Pahonia Despite the fact that the Belarusians share a
distinct ethnic identity and
language, they never previously had a
political sovereignty prior to 1918. According to
vexillologist Whitney Smith, the unique Belarusian national symbols were not created until the 20th century, as a consequence of the foreign rule of the
Belarusian territories by
Prussia,
Poland,
Lithuania, and
Russia. According to the formerly popular
historian Arnold J. Toynbee, the
pagan Lithuanians performed sweeping conquests of the
Orthodox Ruthenians and this
medieval greatness of Lithuania was conveyed in its heraldic emblem – a galloping horseman. The 18th-century Russian historian
Vasily Tatishchev, who was at the time able to consult the subsequently lost
Polotsk Chronicle, maintained that "from time immemorial the coat of arms of Belarus [White Rus′] depicted a knight on horseback with his sword raised." At the same time,
Belarusian nationalists viewed the
Grand Duchy of Lithuania as a historical form of Belarusian statehood along with medieval principalities of
Polotsk,
Turov and others. In the Lithuanian state's early years,
Ruthenian culture dominated the region. The Lithuanians allowed their
East Slavic vassals to remain
Orthodox, maintain their privileges and authority in local areas. A predecessor of
Belarusian language,
Ruthenian (also called
Old Belarusian by various sources), was used as an administrative language in the 14th to 16th centuries in the Grand Duchy of Lithuania. According to James H. Bater, the ruling Lithuanian warrior caste intermarried extensively with the nobility ruling the
East Slav vassal
principalities and accepted Orthodoxy. According to Richard Antony French, under Lithuanian rule, Belarusians had considerable autonomy. It was the official coat of arms of the
Belarusian Democratic Republic since 1918. It was banned in the USSR, but widely and consistently used by the Belarusian post-World War II diaspora. Pahonia was the first coat of arms of the
Republic of Belarus in 1991–1995. Since 1995, it has become one of the symbols of the
democratic opposition to the authoritarian president
Alexander Lukashenko, particularly during the
2020–2021 Belarusian protests.
Origins Some Belarusian historians make a connection between the Pahonia and the cultural context, religious and
mythological beliefs of Belarus' earliest inhabitants.
Horse worship was widespread both among
Slavs and
Balts. In
Belarusian folklore,
Yarilo – the ancient pagan god of
spring revival and
soil fertility – was particularly present. He was described as a young and handsome man on a
white horse. Very early on, Perkūnas was imagined as a horseman and archeological findings testify that Lithuanians had
amulets with horsemen already in the 10th–11th centuries, moreover, Lithuanians were previously buried with their horses who were
sacrificed during pagan rituals, and prior to that it is likely that these horses carried the deceased to the burial sites. St George was and still is traditionally portrayed riding a horse. He was one of
Byzantine Christianity's most popular saints, which
spread in Belarus since the
10th century. File:Sciag 1 Sluckaha palka.jpg|Banner of the Belarusian army during the
Slutsk uprising, 1920 File:Postcard BNR Herb-VKL.png|“Coats of arms of Belarusian voivodeships”, a postcard printed by the
Belarusian Democratic Republic File:Pahonia, BNR. Пагоня, БНР (1918-20).jpg|A page from the passport of the Belarusian Democratic Republic File:Pahonia-bnr.jpg|Postal stamp issued by the Belarusian Democratic Republic As
West Belarus became part of
interwar Poland, the Pahonia was used as the symbol of several provinces established on its territory, namely the
Polesie Voivodeship, the
Wilno Voivodeship, and the
Nowogródek Voivodeship. File:Paleśsie, Pahonia. Палесьсе, Пагоня (1921-39).jpg|Coat of arms of
Polesie Voivodeship on an interwar era decorative print File:Mir, Bieł-čyrvona-bieły ściah-Pahonia. Мір, Бел-чырвона-белы сьцяг-Пагоня (1930).jpg|Members of the local branch of the Belarusian Schools Society in
Mir in 1930, with the Pahonia and white-red-white flags It was also used by West Belarusian political and cultural organisations, such as the
Belarusian Schools Society and others. During World War II, the pro-German collaborationist
Belarusian Central Council used the Pahonia as its symbol. Since after the war, the Pahonia has been used by organisations of the
Belarusian diaspora such as the
Association of Belarusians in Great Britain, the
Belarusian Canadian Alliance and the newspaper
Biełarus. A publishing and printing house based in Toronto and New York was named Pahonia; it produced also Belarusian titles. The
Order of the Pahonia was established by the
Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic in exile in 1949 as the highest state award of Belarus. Since 2022, the Medal of the Order of the Pahonia is awarded by the BNR Rada. Pahonia features on the original jacket of the first anthology of Belarusian poetry in English translation,
Like Water, Like Fire (London, 1971). In the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic, part of the
Soviet Union, the public demonstration of the Pahonia was banned, as was the case with non-Soviet national symbols in other
republics of the Soviet Union. File:Orden_Pahoni_kavalerski.png|
Order of the Pahonia, the highest state award of the
Belarusian Democratic Republic, established in exile in 1949 File:Pahonia. Пагоня (1948).jpg|Pahonia on a printed leaflet of Belarusian exiles in 1948, dedicated to the 30th anniversary of the
Belarusian Democratic Republic File:Belarusian monument in South River.jpg|Belarusian monument in
South River, New Jersey with a Pahonia on it File:Pahonia red (25 Groschen), Stamp of Belarusian People's Republic.svg|1950 stamp issued by the Belarusian diaspora to commemorate the Belarusian Democratic Republic File:Like Water, Like Fire.jpg|Like Water, Like Fire - the first anthology of Belarusian poetry in English translation (London, 1971).
As a state symbol in the Republic of Belarus In the late 1980s, Belarusian pro-democracy organisations united under the
Belarusian Popular Front have started using the symbols of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, including the Pahonia, as their symbols demanding democracy and independence of Belarus. In 1991, after Belarus declared independence from the Soviet Union, the Pahonia became the coat of arms of the Republic of Belarus. The official version of the coat of arms was drafted by the artist
Jauhien Kulik, an active member of the Belarusian Popular Front. File:Belarusian Passport (cover).jpg|Belarusian passport, 1991–1995 File:Constitution of Belarus 1994 1.jpg|Constitution of Belarus, 1994 File:Belarus-1992-Bill-1-Reverse.jpg|1
ruble note, 1992 File:1 беларускі рубель узору 1993 году (авэрс).jpg|1 ruble note, 1993 (did not enter circulation) File:Цэшкі з Пагоняй. Ceški z Pahoniaj.jpg|Police badge, 1992 File:Belarusian stamp with Pahonia.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1992 File:1992. Stamp of Belarus 0014.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1992 File:1992. Stamp of Belarus 0015.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1992 File:1992. Stamp of Belarus 0016.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1992 File:1993. Stamp of Belarus 0021.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1992 File:1993. Stamp of Belarus 0022.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1992 File:1993. Stamp of Belarus 0023.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1992 File:1993. Stamp of Belarus 0024.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1992 File:1993. Stamp of Belarus 0025.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1992 File:1993. Stamp of Belarus 0026.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1992 File:1993. Stamp of Belarus 0027.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1992 File:1993. Stamp of Belarus 0032.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1993 File:1993. Stamp of Belarus 0033.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1993 File:1994. Stamp of Belarus 0085.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1994 File:1994. Stamp of Belarus 0086.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1994 File:1994. Stamp of Belarus 0087.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1994 File:1994. Stamp of Belarus 0088.jpg|Belarusian stamp, 1994
Referendum of 1995 The official status of Pahonia as the state coat of arms was cancelled in June 1995 by the president
Alexander Lukashenko following a
referendum held earlier that year. The legality of the referendum and the validity of its results has been actively questioned by the democratic opposition to Lukashenko, with some people, such as former judge of the
Constitutional Court of Belarus Mikhail Pastukhov and former parliament member
Siarhei Navumchyk, even stating that the Pahonia and the
White-red-white flag, are still
de jure the symbols of Belarus, due to the proclaimed illegality of the referendum. Supporters of the Pahonia also criticize that the Pahonia and the former
White-red-white flag were compared to ones used by
collaborationist forces during World War II in propaganda that was published during the run-up to the vote. The comparison was made as the white, red, white flag and Pahonia being used on the patches and symbols of the
Belarusian Central Rada, the Belarusian administration that collaborated with Nazi Germany. Alexander Lukashenko claimed the selection of the Soviet-inspired symbols as a victory, especially to his
Great Patriotic War veteran base, by saying "we have returned to you the flag of the country for which you fought. We have returned to you both memory and a sense of human pride."
Modern usage Since the mid-1990s, the Pahonia is widely used by the opposition to president Lukashenko, alongside the white-red-white flag. Persons have been arrested and subject to other political repressions for the public display of the Pahonia or the white-red-white flag. Since the 1990s, the Pahonia is an element of the symbols of several Belarusian political and cultural organisations such as: the
World Association of Belarusians,
Union of Poles in Belarus,
Francišak Skaryna Belarusian Language Society. Numerous organisations of the
Belarusian diaspora continue using the Pahonia as their symbol or as an element thereof since the 1940s. In 2018, the
Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic awarded the
Belarusian Democratic Republic 100th Jubilee Medal to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the establishment of BNR, which features the 1918 styled Pahonia. The popularity of Pahonia in Belarus rose again during the
mass protests that followed a controversial
presidential election of 2020. The Pahonia, in its version as the coat of arms of Belarus in 1991–1995, was actively used by pro-democracy protesters in Belarus and at solidarity events internationally alongside the white-red-white flag. The patriotic anthem of the same name,
Pahonia, inspired by the coat of arms, was one of the symbols of the protests against the regime of
Alexander Lukashenko. Pahonia is also used by
Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the exiled leader of the protests. According to Aleś Čajčyc, the Information Secretary of the
Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic, the English's Wikipedia's Pahonia article was deleted by Lithuanian nationalists, who redirected it to the
Coat of arms of Lithuania. However the same year after secretary's statement the official Twitter account of the exiled government tweeted that the coat of arms is "a symbol of centuries of friendship between Belarusians and Lithuanians". File:Belarusian protests, Moscow, September 2020 4.jpg|Protests by members of the
Belarusian diaspora in Moscow, September 2020 File:2020 Belarusian protests — Baranavichy, 16 August 09.jpg|Protesters in
Baranavichy holding a flag with the Pahonia, 16 August 2020 File:Seal of the Rada of the Belarusian Democratic Republic.png|Front side of the
Belarusian Democratic Republic 100th Jubilee Medal File:United Transitional Cabinet logo.png|Emblem of the
United Transitional Cabinet Emblem of the Byelorussian SSR From 1920 until
the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991, the
Byelorussian SSR used an emblem instead of a coat of arms. The first emblem used by Soviet Belarus was adopted in 1919 and is similar to the contemporary insignia of the Russian and Ukrainian republics. The central part of the emblem is a stylized red shield, showing a golden sun rising from the base. Above the sun is a crossed golden
hammer and sickle, symbolizing the unity between workers and peasants. Above the hammer and sickle, the letters
Б.С.С.Р are shown in black, denoting the name of the republic. БССР (BSSR) is an abbreviation for the full name of the republic; "Беларуская Савецкая Сацыялістычная Рэспубліка", the
Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic. The shield is framed by ears of wheat meeting at its base and featuring a red ribbon inscribed in black with the state motto of the Soviet Union, "Workers of the World, Unite!" The text is written in the Belarusian language. In 1937, this emblem was replaced by a new one, removing the shield and including more text. The right side of the emblem features
oak leaves and the left features wheat ears with clovers placed on top. In the center of the emblem, the sun is rising behind a profile of Earth. A hammer, sickle and red star appears over the sun. Around the ears of wheat and leaves of oak is a red ribbon, featuring the phrase "Workers of the World, Unite!" written (from left to right) in Belarusian,
Yiddish,
Polish and
Russian. The initials
Б.С.С.Р are shown at its base denoting the name of the republic. Ten years before in 1927, the arms were the same except for the wording on the bottom ribbon. Instead of the letters reading БССР, the letters read "С.С.Р.Б", which stood for the Soviet Socialist Republic of Byelorussia. This emblem was in turn replaced by a new one in 1950. The central feature of this symbol is a crossed
hammer and sickle, a universal Communist symbol symbolizing the unity of workers and peasants. Below this symbol, a sun is shown rising behind a globe. The insignia is framed by ears of wheat, each ear ending in flowers;
clover on the left and
flax on the right. A red ribbon is wrapped around the ears of wheat, reminiscent of the
red flag used by the Communist movement. The base of the emblem shows the letters
БССР. The ribbon features the phrase
Workers of the World, Unite! The left side is inscribed in Belarusian, the right side is in
Russian. The red star of Communism is featured above the hammer and sickle. The 1950 version was designed by
Ivan Dubasov, a
People's Artist of the USSR. File:Emblem of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1919–1920).svg|1919–1920 coat of arms File:Emblem of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1920–1927).svg|1920–1927 coat of arms File:Герб БССР Змудинского.png|1924 proposed coat of arms File:Emblem of the Byelorussian SSR (1927–1937).svg|1927–1937 coat of arms File:Emblem of the Byelorussian SSR (1926-1937).svg|1937–1938 coat of arms with the inscription
Workers of the World, Unite! (from left to right) in
Belarusian,
Yiddish,
Russian and
Polish File:Emblem of the Byelorussian SSR (1938-1949).svg|1938–1949 coat of arms File:Emblem of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1949–1958).svg|1949–1958 coat of arms File:Emblem of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1958–1981).svg|1958–1981 coat of arms File:Emblem of the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic (1981–1991).svg|modification from 1981 until 1991
Amendments to the national emblem In February 2020, the Belarusian parliament updated the emblem, with the globe centred on Belarus and showing more of Europe, rather than Russia and the colour of the outline map of the country changed from green to gold. File:Coat of arms of Belarus.svg|Coat of arms of Belarus as defined in 1995 File:Coat of arms of Belarus (1995-2021).svg|2012 version File:Coat of arms of Belarus (2020).svg|2020 version ==See also==