Belarus - Current

The current national flag of Belarus (Belarusian: Сцяг Беларусі, Stsyah Byelarusi; Russian: Флаг Беларуси, Flag Belarusi) was formally adopted on 7th June 1995, following the result of a referendum voted on by the Belarusian people in the previous month. This new design replaced a historical flag used by the Belarusian People's Republic of 1918, before Belarus became a Soviet Republic, and again after it regained its independence in 1991. The current flag is a modification of the 1951 flag used while the country was a republic of the Soviet Union.

The national flag of Belarus, was described in a decree on 7th June 1995 as follows, “The national flag is a rectangular cloth consisting of two longitudinal stripes: red upper stripe and green lower stripe that are two-thirds and one-third of the flag width respectively. A vertical red-on-white Belarusian decorative pattern, which occupies one-ninth of the flag's length, is placed against the flagstaff. The flag’s ratio of width to length is 1:2. The flag is fixed on a flagstaff painted golden (ochre).”

The flag does not differ significantly from the flag of the Byelorussian SSR, other than the removal of the hammer and sickle and the red star, and the reversal of red and white in the hoist pattern.
The red colour of the flag signifies the past history of Belarus, as the colour used by the Belarusian forces at the Battle of Grunwald, and of the Red Army when they were fighting Nazi Germany during World War II. Green stands for aspirations about the future, and also represents the many forests located in the country.

While the colours of the flag are red, green, and white, the exact shades have not been determined by either law or decree. The publication Album des pavillons nationaux et des marques distinctives gave an estimate of what the colours are in the Pantone, CMYK and RGB colour processes.

Red 1795c, 0-90-100-0, 255-0-0
Green 370c, 60-0-100-25, 0-153-0
White Safe, 0-0-0-0, 255-255-255

Hoist ornament pattern

There is a decorative pattern displayed on the hoist of the flag(1/9 length and previously displayed on the 1951 flag). Designed in 1917 by Matrena Markevich, the pattern is commonly used in Belarus to show local plants and flowers. These patterns are also woven into outfits, and also used for a traditional woven craft called rushniks, traditional towels decorated with the ornamental pattern that are used for ceremonial events. An example of their use would be a host offering his guests bread and salt, which would then be served on a rushnik. Rushniks are also used at religious services, funerals, and other social functions. On the current flag, the ornamentation is used to symbolize the cultural past, and current Belarusian unity.