Will Rusyns ever agree on a flag?

Mikulaš Popovič, MD, PhD.

The original Rusyn-language version of this article appeared in the 1/2 2003 issue of Rusyn.

The heraldry of the Rusyns, i.e., the symbols of the Rusyn nation, have never been definitively decided. It is not necessary to stress here how important symbols are in the life of a nation, and not just for their official self-identification. We all remember the reaction of Americans with their American flags after the terrorist ac­ts of Bin Laden and his people against New York and Washington on 11 September 2001. The fact that Rusyn heraldry has never been firmly established and accepted by all Rusyn organizations has become a problem.

The Rusyn coat of arms contains a Carpathian bear on a silver field on the right side, and on the left the Tisa, Už and Latoricja are presented as horizontal stripes. Thankfully, the Rusyn coat of arms, designed by our famous artist Josyf Bokšaj during the first Czechoslovak republic, was accepted by laws in a civilized country in the 1920s and represented all Rusyns as well as the historic Subcarpathian Rus’. This coat of arms de facto is legitimate to nearly all Rusyns in the world, in Europe as well as in North America. It was also accepted by Ukraine and currently is used to represent the Transcarpathian Oblast’. Here, nothing else needs to be done, other than to ensure that the coat of arms is used to represent Rusyns according to its original form and according to the laws of the countries in which Rusyns live. This coat of arms is original and has its own history. Aside from that, it came from the famous Subcarpathian school of painters, a fact which few nations can equal. Rusyn publications should print this coat of arms on their front covers, as the New Rusyn Times does in the US or the Vsederžavnyj Rusyn'skyj Vistnyk (National Rusyn Bulletin) does in Hungary.

Critics of the Rusyn coat of arms have few thoughtful arguments. One of them is that Rusyns need a different coat of arms since the Carpathian bear is reminiscent of the Russian bear. Negativity from the past of the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union have been transposed not only onto the poor Russian bear but on the Carpathian bear as well. What does the Russian bear have in common with the cold policies of the tsars and kommisars? Aside from this, the Russian bear is not on the Russian coat of arms. On the American coat of arms, the eagle is American; it is German on the German coat of arms; and Russian on the Russian coat of arms. I wonder if any of the 270 million Americans dislikes the eagle on the American coat of arms because it is similar to the German or Russian eagles. It is nothing new for the symbols of a nation (coat of arms, flag) to overlap. But small nations can have a problem if they have unfriendly and intolerant neighbors. And therefore they must be careful, since the policy that they are only a “branch” of another nation interferes with the development of a small nation. And so suddenly the small nation can loose control of its fate. We can thank Mr. Bokšaj and the others who created it for the fact that the Rusyn coat of arms is original.

Only one state on Earth has a bear as its symbol, namely California. If anyone mistakes the Rusyns and Subcarpathians for Californians in America, then the Rusyns would not be too annoyed. That state is one of the most progressive in the United States and is at the top of the world in the development of modern technology.

The issue of the Rusyn flag has become a major problem for the Rusyns and is not definitively resolved, though it should have been resolved long ago, when the Rusyn coat of arms was officially accepted in the Czechoslovak republic. It is not surprising that emigration from Ukraine and Russia to Subcarpathian Rus’ came running in with Ukrainian and Russian flags in the 1930s. For a very long time, the Carpatho-Ukrainian administration of Avhustyn Vološyn tried to legitimize the yellow and blue flag with a clear goal in mind. Rusyns are Ukrainians, and wherever Rusyns live is a part of Ukraine. But this yellow and blue flag was not accepted by Rusyns outside of Subcarpathian Rus’ or by a significant number of Rusyns living within the historic borders of Subcarpathian Rus’.

Though the yellow and blue flag was put on the Rusyns by Ukrainian emigrants, the actual colors of the flag do not bother me. Sweden long before Ukraine had a flag of the same colors and there are few countries which do so much for small nations and world civilization as Sweden. But the fact remains that the yellow and blue flag accepted by Carpatho-Ukraine for the Vološyn administration is closely tied to the policies of Berlin as approved by Adolf Hitler. It was Mr. Henke, the full fledged representative of Hitler’s Germany in Prague who approved replacing Andrij Brodij, president of autonomous Carpathian Rus’, with Vološyn. The majority of the Rusyns at home and abroad do not know this historical fact and do not understand the complex history of Central Europe. It is no wonder that Rusyn Americans after 11 September produced a pin which featured the American flag as well as the “Rusyn” yellow and blue flag with a Rusyn coat of arms in its center.

When I saw a nest of yellow and blue flags as a symbol of the Rusyns, I resolved not to buy one and became interested in gathering information about how websites on the internet present the Rusyn flag. The situation is not good. At this time, Rusyns have four, and perhaps even more, flags, depending on modifications of the Rusyn coat of arms. The most frequent of these flags are: (a.) yellow and blue with a Rusyn coat of arms in the center (either the original one, or a variant featuring a Tryzub); (b.) yellow and blue with a red star in the center (a red star of Yugoslav Communists) instead of a coat of arms; (c.) a new variant composed of alternating yellow (25%) and blue (25%); and finally (4.) a new variant of the original Rusyn flag, which has the Pan Slavic colors, 50% dark blue, 25% white and 25% red. This flag was chosen by Rusyns in Subcarpathia.

It is clear that this situation must be brought into order and the matter of which is the Rusyn flag must be resolved for once and for all. It would be good if the World Congress of Rusyns and the World Forum of Rusyn Youth would give full legitimacy to a Rusyn flag. But before that can happen, consensus must be reached among Rusyns. De facto, there are three possibilities from published information: (a.) yellow (50%) and blue (50%) with a Rusyn coat of arms (Carpathian bear) in the middle; (b.) yellow (25%) and blue (25%) alternating stripes with no coat of arms; and (c.) blue (50%), white (25%) and red (25%) with a Rusyn coat of arms in the center. It would be most effective if Rusyn organizations in Europe and North America decide which flag they want to have before the next World Congress and then pass a resolution naming one flag official.