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Flag of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army

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Flag of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army
UseOther
Proportion2∶3
Adopted
DesignA horizontal bicolour of black and red

The flag of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (Ukrainian: Прапор УПА, romanized: Prapor UPA), also known as the red-and-black flag (Ukrainian: Червоно-чорний прапор, romanized: Chervono-chornyi prapor), Ukrainian nationalist flag, or Banderite flag, is a flag previously used by the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) and the Banderite faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B). The flag is now used by various Ukrainian nationalist organizations and parties, including UNA-UNSO, Right Sector, Congress of Ukrainian Nationalists and others.

The flag was designed by the OUN-B for the red and black colors to represent blood and soil and was influenced by Nazi Germany's use of the concept.[1][2][3][4][5][6] The perception of the flag in Ukraine has shifted over time in response to the 2014 Russian invasion and it is frequently used today as an unofficial war flag. In Poland, the flag is instead widely associated with the massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia conducted by the UPA, and display of the red-and-black flag in Poland can result in police action as it may be associated with "the public promotion of fascism or another totalitarian system".[7]

History

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Design

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The flag was designed by the Banderite faction of the Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists (OUN-B), which sought to develop its own symbolism in order to differ from the Andriy Melnyk faction of the OUN (OUN-M), which used a blue flag and the coat of arms with a golden trident (tryzub) with a sword.

The colours red and black were chosen to represent the ideology of "blood and soil" and was influenced by the Nazi party's widespread use of the concept.[8][9][10][4][11][12]

The OUN-B adopted a red and black emblem, and at the II Great Gathering of the OUN in April 1941 decided to abandon the trident with a sword and use only "the national Trident of Volodymyr the Great in the form introduced by the Central Rada" and "a separate organizational flag of black and red colors. The way of life and the mandatory proportions will be adopted by a separate commission."[13] However, due to the outbreak of World War II, this commission never met.[14][15]

Prior uses of red and black in Ukrainian history

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Exceprt of Ilya Repin's 19th century painting Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks showing blue-yellow and red-black colour patterns

Andriy Grechylo states that the red-black color scheme heralds back to the Zaporozhian Cossacks, evidenced by the 1880-1891 painting Reply of the Zaporozhian Cossacks by Ilya Repin, where it can be seen next to the blue-and-yellow draped spear.[16][17]

The 1914-1917 Ukrainian Sich Riflemen (USS) embroidered the color scheme on their uniforms and banners and it was also used by the Knights of the Iron Spur, a chivalric order set up by USS officers in autumn 1916.[18][19]

Ukraina Lwów used black and red as national colors for hockey and football teams

The colors were adopted by the Plast kurins Forest Devils (Lisovi Chorty) in 1922 and the Order of the Iron Spur, revived in 1927.[20] The sports society "Ukraine" used the colors in the 1920s and 1930s in its emblem and kit.[21]

Later uses

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Red-and-black flags at the Euromaidan protests, 2013.

The flag received a lot of usage after the Independence of Ukraine in 1991, where it became a common symbol of Ukrainian nationalists.[22][23] The flag remained controversial as being associated with the UPA and Right Sector.[24] It has also been frequently used as a military symbol and unofficial war flag during the Russo-Ukrainian War.[25]

On 30 March 2018, the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine registered a bill "On the Flag of National Dignity", which provides for the installation of the red-and-black flag on government buildings, schools, institutes, enterprises nine times a year during the celebration of certain memorable dates in order to honor "heroes who made a significant contribution to the struggle for independence of Ukraine". This bill also provides for the technical justification and rules for the installation of the flag.[26]

According to Serhy Yekelchyk, the image of Stepan Bandera acquired a new meaning in the course of the Revolution of Dignity as a symbol of resistance to the corrupt Russian-sponsored regime, set apart from the historical role of Bandera as a supporter of ethnonationalism— this symbolism as it relates to the red-and-black flag was further strengthened when Right Sector formed military units that fought in Eastern Ukraine.[27] Andrii Portnov argues that this was facilitated by a rejection of Russia's portrayal of Ukrainians as 'fascists' and 'Banderites' and a general lack of knowledge about the activity of the UPA.[24] The red-and-black flag was heavily promoted by Svoboda at the local level where the party was more successful— in Central Ukraine, it was referred to as the "flag of the struggle" rather than the more controversial "flag of the OUN".[28]

According to Jars Balan, the red-and-black flag has been used since the Russian invasion of Ukraine by those who want to identify with the tradition of militant Ukrainian nationalism and who "respect the fact that the OUN and UPA took up arms in the struggle for Ukrainian independence".[25]

Historians Andreas Umland and Yuliya Yurchuk write that "In the new post-revolutionary political context, older symbols of 20th-century Ukrainian nationalism acquired new meaning as the ongoing fight against Russian aggression made some aspects of the OUN-UPA legacy more acceptable for Ukrainian society at large."[29]

Controversies

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Activists of the Ukrainian nationalist party Right Sector fly the red-and-black flags together with the flag of UNA-UNSO and the flag of Ukraine.
Veterans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army (UPA) marching in Przemyśl, Poland.

In Poland, the red-and-black flag is widely associated with the massacres of Poles in Volhynia and Eastern Galicia committed by the UPA.[30][31][32]

The massacres were cited to justify Operation Vistula in the propaganda of the Polish People's Republic and continue to be the focus of memory politics in contemporary Poland, largely driven by right-wing groups and politicians.[33][34] In 2013, the Polish Senate passed a resolution that described the massacres as "ethnic cleansing with the features of a genocide".[35] According to Grzegorz Motyka, there has been a "growing radicalism" in Polish views on Polish–Ukrainian relations with the massacres often portrayed as a "third genocide" sometimes surpassing those committed by the Nazis and Communists.[36]

In August 2025, President Karol Nawrocki proposed legislation that would ban "Banderite symbols", including the red-and-black flag, on par with Nazi and Soviet Communist emblems.[37][38]

The display of the red-and-black flag in Poland can result in police action as it may be associated with "the public promotion of fascism or another totalitarian system", which is forbidden by Article 256 of the Polish Penal Code.[7] For that reason, Polish police searched for individuals accused of painting it on building facades in Wrocław in 2024.[39] In the same city, police also questioned individuals who displayed the flag on a balcony in 2022.[40]

In December 2024, Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, intervened with the Ukrainian attaché in Warsaw over flags displayed on Polish-donated Rosomak armored vehicles.[41] Roman Ponomarenko, an officer of the 12th Azov Brigade commented on the matter, stating it was "an exploitation of historical conflict and narrative for the sake of cheap popularity".[42]

In August 2025, during a concert by rapper Max Korzh at Warsaw's National Stadium, violence broke out. One of the attendees brandished a black-and-red flag. Over 100 people were detained by the police, and proceedings to expel 63 of them were initiated.[43]

On 7 July 2026, MEP Ewa Zajączkowska-Hernik (PfE) took part in the debate in European Parliament over "2025 Commission report on Ukraine" in which she stated that "There is no moral difference between honoring the SS and honoring the UPA"[44] and tore up the red–and–black UPA flag on the podium.[45]

See also

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References

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  1. ↑ Rossoliński-Liebe, Grzegorz (2014). Stepan Bandera: The Life and Afterlife of a Ukrainian Nationalist. Fascism, Genocide, and Cult. Quotation: "The red-and-black flag, which symbolizes blood and soil (Ger. Blut und Boden), was one of them. These colors referred to the racist and proto-fascist German blood and soil ideology, which suggests the inseparability of a people (Rasse or Volk) and their “living space” (Lebensraum) as well as an attraction to the “soil,” which acquired spiritual and mythological connotations."
  2. ↑ Himka, John-Paul (2021). Ukrainian Nationalists and the Holocaust. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3-8382-1548-8. “The Banderites held their own Second Great Assembly of OUN in Kraków in early April 1941. Its programmatic documents differed considerably from those produced at the Rome Assembly of 1939.
    [...]
    The same document stipulated that the (Banderite) OUN was to have its own flag, in red and black which alluded to the German nationalist and national socialist concept of blood and soil.”
  3. ↑ Katchanovski, I. (2026). The Far-Right Involvement in Euromaidan, the Maidan and Odesa Massacres, and the Donbas War. In: The Russia-Ukraine War and its Origins. Rethinking Political Violence. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-98724-3_6
  4. 1 2 Bruder 2007, p. 140.
  5. ↑ Umland, A., & Yurchuk, Y. (2017). Introduction. Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society, 3(2), 115–128. Retrieved from https://elibrary.utb.de/doi/abs/10.24216/JSPPS-2017-2-9783838270883_005. Quote: "the red-and-black flag symbolizing blood and soil"
  6. ↑ Rudling, P. A. "The Return of the Ukrainian Far Right: The Case of VO Svoboda," in Ruth Wodak and John E. Richardson (eds.) Analyzing Fascist Discourse: European Fascism in Talk and Text (London and New York: Routledge, 2013), 228-255. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203071847-16
  7. 1 2 "Faszystowskie symbole i hasła na wrocławskich budynkach. Są nowe nagrania monitoringu. To oni malują flagi UPA?". 28 August 2024.
  8. ↑ Rossoliński-Liebe, Grzegorz (2014). Stepan Bandera: The Life and Afterlife of a Ukrainian Nationalist. Fascism, Genocide, and Cult. Quotation: "The red-and-black flag, which symbolizes blood and soil (Ger. Blut und Boden), was one of them. These colors referred to the racist and proto-fascist German blood and soil ideology, which suggests the inseparability of a people (Rasse or Volk) and their “living space” (Lebensraum) as well as an attraction to the “soil,” which acquired spiritual and mythological connotations."
  9. ↑ Himka, John-Paul (2021). Ukrainian Nationalists and the Holocaust. BoD – Books on Demand. ISBN 978-3-8382-1548-8. “The Banderites held their own Second Great Assembly of OUN in Kraków in early April 1941. Its programmatic documents differed considerably from those produced at the Rome Assembly of 1939.
    [...]
    The same document stipulated that the (Banderite) OUN was to have its own flag, in red and black which alluded to the German nationalist and national socialist concept of blood and soil.”
  10. ↑ Katchanovski, I. (2026). The Far-Right Involvement in Euromaidan, the Maidan and Odesa Massacres, and the Donbas War. In: The Russia-Ukraine War and its Origins. Rethinking Political Violence. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-98724-3_6
  11. ↑ Umland, A., & Yurchuk, Y. (2017). Introduction. Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society, 3(2), 115–128. Retrieved from https://elibrary.utb.de/doi/abs/10.24216/JSPPS-2017-2-9783838270883_005. Quote: "the red-and-black flag symbolizing blood and soil"
  12. ↑ Rudling, P. A. "The Return of the Ukrainian Far Right: The Case of VO Svoboda," in Ruth Wodak and John E. Richardson (eds.) Analyzing Fascist Discourse: European Fascism in Talk and Text (London and New York: Routledge, 2013), 228-255. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203071847-16
  13. ↑ OUN1941/9 (in Ukrainian)
  14. ↑ ""Прапор червоно-чорний - це наше знамено…". Яким був стяг УПА?". 18 October 2013.
  15. ↑ Rossolinski-Liebe, Gregorz (2011). "The "Ukrainian National Revolution" of 1941: Discourse and Practice of a Fascist Movement". Kritika: Explorations in Russian and Eurasian History. 12 (1): 89. doi:10.1353/kri.2011.a411661.
  16. ↑ Voloshanenko, Victoria (23 August 2024). ""Syno-zhovtyi prapor — nash oberih, marker i identychnist'". Kropyvnytskyi istoryk pro ukrainskyi styah" ["The blue-yellow flag is our amulet, marker and identity." Kropyvnytskyi historian about the Ukrainian flag]. Suspilne (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 19 July 2025.
  17. ↑ "Everything you didn't know about Ukraine's flag". The Kyiv Independent. 23 August 2023. Retrieved 18 July 2025.
  18. ↑ Pavliuk, Ivanna (14 October 2015). ""Hey-hu, hey-ha" – chy diisno chervono-chornyi prapor buv ofitsiynym praporom OUN" ["Hey-hu, hey-ha" - was the red-black flag really the official flag of the OUN?]. Gazeta.ua (in Ukrainian). Retrieved 22 March 2025.
  19. ↑ "What is the red and black flag in Ukraine? | Speak Ukrainian". speakua.com. 27 February 2024. Retrieved 13 November 2025.
  20. ↑ Moroz, Volodymyr (18 October 2013). ""Prapor chervono-chornyi – tse nashe znameno...". Yakym buv styah UPA?" ["The red-and-black flag is our banner..." What was the UPA's flag?]. Istorychna Pravda (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 17 August 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2025. Note: not the politician by the same name.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  21. ↑ Sova, Andriy (30 July 2021). "Yakoiu bula symvolika sportovoho tovarystva "Ukraina" u 1911–1939 rokakh?" [What were the symbols of the sports society "Ukraine" in 1911–1939?]. Photographs of Old Lviv (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 24 January 2023. Retrieved 4 October 2025.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  22. ↑ Wilson 1996, p. 75.
  23. ↑ "Vyhovni_zakony_OUN". nation.org.ua. Archived from the original on 6 April 2009. Retrieved 10 March 2025.
  24. 1 2 Glew 2021, p. 159.
  25. 1 2 Lupton, Andrew (4 March 2022). "Why is the red and black flag, seen at rallies in support of Ukraine, causing such a stir?". CBC News. Canada.
  26. ↑ "Офіційний портал Верховної Ради України".
  27. ↑ Glew 2021, pp. 159–160.
  28. ↑ Kasianov 2022, p. 243.
  29. ↑ Umland, A., & Yurchuk, Y. (2017). Introduction. Journal of Soviet and Post-Soviet Politics and Society, 3(2), 115–128. Retrieved from https://elibrary.utb.de/doi/abs/10.24216/JSPPS-2017-2-9783838270883_005
  30. ↑ Radio Liberty (18 October 2015). "Understanding Polish concern about Ukrainian veneration of the UPA". Euromaidan Press.
  31. ↑ Bivings, Liliane (23 August 2023). "Everything you didn't know about Ukraine's flag". Kyiv Independent.
  32. ↑ Wilczur, Jacek E. (2011). "Śmierć pod czerwono-czarną flagą UPA" [Death under the red and black flag of the UPA]. Different Faces of History (in Polish). Note: historian Jacek E. Wilczur [pl], also a veteran of the Home Army.
  33. ↑ Motyka 2022, p. 295.
  34. ↑ Kasianov 2022, p. 326.
  35. ↑ Shkandrij 2015, p. 283.
  36. ↑ Motyka 2022, p. 308.
  37. ↑ Sevinç, Necva Taştan (26 August 2025). "Polish president moves to ban Ukrainian nationalist flag". Anadolu Agency.
  38. ↑ Sydorenko, Serhiy; Pohorilov, Stanislav (25 August 2025). "Ukraine responds to Polish president's initiative to ban Ukrainian red and black flag". Ukrainska Pravda.
  39. ↑ "Namalowali banderowskie flagi na budynkach. Policja poszukuje sprawców".
  40. ↑ "Banderowska flaga we Wrocławiu. Interweniowała policja » Kresy - wiadomości, wydarzenia, aktualności, newsy". 6 April 2022.
  41. ↑ https://www.pap.pl/aktualnosci/szef-mon-flagi-upa-na-polskich-rosomakach-w-ukrainie-prowokacja
  42. ↑ "UPA flags on armored vehicles from Poland: Azov officer responds to the outrage of the Polish defense minister". 23 December 2024.
  43. ↑ Notes from Poland (12 August 2025). "Poland to deport 57 Ukrainians and 6 Belarusians after Warsaw concert trouble". Retrieved 23 August 2025.
  44. ↑ "Verbatim report of proceedings, Tuesday, 7 July 2026 - Strasbourg". 7 July 2026.
  45. ↑ "Polska europosłanka podarła flagę UPA w PE. "To hańba!" [WIDEO]". 8 July 2026.

Bibliography

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Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Flag_of_the_Ukrainian_Insurgent_Army&oldid=1379263518"