Europe

Flag of Belarus

Belarus is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe bordered by Russia, Ukraine, Poland, Lithuania, and Latvia, maintaining close political and economic ties with Russia. Minsk, the capital, was almost entirely destroyed during World War II and was meticulously rebuilt in an imposing Soviet architectural style with wide boulevards and grand public squares. The country has a rich tradition of folk art, weaving, and woodcraft.

CapitalMinsk
RegionEurope
Current flag since2012
Main coloursRed, Green, White
Populationabout 9.2 million
Areaabout 208,000 km²
GeographyLandlocked
Flags in history4

Population and area are rounded.

What the flag of Belarus means

Belarus's red and green flag was adopted after a 1995 referendum called by President Alexander Lukashenko, replacing the white-red-white flag used after independence in 1991. It is based on the flag of the Byelorussian Soviet Republic without the hammer and sickle. Red is usually linked to the defeat of invaders and green to forests and fields, while the hoist pattern is a traditional rushnyk embroidery design. The white-red-white flag is still flown by the opposition.

How to recognise it

Red and green horizontal stripes with a decorative white-red vertical band at the hoist.

Did you know?

Belarus has the last KGB (secret police) in the world still using that exact name.

Easily confused with

Belarus' flag is often mixed up with these. Learn to tell them apart:

Austria

Flag history of Belarus

Every flag that has flown over Belarus, from today back through time.

2012–present

Flag of Belarus

A 2012 standardization made the hoist ornament red-on-white. The red-green bicolour is one of the few national flags that still keeps a Soviet-derived design rather than reverting after independence.

1995–2012

Red-green flag (1995)

Introduced after a 1995 referendum, this revived the Soviet-era look without the communist symbols. The hoist ornament was originally rendered white-on-red.

1991–1995

White-red-white flag

First used by the 1918 Belarusian People's Republic and readopted at independence in 1991. Dropped after the 1995 referendum, it is now the symbol of the Belarusian democratic opposition.

1951–1991

Byelorussian SSR

A red field with a green bottom stripe and a red-and-white ornamental pattern at the hoist. Adopted in 1951, it directly inspired the flag Belarus flies today.

Related historical states

Empires, kingdoms and republics that once covered part of Belarus.

1858–1896

Russian Empire

The black-yellow-white 'imperial colors' were drawn from the state coat of arms by Alexander II, before Nicholas II demoted them for the white-blue-red tricolor.

1922–1991

Soviet Union

The gold hammer and sickle beneath a red star stood for the worker-peasant alliance. The exact shade and proportions were fixed by Soviet law in 1955.

1951–1991

Byelorussian SSR

Red over a green band with a white folk-ornament stripe at the hoist; modern Belarus readopted a near-identical design in 1995, dropping only the hammer and sickle.

1918–1919

Belarusian People's Republic

The white-red-white flag of the short-lived republic declared during WWI; suppressed by the Bolsheviks, it returned as independent Belarus's flag from 1991 to 1995.