On August 24, 1991, immediately after Ukraine’s declaration of independence, representatives of the People’s Movement of Ukraine brought a blue-and-yellow flag into the Verkhovna Rada’s session hall. Vyacheslav Chornovil and Ivan Zayets demanded that it be raised above the dome of the parliament. But the majority did not heed their call.
Ten days later, on September 4, the democrats again proposed raising the blue-and-yellow flag over the Verkhovna Rada building. But once again, the Communist majority did not support the proposal. A massive rally gathered outside the parliament building, demanding that the flag be raised. Ultimately, after lengthy negotiations and ultimatums, the deputies voted to raise the flag, although they still did not recognize it as the national flag.
The raising of the flag over the parliament signified not only the people’s political choice but also a return to a national identity that had been suppressed for many decades.
Anatoliy Tishchenko, a member of the People’s Movement of Ukraine and the Ukrainian Language Society (later renamed the Taras Shevchenko Society) from Myrnohrad, recalls: “I wasn’t in Kyiv on that memorable day, but I watched the entire event on television. I was overwhelmed with a sense of joy and pride for Ukraine. I immediately called the city council secretary, Hryhorii Nikitenko, and asked if he was watching TV and if he knew what had happened in the capital. He said yes, so I suggested we raise the blue-and-yellow flag on the city council building.
On the morning of September 5, we—Stanislav Lushchan, Serhiy Fomin, and I—found a ladder in the city council basement, removed the flag of the now-defunct Ukrainian SSR from the flagpole on the city council’s facade, and replaced it with the national blue-and-yellow flag. “Thus, the Dimitrov City Council became the first in the Donetsk Oblast to fly the Ukrainian flag over its building,” says Anatoliy Tishchenko.
Raising the flag over the parliament solidified its status at the state level. This event was not only a historic milestone but also a confirmation that national symbols are an integral part of establishing a country’s independence.
Subsequently, on September 18, 1991, the Presidium of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine finally legalized the use of the blue-and-yellow flag. And on January 28, 1992, the Verkhovna Rada adopted a resolution officially designating the blue-and-yellow flag as the National Flag of Ukraine.