18 years ago, on August 23, 2004, a new holiday was celebrated in Ukraine for the first time - the Day of the State Flag of Ukraine. The modern blue-yellow version as a state symbol appeared in the century before last, in 1848: then, over the Lviv City Hall, the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria hung out their national flag, which began to quickly gain popularity and after 50 years was already used on the territory of the Dnieper region.
In ancient times, triangular panels were used in Kievan Rus. During the battles, banners were set up on the hills, which symbolized the readiness of the troops for battle. With the onset of the Polish-Lithuanian period in the 14th century, quadrangular flags appeared with a protruding sharp wedge in the upper part. They depicted generic signs, crosses, heavenly bodies. On the flag of the Galicia-Volyn principality on a blue background is a golden lion standing on its hind legs. One of the provinces, Lviv land, received a similar, somewhat modified symbol: the lion on the standard is better detailed, the eyes, tongue and claws are painted red; the beast leans on a white rock.
During the Cossack-Hetman period, red flags were common, often quadrangular, beveled to the lower left corner. By the 18th century, more and more blue flags appeared with coats of arms in yellow or gold. The coat of arms of the Zaporizhzhya Army was a Cossack with a self-made gun on his shoulder - it can be seen on the flag of the Hetmanate. In 1848, the Golovna Ruska Rada, a Ukrainian political organization formed in Lviv, resumed using the flag of the Principality of Galicia-Volhynia. The blue-yellow flag, installed in the same year at the Lviv City Hall, was hung out during the congresses of scientists and the reception of statesmen.
From year to year in Ukraine and around the world there are actions dedicated to the Day of the State Flag of Ukraine. On August 22, 2010, the longest flag of Ukraine was unfurled in Ternopil. Its length was 9.5 km, width - 0.75 m. And in 2018, on a holiday in Dnipro, several records of Ukraine were broken: a flag with a canvas measuring 12x18 m and weighing 23 kg was installed in the city, the height of the flagpole was 72 m. This record was broken in 2020 in Kyiv, where a 16×24 m flag was fixed at a height of 89 m.
