THE MACEDONIAN FLAG
Hari Radin
Bogdan asked:
>Does anyone know how the new official flag of the RoM
>looks like?
while Andy had previously written:
>My understanding was that the Krushevo flag was black and red. perhaps
>someone in the know could post something to the flags group
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andy is absolutely right (no wonder he is a historian!)
- the traditional Macedonian flag is and always was RED and BLACK.
Traditional Macedonian flag has two equal horizontal parts (as
shown on the figure), the upper half being red and the lower
black:
|
+===============================+
| |
| R E D |
| |
+-------------------------------+
|///////////////////////////////|
|///////// B L A C K ///////////|
|///////////////////////////////|
+===============================+
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
This traditional Macedonian flag had also a symbolic meaning -
the same meaning as the slogan of the Macedonian fighters from
the beginning of the century: "Freedom (red) or Death (black)".
During the 1903 Ilinden uprising and the Krushevo republic the
formal flag of Macedonian fighters was black-and-red. However,
local flags used by different guerrilla groups (cheti) were
more colorful. Usually they had a cross, a picture of a young
woman (representing Macedonia) or a lion (also a traditional
symbol), on a red, or red and black background, with the words
"Liberty or Death" - "SVOBODA ili SM'RT" written in golden
letters (needless to say, with the Cyrillic alphabet of Kliment
Ohridski and not the one of Karadzzich-Koneski).
After the Ilinden uprising the red-and-black flag was the ONLY
flag used by Macedonians and Macedonian organizations throughout
the world. While the official VMRO flag was the one with the
golden lion, it was the red-and-black flag that was the
MACEDONIAN flag. It is interesting that also all the Macedonian
emigrant organizations in the free world used exclusively the
red-and-black flag as the Macedonian flag (including the few
communist-oriented Macedonian organizations before WWII in
Europe).
However, in 1944, when the Socialist Republic of Macedonia was
created in the Yugoslav occupied part of Macedonia (Vardar
Macedonia), the prime goal of the creators was to cut all the
connections and the memories of the people with the past and to
create a new rootless yugo-macedonian identity, that can be
easily governed and manipulated by Belgrade. The enemy No.1 of
the Yugoslav SR Macedonia at the time (and practically until 4
year ago) was the VMRO and the idea of independent Macedonia. So,
it is not surprising that the red-and-black Macedonian flag was
intentionally "forgotten" as it reminded of the independence and
the VMRO.
Under the Yugoslav communist regime the official flag of the
Socialist Republic of Macedonia became all red with a small
communist star in the top left corner (very similar to the
Chinese flag, just without the four little stars). During those
years, the red "macedonian national flag" was usually
indistinguishable from the Communist Party red flag, always
displayed together with that "Macedonian" and the Yugoslav
flags.
However, the residues of the traditional Macedonian
red-and-black colors could be found in some symbols in Yugoslav
Macedonia, like the club colors of the soccer team "Vardar" from
Skopje, etc.. Of course, it is not a coincidence that "Vardar"
colors are red-and-black. Soccer team "Vardar" is a continuation
of the soccer team "Macedonia", which used the traditional
Macedonian red-and-black colors [The club's name before 1941 was
"Gradjanski - Skoplje" (as opposed to "Gradjanski - Zagreb"),
but, it had different colors, for obvious reasons].
The traditional Macedonian black-and-red flag is also
remembered in folk songs, like the one about Goce
Delchev, when a Turkish officer is inquiring Delchev's mother
about the whereabouts of her son, she replies:
Snoshti so mnozina, Last night, with the others,
Vardar go minale. They crossed Vardar river,
I mi trgnale, And they were headed,
Gevgelisko pole. Toward the Gevgeli-field.
Cheta da soberat To organize a group,
I da mi razveat And to wave,
crno i crveno, Black and red,
Makedonsko zname. Macedonian flag.
Na nego da pishe, On the flag to be written,
"Smrt ili Svoboda", "Death or Liberty",
smrt ili sloboda, death or liberty,
za Makedonija! for Macedonia!
But, for all practical purposes the red-and-black Macedonian
flag was forgotten in Yugoslav Macedonia after 1945, and it was
never mentioned in the text-books. That describes, more or
less, the situation in SR Macedonia until 1991 - the mixture of
distorted Ilinden memories and yugo-communist reality.
After it declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1991,
Republic of Macedonia had to decide which official flag was it
going to use. There was a debate and a voting in the
Parliament. One option was the old VMRO flag - the golden lion
on a red background, and the other was a newly designed flag
with a golden, 16-pointed star on a red background (BTW, does
anyone know who created and proposed this second flag?).
When it was voted in the Macedonian Parliament (was it a single
vote majority over the golden lion flag? - I think the vote of
the independent MP Todor Petrov was crucial and decided the
election of the new flag over the VMRO one) many Macedonians
viewed it as a future negotiating chip, to be given up in the
negotiations with Greeks in order to keep the NAME MACEDONIA
(which, everyone agrees, is ESSENTIAL for out identity).
Frankly speaking, this new designer's creation for the official
flag of RoM (combination of the communist and Yugoslav SR
Macedonia's old red flag with the Sun of Alexander the Great)
was for practically all Macedonians a completely new thing.
Until five years ago nor I nor ANY of my friends in Macedonia
have ever seen anything that looked like that.
Anyway, despite all of this, I respected the new flag as it was
the official flag of my country, (and it was definitely a much
better option than the Serbo-Yugoslav "trobojka").
But, quite frankly, it was hard for me to feel it as part of my
tradition. Relating more than 2000 years old ROYAL Macedonian
16-pointed star symbol of the Ancient Macedonian Dynasty with
the nowadays REPUBLIC of Macedonia, IMHO was not the best thing
in the first place. (Nevertheless, I think that it is
ridiculous to relate this symbol with the modern Greek state,
either).
Anyhow - The Republic of Macedonia got it's first official
flag.
As with any new, modern and trendy thing, the new flag was
accepted quickly by young Macedonians, while for most of the
olders it remained somewhat distant.
I still remember my grandfather saying: "Od kaj dojde znamevo?
Abe nie si imame nasse Makedonsko zname!" - "Where did this
flag come from? We have our Macedonian flag!". My grand-father
and many other Macedonians, knew that the fight for independent
Macedonian didn't start in 1991. It was more than a century old
struggle, and had a tradition deeply routed in the souls of
most of the Macedonian.
However, that tradition in NOT the Ancient Macedonian tradition
of Alexander the Great, with a Macedonian state borders from
Salonica to Egypt and India, without Skopje, Veles, Tetovo and
many towns that are in Macedonia today. Our tradition is mainly
the tradition of our grand-fathers, inseparably connected to the
VMRO, the memories of Ilinden resurrection and the Krushevo
republic. Inventing NEW TRADITIONS out of temporary POLITICAL
reasons usually results in people having problems accepting and
REPLACING the symbols they have been fighting under for a
century. Also, the after-effects of those experiments are
usually bitter, as we can see these days.
I was Macedonian long before the new flag was created and
introduced to me, and I will stay Macedonian long after that
flag is gone. In other words, I had my identity before 1991 and
I'll have it in the future, regardless of some 2000 years old
Alexander-the-Great symbols, or votings of the MP in the
Macedonian Parliament, or the secret agreements, lying
capabilities or negotiating incapabilities of Gligorov & Co.
But, it seems that this is not the case with all the
Macedonians. Without offending anyone, I know that there were
my fellow countryman (in Macedonia and abroad) who, "didn't know
that they were Macedonians until 4 years ago". In my experience,
they are the ones that the most strongly grasped the new
flag. Among my friends those who were the biggest Yugoslavs
before, and used to cry so loudly for Yugoslavia, became biggest
Macedonians in 1991. Interestingly but not surprisingly enough,
they were usually also absolutely clueless about our history.
Most of them grasped this ancient symbol so strongly, as if
they wanted to bypass, jump or forget the historical period in
between. As if we didn't have history in the mean time, an as
if we need 2000 years old legends to confirm our existence
nowadays. As if there were no other much more important events
in our recent history, with their symbols, which are still
fresh in our memories, and which are directly connected to
us, through our grand-parents.
The ancient history is heritage of all the people in the region
and, probably, much broader. On the other hand, recent
Macedonian history, especially the one after the Berlin
congress of 1878, is directly and exclusively connected to us,
contemporary Macedonians, through the struggle of our
grand-fathers for independent MODERN Macedonian state. There is
absolutely no logical reason for me to favor ancient symbols
over the symbols of my grand-fathers.
Yes, I can understand the POLITICAL motivation for such moves
and behavior, especially from some ex-yugo-macedonians or
pro-serbian elements in our government, (as they were always
opponents of an independent Macedonian state), but, on the
other hand, those elements WERE and ARE the LAST ones to define
or affect my identity.
As I wrote before, I was a Macedonian long before they designed
the new flag, long before the Sun of Alexander was
re-discovered in late 1970's and put on the "Chinese" flag
instead of the communist star - to symbolize the new
independent Macedonian republic. And I will be a Macedonian
long after.
So, I am not sorry that the Sun is gone, but I am VERY UPSET
that it was done in this way. I cannot express my anger that
the flag was sold. Only people who don't care about nationality
and tradition can shamelessly manipulated a national flag or
ANY national symbol, like this. Regardless of how this new flag
was introduced to the Macedonians, and whether I like it or
not, it is a shame to sell a national flag, and also play with
the feelings of those Macedonians who decided to bond with that
symbol.
Nevertheless, this is a consequence of the sad fact that our
country is still governed by people who used to be part of the
"avant-garde of the international proletarian unity", and we
all know how high on their agenda is the nationality and other
national interests.
In my opinion they should have NOT given up the flag to the
Greek demands unless the Greeks have agreed to recognize our
state under the name Republic of Macedonia. The name IS
important. We can have (and as it looks, will have) many
official flags, but WE HAVE ONLY ONE NAME. And we are now more
distant to that name than ever. I think that by accepting this
agreement we have practically lost all the hopes for our country
to keep the name Macedonia.
Actually, this is nothing new. Our government has discussed with
the Greeks several times, via various mediators, the compromise
over OUR name (one of the unofficial mediators was the Serbian
minister Jovanovich, who, if you still remember, met secretly
last year with his Macedonian colleague in New York, which the
Macedonian side vigorously tried to hide, after the news was
made public by the Belgrade independent media. They forgot that
it's much easier to hide those meetings in Belgrade, Skopje or
Ohrid, than in New York).
As I can see, current President and government of RoM will
sooner or later agree on name "New Macedonia", and will try to
represent it as a success, since Greece initialy refused to
accept word Macedonia anywhere in the name. They will
eventually give up to ALL the request by the Greeks and the
Serbs, and slowly sink into some new version of Balkan
little-Antante.
The history does repeat ... And the world still has to see an
agreement shaped by Greeks and Serbs that is not devastating for
Macedonians.
Maybe Gligorov believes in miracles, I don't know ... or he is
just fulfilling the old promises, and as an excellent actor, he
is not disclosing the whole story to keep our tension until the
very end of the play. I am just worried that the ticket for this
play of the Macedonian National theater will be very, very
expensive for all Macedonians.
The real play is yet to come. So far we have just payed for the
garderobe - with the national flag.
Salute,
Hari
========================================================================
P.S. Izvinete ssto prakjam vaka dolgi poraki, ama ne go ccitam
e-mailov sekoj den, pa koga ke se ressam nessto da proccitam i
napissam, se sobiraat mnogu raboti, i se e nekako na brzina ...
I am sorry for not having the time to write shorter posting ... H.R.
DannyK
Hari Radin <ths...@iitmax.acc.iit.edu> writes:
> But, quite frankly, it was hard for me to feel it as part of my
> tradition. Relating more than 2000 years old ROYAL Macedonian
> 16-pointed star symbol of the Ancient Macedonian Dynasty with
> the nowadays REPUBLIC of Macedonia, IMHO was not the best thing
> in the first place. (Nevertheless, I think that it is
> ridiculous to relate this symbol with the modern Greek state,
> either).
You are somewhat incorrect on this point. Remember the various churches and
tombstones which are adorned with the sun in RoM. My theory is that this
symbol was used by people without their realizing what the origin was. Also
remember that the older immigrants to this country (MPO-ists like I assume
yourself to be) proudly displayed symbols of antiquity.
My understanding is that many of the Mac-Bulg churches have Alexander the
Great symbols adorning their buildings. I know our old social hall here
did. Remember, even though it would not pass scientific scrutiny, history
teaches use that there is a lot of truth in the knowledge passed down by
the generations.
We were always told about the Macedonian legacy. Okay, so now we know he
wasn't a Slav (or do we?) That does not mean that part of our heritage does
not come from that line. Remember, a child whose parents are black and
white in some countries is America would be considered black, in Brazil
mulatto and in many other places white.
>
> Anyhow - The Republic of Macedonia got it's first official
> flag.
>
> As with any new, modern and trendy thing, the new flag was
> accepted quickly by young Macedonians, while for most of the
> olders it remained somewhat distant.
Wrong again. My cousins "uncle-in-law" comes from Aegeska Macedonia, Greek
surname and all. He was so proud when we attained independence that he even
had a bunch of hats and bumper stickers made up with the star. I have one
on my car. Many others the same. I even know one college kid who got
tattooed with the star.
> However, that tradition in NOT the Ancient Macedonian tradition
> of Alexander the Great, with a Macedonian state borders from
> Salonica to Egypt and India, without Skopje, Veles, Tetovo and
> many towns that are in Macedonia today. Our tradition is mainly
> the tradition of our grand-fathers, inseparably connected to the
> VMRO, the memories of Ilinden resurrection and the Krushevo
> republic. Inventing NEW TRADITIONS out of temporary POLITICAL
> reasons usually results in people having problems accepting and
> REPLACING the symbols they have been fighting under for a
> century. Also, the after-effects of those experiments are
> usually bitter, as we can see these days.
Again see above. The old immigrants were PROUD TO BE DESCENDANTS OF
ALEXANDER. The commies downplayed this connection. Comrade Gligorov also
does as well.
DannyK
Boris Docevski
Exactly, Dan! The TRUE Macedonians are always proud of their Macedonian
legacy; the Bugaroman and other traitors of Macedonia aren't, and would
rather we had foreign symbols on our flag. :-)
Boris Docevski (bd...@cornell.edu)