The State Flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, also simply known as the Soviet flag or the Red Banner, was a red flag with two communist symbols displayed in the canton: a gold hammer and sickle topped off by a red five-point star bordered in gold. The flag's design and symbolism are derived from several sources, but emerged during the Russian Revolution. It has also come to serve as the standard symbol representing communism as a whole, recognized as such in international circles, even after the dissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991.
The Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic, also called Soviet Karelia or simply known as Karelia, was a republic of the Soviet Union. It existed from 31 March 1940 until it was made part of the Russian SFSR on 16 July 1956 as the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The latter became the Republic of Karelia, a federal subject of Russia, on 13 November 1991.
The flag of Kazakhstan was adopted on 4 June 1992, replacing the Soviet-era flag. The flag was designed by Shaken Niyazbekov.
The flag of the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted on 17 December 1952 by the government of the Armenian SSR. The flag is similar to the flag of the Soviet Union but has a ¼-width horizontal blue stripe in the middle. The red represents the "revolutionary struggle of the working masses" and the golden hammer and sickle represents the peasants' and workers' union.
The flag of the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic was a plain red flag with a golden hammer and sickle and a gold-bordered red star in its upper canton and an horizontal dark blue band on the bottom fourth, representing the Caspian Sea.
The flag of the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted by the Kazakh government on 24 January 1953. The flag resembles the flag of the Soviet Union in defaced form with a 2/9 horizontal blue (azure) bar in the lower part of the flag and the hammer and sickle in the near centre.
The flag of the Kirghiz SSR was adopted by the Presidium of the Supreme Council of the Kirghiz SSR decreed by its Decree on 22 December 1952. The 1978 constitution of the Kirghiz SSR states that the ratio of the flag is 1:2 with the blue/white/blue stripes in the middle taking 1⁄3 of the flag height and the white stripes 1⁄20 of flag height. The red, blue and white colors were derived from the Pan-Slavic colours.
The flag of the Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic shows a yellow hammer and sickle and outlined star on a red field above rippling water at the bottom, and was adopted by the (former) Latvian Soviet Socialist Republic on January 17, 1953.
The flag of the Lithuanian SSR was first adopted by the Lithuanian SSR in 1918, which was a plain red flag. After the Lithuanian SSR was established again in 1940, the flag was a red flag with the national name and a hammer and sickle in the upper canton. The flag in use from 1953 to 1988 was a red flag with the golden hammer and sickle and a gold-bordered red star in its upper canton with a white thin stripe and green thick band on the bottom.
The flag of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted on 31 January 1952. The flag has three horizontal bands of red, green (1/4) and red, with a hammer and sickle in the canton. As defined by the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic on the flag description:
The national flag of the Moldavian Soviet Socialist Republic consists of a panel of red color with a green stripe in the middle of the whole flag length, with the image on top of the red part of the flag from the flagpole golden hammer and sickle above a five-pointed red star framed by gold border. The ratio of the flag's width to its length is 1:2 with the bandwidth of green to the width of the flag 1:4
The State Flag of the Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted on 1 August 1953 and was replaced with the current flag of Turkmenistan in 1992. Although similar to the Flag of the Soviet Union, the layout is identical to the flag of the Kirghiz SSR with a ratio of 1:2. The two blue stripes between the red represents the rivers Amu Darya and Syr Darya, the red represents the "revolutionary struggle of the working masses", the hammer and sickle represents the peasants' and workers' union, and the red star is the symbol of the ruling Communist Party.
The first flag of the Ukrainian Soviet Socialist Republic (UkSSR) was adopted on 10 March 1919 to serve as the symbol of state of the Ukrainian SSR. Details of the official flag changed periodically before the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, but all had as their basis the communist red flag. According to the decree of the Presidium of Supreme Soviet of Ukrainian SSR on 21 November 1949, the blue in the bottom "symbolises the mightiness and beauty of the people, and the blue banner of Bohdan Khmelnytsky".
The flag of the Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted on 29 August 1952. The red represents the "revolutionary struggle of the working masses", the hammer and sickle represents the peasants' and workers' union, and the red star is the symbol of the communist party. There is no official explanation for the symbolic meanings of other elements. However, in some material the white stripes represent cotton, the blue band represents Amu Darya and irrigation in general.
The flags of the Soviet Socialist Republics were all defaced versions of the flag of the Soviet Union, which featured a golden hammer and sickle and a gold-bordered red star on a red field.
The flag of the Republic of Karelia is the official state symbol of the Republic of Karelia. Adopted by the Supreme Council of the Republic of Karelia on February 16, 1993. The flag was designed by Alexander Ivanovich Kinnear.
The State Anthem of the Karelo-Finnish SSR was the national anthem of Karelia when it was a republic of the Soviet Union and known as the Karelo-Finnish SSR.
The emblem of the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted on February 10, 1941 by the government of the Karelo-Finnish Soviet Socialist Republic and used until it was absorbed into the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic in 1956.
The State Emblem of the Soviet Union was the official symbol of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics adopted in 1923 and used until the dissolution of the state in 1991. Although it technically is an emblem rather than a coat of arms, since it does not follow traditional heraldic rules, in Russian it is called герб, the word used for a traditional coat of arms.
The national emblem of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic was adopted in 1937 by the government of the Karelian Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic. The emblem is identical to the emblem of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.
The Supreme Soviet of the Karelo-Finnish SSR was the supreme soviet of the Karelo-Finnish SSR. The Supreme Soviet of the Karelo-Finnish SSR was established in June 1940 when the third session of the First Convocation of the Supreme Soviet of the Karelian ASSR adopted the law of transforming the Karelian ASSR into the Karelo-Finnish SSR. The first elections of the Supreme Soviet of the Karelo-Finnish SSR took place on June 16, 1940, and the first session of the first convocation took place on November 8, 1940. The Supreme Soviet of the Karelo-Finnish SSR was disbanded in August 1956 when the Karelo-Finnish SSR was demoted to an autonomous soviet socialist republic on July 16, 1956.
