The history surrounding the flag of Ukraine is a rich and interesting interesting one, going way back through the centuries. It reflects the entire history of the Ukrainian nation, with the yellow and blue colors of the flag going all the way back to the Great Migration of Peoples, an event that occurred around 3,000 BC.
The Ancient Ukrainian Flag
The blue and yellow colors of what we know today as the Ukraine flag first appeared together on the Lviv City coat of arms where it was presented in 1256 and featured a yellow lion against a sea of blue.
From the 14th century, the Ruthenia Kingdom adopted the colors of yellow and blue into their own coat of arms, as did the Cossacks of the Zaporozhian Sich in the 18th century for their own flags.
At the turn of the 20th century, the Ukrainian Sports and Firefighting Association began using a yellow and blue flag and the concept of a blue and yellow flag for Ukraine began to spread throughout Zaparkattia lands and all the way to Ukrainian settlements in the Americas.
The Fight for Independence
In 1917, a Central Council of Ukraine was created, and this marked the first time a yellow and blue flag was used at the state level in Ukraine. The combination of blue and yellow was then approved as the official flag of Ukraine by Ukraine’s first president, Mykhailo Hrushevsky.
The USSR/Modern Ukraine
During the times of the USSR, the appearance of the blue and yellow flag was prevented by any means necessary by the pro-Communist majority parliament. Even small flags on the desks of members of the People’s Council faction were banned, until the failed Soviet coup d’état in 1991 lead to national symbols, such as the blue and yellow flag, returning.
In 2004, a decree signed by President Leonid Kuchma established the Day of the National Flag of Ukraine. This day is celebrated each year on the 23rd of August, and on a municipal level in Kyiv on the 24th of July. It was on the 24th of July in 1990 that Kyiv saw a blue and yellow flag raised high above the Kyiv City Hall.