have developed historically.
Like the Armenian flag, the coat of arms received as a basis the image – the national symbol of the First Republic.
This symbol consists of a shield with images of Ararat and Noah’s Ark. The four fields divided by the shield represent the greatest dynasties of Armenian rulers. An eagle with a lion holding a shield is a symbol of pride, wisdom, and nobility, besides it is the king of birds and animals.
A broken chain under the shield represents the freedom gained, the sword – the will to keep it, wheat – the effort and the desire for peace. Well, the tricolor ribbon combines the coat of arms and the flag of the country.
The main color of the symbol is golden. Whoever divided the field shield is historically justified – they were used on the flag of the sovereign, to which the kingdom was conditionally designated. By the way, the use of this color by the ancient rulers was another reason for choosing the color when developing the flag of this country.
It can be safely said that the Armenian head of state describes very clearly the whole history of the country: the confrontation with Turkey, the struggle for religious freedom, and the tendency of its inhabitants to coexist peacefully. If you want to get information about nazi flag then visit ultimateflags.com