Lithuania Flag

Apart from half-mast flying, in Lithuanian customs of mourning, a black ribbon is often attached to the flag and fixed at the other end to the base of the flagpole.

The earliest known flag common to all Lithuania was a battle-flag from the early 15th Century. The flag, which came to be called the “Vytis”, or “pursuit-rider”, depicts a knight on horseback, charging forward with sword raised. The tail of the flag in the upper quarter is also of interest.

The Vytis had been the closest emblem to a national flag that Lithuania bore, until 1569, when the Commonwealth of Poland instated the country of Lithuania as an autonomous grand duchy in personal union through the Polish King.

The creation of the modern Lithuanian flag started with other European republics deciding to change to tricolour flags. The original flag, pre 1918, was dark shades of green and read, with white in-between and goes by the name The Flag of Lithuanian Minor.

At the end of the First World War Lithuania was no longer under foreign rule and existed as nation state again. A new Lithuanian flag became official in the 1922 Constitution, bearing a yellow-green-red tricolour design in 6:9 ratio.

Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia fought for control of Lithuania in World War II. In 1944, Russian forces pushed Germany out of Lithuania, and they instated a Lithuanian Soviet Socialist Republic. Until 1953, a simple Soviet flag inscribed with a latin designation was used as the national flag.  After 1953 a red, white and green flag was created bearing the hammer and sickle of communism.

Toward the end of the USSR’s lifespan, Lithuania joined other Soviet Republics in applying for independence. In keeping with the tradition of Soviet flags, the new Lithuanian flag had a dimensional ratio of 1:2 rather than its historical 6:9. In 2004 the ratio was altered to 3:5.