On Tuesday, April 19th, 2022, The Communist Party of the Russian Federation introduced a bill to the State Duma, seeking to restore the USSR flag as the official state flag.
Following this submission, the KPRF put out a statement on Twitter:
”The Communist Party of the Russian Federation submitted a bill to the State Duma proposing to establish the flag of the USSR with the flag of Russia Deputies from the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, headed by the leader of the faction G.A. Zyuganov introduced a bill to the State Duma proposing to set the flag of Russia as the flag that was in the USSR.
Official Statement
The General Secretary of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation, Gennady Andreyevich Zyuganov, expanded on this statement (English Translation) - in a post on their official website.
The initiative proposes to amend Art. 1 of the constitutional law "On the State Flag of the Russian Federation". The faction proposes to establish that the flag is "a red rectangular panel with an image in its upper corner of a golden hammer and sickle and above them a red five-pointed star framed by a golden border."
As one of the justifications for the need to change the flag, the deputies cite the results of a VTsIOM poll conducted in early 2021, according to which "67% of Russians regret the collapse of the USSR, and only a quarter of those polled hold the opposite opinion." When asked how you would vote if a referendum on the preservation of the USSR took place today, 73% expressed their desire to preserve it as a renewed union of equal sovereign republics, the authors of the project noted.
In the explanatory materials, the authors of the initiative point out that the red flag of the USSR was "a symbol of peace, kindness and great victories." "The Banner of Victory, hoisted in May 1945 over the defeated fascist Reichstag, was red. The achievements of the USSR in science, space exploration, medicine, culture, sports, technological progress, as well as gaining authority and huge weight in the international arena, also took place under red banner," the authors of the bill point out.
-KPRF
State Anthem
This is not the first time Russia has taken steps to restore traditions from the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. In 2000, the New York Times, along with The Guardian, published pieces covering a package, which included a proposal to the State Duma to restore the USSR anthem.
Fears of USSR Revival
Western media has a history of reacting negatively towards any restoration of Soviet symbols. In fact, US lawmakers have recently made comments regarding this phenomenon. An article by Politico reveals Sen. Mitt Romney’s accusations that President Vladimir Putin is attempting to restore the Soviet Union.
“He’s trying to reestablish what he had before. That can’t be allowed to happen,” said the Utah Republican, speaking on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
“[Putin]'s trying to take NATO apart — to weaken it. We need a strong NATO not just for Russia, but for the emergence of China,” said Romney, who warned of a surge in Russian aggression during his 2012 presidential campaign.
- Sen. Mitt Romney (Politico)
It is unclear whether these developments will lead to further restoration of Soviet era symbols or the revival of the Soviet Union.
One thing is clear, the West is deeply afraid of the possibility of the United States losing global hegemony to the East. As a result, we can expect to see further escalations on the side of the West.
