Editing Flag of the Soviet Union (section)

==History==
During the establishment of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]], [[Vladimir Lenin]] and his followers had considered the inclusion of a sword symbol in addition to the hammer and sickle as part of the [[National emblems of the Russian Empire|state seal]] on which the flag was eventually based. The idea was dismissed as too visually aggressive, with Lenin apparently affirming, "A sword is not one of our symbols."<ref>{{Cite book|title=Flags of the states of the world|author=Konstantin AndreevichIvanov|language=ru| location=Moscow|publisher=Izd-vo Transport|year=1971| page={{Page needed|date=September 2010}}|oclc=20146023}}</ref>

The first official flag was adopted in December 1922 at the First Congress of Soviets of the USSR.  It was agreed that the red banner "was transformed from the symbol of the Party to the symbol of a state, and around that flag gathered the peoples of the soviet republics to unite into one state&nbsp;— the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics". On 30 December 1922, the Congress adopted a Declaration and Agreement on the establishment of the USSR. Article 22 of the Agreement states: "The USSR has a flag, coat of arms and a state seal." The description of the first flag was given in the [[1924 Soviet Constitution]], accepted in the second session of the executive committee (CIK) of the USSR on 6 July 1923. The text of Article 71 states: "The state flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics consists of a red or scarlet field with the state's [[Coat of arms of the Soviet Union|coat of arms]]." It was ordered with the unusual ratio of 4:1 in proportion and consisted of a red flag with the state coat of arms in the center. However, such a flag was never mass-produced. This flag was the official flag for four months, and was replaced as the official flag by the more familiar hammer and sickle design during the third session of the CIK of the USSR on 12 November 1923.

In the third session of the CIK of the USSR, the description of Soviet flag in the Constitution was changed, and article 71 was edited to read: "The state flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics consists of a red or scarlet field, and in the canton a golden sickle and hammer, and a red five-pointed star bordered in gold above them.  The ratio of width to length is 1:2." On 19 August 1955, the Statute on the State Flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was adopted by a decision of the [[Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR]]. This resulted in a change of the hammer's handle length and the shape of the sickle. On 15 August 1980, a new edition of the Statute on the State Flag of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was adopted, which did not make any changes to the flag's description aside from removing the hammer and sickle on the reverse side of the flag.<ref name=RCVH>{{cite web|url=http://www.vexillographia.ru/russia/ussr.htm|title=Флаги СССР|website=vexillographia.ru|author=Russian Centre of Vexillology and Heraldry|access-date=11 January 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140221223059/http://www.vexillographia.ru/russia/ussr.htm|archive-date=21 February 2014|url-status=dead}}</ref> From this point on, the flag stayed in use with this design until the disintegration of the USSR on 26 December 1991, at which time it ceased to be a national flag and replaced by national flags of the [[post-Soviet republics]].

On 15 April 1996, [[Boris Yeltsin]] signed a presidential decree giving the Soviet flag (called the [[Victory Banner]], after the banner that was raised above the [[Reichstag (building)|Reichstag]] on 1 May 1945) status similar to that of the national flag. The hammer and sickle were removed from the flag, leaving only the star, but they were reinstated later. On certain holidays, the Victory Banner is flown along with the Russian flag.

=== Contemporary usage ===
In current times, the Soviet national flag (and similar flags) are widely used by those on the [[far-left politics|political far left]], most often by those who support [[Marxism–Leninism]], although the earlier (pre-[[Stalinism|Stalinist]]) flags are occasionally used by [[Trotskyism|Trotskyists]] and those on the modern [[Left communism|communist left]].

The Soviet flag is also actively promoted in Russia as a symbol of [[nostalgia for the Soviet Union]]. Various politicians frequently utilize it as a symbol of the superpower status Russia lost in 1991.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Hoffman|first=David|date=2000-12-05|title=Putin Seeks Restoration Of Soviet Symbols|language=en-US|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/politics/2000/12/05/putin-seeks-restoration-of-soviet-symbols/0f5e2e73-414e-4cd5-8565-465e518081ec/|access-date=2021-08-22|issn=0190-8286}}</ref>

Amidst the backdrop of the [[2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine]], the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]] proposed to the [[State Duma]] the adoption of the Soviet flag as the official [[flag of Russia]] on 19 April 2022.<ref>{{Cite web |title=КПРФ внесла в Госдуму законопроект, предлагающий установить флаг СССР флагом России |url=https://kprf.ru/dep/gosduma/activities/210029.html |access-date=2022-04-19 |website=kprf.ru |language=ru}}</ref> The use of [[Soviet imagery during the Russo-Ukrainian War|Soviet symbols including its flag became very extensive]] by invading Russian forces over the course of the war along with the [[Z (military symbol)|letter "Z"]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Young |first1=Pareisa |title=Ukraine: Russian troops flying Soviet flag, symbol of 're-establishing Russian domination' |url=https://observers.france24.com/en/europe/20220311-ukraine-ussr-soviet-flag-russia-troops |access-date=4 May 2022 |work=The Observers - [[France 24]] |date=11 March 2022 |archive-date=27 April 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220427075026/https://observers.france24.com/en/europe/20220311-ukraine-ussr-soviet-flag-russia-troops |url-status=live }}</ref>

On 17 June 2023, during the celebration for the 300th anniversary of [[Saint Petersburg]], the respective flags of the Russian Empire ({{ill|Black-yellow-white flag|ru|Чёрно-жёлто-белый флаг}}), Soviet Union, and [[Flag of Russia|Russian Federation]] were raised simultaneously at the [[Gulf of Finland]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rg.ru/2023/06/17/reg-szfo/v-peterburge-na-vysotu-179-metrov-torzhestvenno-podniali-flagi-treh-istoricheskih-epoh.html|title=В Петербурге на высоту 179 метров торжественно подняли флаги трёх исторических эпох|language=ru|website=[[Rossiyskaya Gazeta]]|date=2023-06-17|access-date=2023-06-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://rg.ru/2023/06/17/reg-szfo/putin-prinial-uchastie-v-ceremonii-podniatiia-flagov-rf-sssr-i-rossijskoj-imperii-v-peterburge.html|title=Путин принял участие в церемонии поднятия флагов РФ, СССР и Российской империи в Петербурге|language=ru|website=[[Rossiyskaya Gazeta]]|date=2023-06-17|access-date=2023-06-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://tass.ru/obschestvo/18047849|title=Путин с катера наблюдал за поднятием в Петербурге флагов РФ, СССР и Российской империи|language=ru|website=[[TASS]]|access-date=2023-06-20}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|lang=ru|url=https://www.mk.ru/politics/2023/06/17/v-sanktpeterburge-torzhestvenno-podnyali-flagi-trekh-istoricheskikh-epokh.html|title=В Санкт-Петербурге торжественно подняли флаги трёх исторических эпох|website=[[Moskovskij Komsomolets]]|date=2023-06-17|access-date=2023-06-20}}</ref>

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<gallery mode="lines" widths="180" caption="Historical evolution of the flag of the Soviet Union" style="text-align:center; background:white;"> 
Flag of the Soviet Union (1922–1923).svg|(30 December 1922 – 12 November 1923)
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924).svg|(12 November 1923 – 18 April 1924)
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924–1936).svg|(18 April 1924 – 5 December 1936)
Flag of the Soviet Union (1924–1955).svg|(5 December 1936 – 19 August 1955)
Flag of the Soviet Union.svg|(19 August 1955 – 26 December 1991)
</gallery>