View source for Red flag (politics)

{{Short description|Symbol of socialism and left-wing politics}}
{{Other uses|Red flag (disambiguation){{!}}Red flag}}
{{Use British English|date=July 2024}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2019}}

[[File:Red flag waving.svg|thumb|250px|The plain red flag is often used at socialist or communist rallies, especially on [[International Workers' Day]].]]
In [[politics]], a '''red flag''' is predominantly a symbol of [[left-wing politics|left-wing]] ideologies, including [[socialism]], [[communism]], [[anarchism]], and the [[labour movement]]. The originally empty or plain red flag has been associated with left-wing politics since the [[French Revolution]] (1789–1799). The red flag and [[Red (politics)|red as a political colour]] are the oldest symbols of communism and socialism.

Socialists adopted the symbol during the [[Revolutions of 1848]]. It was first used as the flag of a new authority by the [[Lyon Commune]] and [[Paris Commune]] in the aftermath of the [[Franco-Prussian War]] (1870–1871). The [[flag of the Soviet Union]], introduced during the [[Russian Revolution]], as well as the flags of many subsequent [[communist state]]s, were explicitly inspired by the plain red flag. Many socialist and socialist-adjacent political parties, including those of [[democratic socialism|democratic socialists]] and [[social democracy|social democrats]], have adapted and adopted a red flag as their symbol. The plain red flag was an official symbol of the [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] in the [[United Kingdom]] until the late 1980s. It was the inspiration for the socialist songs "[[The Red Flag]]" and "[[Bandiera Rossa]]".

== History ==
[[File:Lar9 philippo 001z.jpg|thumb|"Lamartine, before the [[Hôtel de Ville, Paris]], rejects the Red Flag," February 25, 1848. By [[Henri Félix Emmanuel Philippoteaux]] (1815–1884). Lamartine said that the red flag represented revolutionary violence, and "has to be put down immediately after the fighting".]]
[[File:Bremen, Staats- und Universitätsbibliothek, ms. Or. 9, fol. 45r.jpg|thumb|210px|Plain red banners for the Sultan's retinue. From the ''Turkish Costume Book'' by [[Lambert de Vos]], 1574.]]

Red color as a combat or revolt symbol in Europe goes back to the turn of the second millennium and before. In the Middle Ages, ships in combat flew long red streamers called [[Bloody flag|baucans or bauccedillian]] to signify a fight with [[no quarter]].<ref>''Flags of the World'', "[http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/vxt-dvb2.html#baucens Baucans (or Bauccedillian)]".</ref> 
{{main|Bloody flag}}

Prior to the [[French Revolution]] and in some contexts since, red banners were seen as symbols of defiance and battle.<ref>Cited in "red flag", ''Oxford English Dictionary''.</ref> In the vein of [[Maritime flag|nautical symbolism]], ones hoisted on ships to signify [[no quarter]] were sometimes called [[Bloody flag|bloody flags]].

In [[Eastern Arabia]], tribal federations used red standards as their flags. These federations later developed into [[sheikhdom]]s and [[emirate]]s. The red standard was adopted as one of the early [[Islamic flag]]s. The prominent Arab military commander [[Amr ibn al-As]] used a red banner.<ref>Nour, “L’Histoire du croissant,” p. 66/295. See also Ibn Khaldun, Muqaddimah, pp. 214–15.</ref>

The red cap was a symbol of popular revolt in France going back to the [[Jacquerie]] of 1358. The color red became associated with patriotism early in the French Revolution due to the popularity of the [[Tricolour (flag)|tricolour]] cockade, introduced in July 1789, and the [[Phrygian cap]], introduced in May 1790. A red flag was raised over the [[Champ-de-Mars]] in Paris on July 17, 1791, by [[Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette]], commander of the National Guard, as a symbol of martial law, warning rioters to disperse.<ref>[[Thomas Carlyle]], ''[http://dickens.stanford.edu/archive/tale/print_issue10_gloss.html French Revolution]'', p. 408.</ref> As many as fifty anti-royalist protesters were killed in the fighting that followed. Inverting the original symbolism, the [[Jacobin Club|Jacobins]] protested this action by flying a red flag to honour the "martyrs' blood" of those who had been killed.<ref>''Flags of the World'', "[http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/fr_revol.html#red French Revolution]"</ref> They created their own red flags to declare "the martial law of the people against the revolt of the court."<ref>"[http://www.marxists.org/archive/jaures/1901/history/aug-10-1792.htm Socialist History of the French Revolution]"</ref> The plain red flag has since been associated with [[left-wing politics]].<ref name="Brink">ten Brink, Jan (1899). [https://www.amazon.com/dp/1402138296 ''Robespierre and the Red Terror''].</ref>

In 1797, [[Nore mutiny|British sailors mutinied]] near the mouth of the [[River Thames]] and hoisted red flags on several ships.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Frykman |first1=Niklas |title=The bloody flag: mutiny in the age of Atlantic revolution |date=2020 |publisher=University of California Press |location=Oakland (Calif.) |isbn=9780520355477 |pages=147-148}}</ref>

[[File:Y Faner Goch a'r Faner Weriniaethol, Merthyr 2012.jpg|thumb|left|Commemoration March of the 1831 [[Merthyr Rising]] in [[Merthyr Tydfil]], [[Wales]], 2012.]]
Two red flags soaked in calf's blood were flown by marchers in [[South Wales]] during the [[Merthyr Rising]] of 1831. It is claimed to be the first time that the red flag was waved as a banner of workers' power. The red flags of Merthyr became a potent relic following the execution of early trade unionist [[Dic Penderyn]] (Richard Lewis) in August 1831, despite a public campaign to pardon him.<ref>{{cite web |date=31 March 2015 |title=1831: the Merthyr Rising and Dic Penderyn|url=https://libcom.org/history/1831-merthyr-rising-dic-penderyn|author-last=Reddebrek |access-date=25 March 2022 |work=LibCom}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |date=2 June 2020 |title= The Merthyr Rising 1831: rage, rebellion and the red flag |url=https://www.marxist.com/the-merthyr-rising-1831-rage-rebellion-and-the-red-flag.htm|author-last=Attard |author-first=Joe |access-date=25 March 2022 |work=International Marxist Tendency}}</ref>

During the [[Battle of the Alamo]] in March 1836, General [[Antonio López de Santa Anna]] of Mexico signified no quarter by displaying a plain blood-red flag ({{Approx|10 feet}} square) from the highest church tower in Béxar. [[William B. Travis]], a commander of the Alamo defenders, responded with a blast from the Alamo's largest cannon.<ref name=nofi78>Nofi (1992), p. 78.</ref>

[[File:Flag of Colorado Party (Uruguay).svg|thumb|right|The flag of the Colorados during the Uruguayan Civil War]]
During the [[Uruguayan Civil War]] (1839–1851), the victorious liberal faction of "[[Colorado Party (Uruguay)|Colorados]]" ({{Lit|Reds}}) used red flags. This prolonged struggle received considerable attention and sympathy from liberals and revolutionaries in Europe; [[Giuseppe Garibaldi]] first made a name for himself in 1843, having been inspired to have his troops wear the famous [[Redshirts (Italy)|Red Shirts]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sapere.it/sapere/pillole-di-sapere/italia-150/unita-d-italia-giuseppe-garibaldi-eroe-dei-due-mondi.html |title= Unità d'Italia: Giuseppe Garibaldi, l'eroe dei due mondi |website=Sapere.it |date= 7 March 2011 |language=it}}</ref>

The [[Ottoman Empire]] used a variety of flags, especially as [[naval ensign]]s, during its history. The [[star and crescent]] came into use in the second half of the 18th century. A ''{{Lang|tr|[[buyruldu]]}}'' ({{Lit|decree}}) from 1793 required that the ships of the [[Ottoman Navy]] use a red flag with the star and crescent in white.{{Cn|date=October 2024}} In 1844, a version of this flag with a five-pointed star was officially adopted as the [[flag of the Ottoman Empire]].<ref>{{Cite book |last=Raw |first=Laurence |title=The Silk Road of Adaptation: Transformations across Disciplines and Cultures |date=2013-09-18 |publisher=Cambridge Scholars Publishing |isbn=9781443852890 |pages=42 |language=en}}</ref><ref name=marshall>{{Cite book| publisher = Simon and Schuster| isbn = 978-1-5011-6833-8| last = Marshall| first = Tim| title = A Flag Worth Dying For: The Power and Politics of National Symbols| date = 2017-07-04}}</ref>

During the [[Revolutions of 1848 in France|1848 revolution in France]], socialists and radical republicans demanded that the red flag be adopted as France's national flag. Led by poet-politician [[Alphonse de Lamartine]], the government rejected the demand: "[T]he red flag that you have brought back here has done nothing but being trailed around the Champ-de-Mars in the people's blood in [17]91 and [17]93, whereas the Tricolore flag went round the world along with the name, the glory and the liberty of the homeland!"<ref>''Flags of the World'', "[http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/fr_secdr.html France]"</ref>

Following the unexpected defeat of France by the Germans in the [[Franco-Prussian War]], French workers and socialist revolutionaries seized major cities and created the [[Lyon Commune]] and [[Paris Commune]].<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Moissonnier |first1=Maurice |title=La premiere internationale et la commune a Lyon (1865–1871) |trans-title=The international premiere and the commune in Lyon (1865–1871) |date=1972 |page=207 |language=fr |publisher=Editions sociales |location=Paris |oclc=902707001 |df=mdy-all}}</ref> The Lyon Commune was established in September 1870 and lasted for roughly eight months, while the Paris Commune was established in March 1871 and crushed by the French Army after two months, with much bloodshed. The original red banners of the Paris Commune became icons of the socialist revolution; in 1921, members of the [[French Communist Party]] came to Moscow and presented the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|new Soviet government]] with one of the original Commune banners; it remains in place in the tomb of Vladimir Lenin, next to his open coffin.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft467nb2w4;query=;brand=ucpress|title=Bolshevik Festivals 1917–21|last=von Geldern|first=James|publisher=University of California Press|year=1993|location=Berkeley|pages=178|access-date=2018-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181126221532/https://publishing.cdlib.org/ucpressebooks/view?docId=ft467nb2w4;query=;brand=ucpress|archive-date=2018-11-26|url-status=live}}</ref>

In the [[Haymarket affair]], during which a bomb blast killed a police officer at a [[May Day]] rally for an [[eight-hour workday]] in [[Chicago]], anarchists flew red flags.{{Cn|date=October 2024}} This event, considered to be the beginning of the revival of the international labour movement, is still commemorated annually in many countries as [[International Workers' Day]] (though not in the United States).<ref>{{cite book |last=Trachtenberg |first=Alexander |title=The History of May Day |orig-year=1932 |url=http://www.marxists.org/subject/mayday/articles/tracht.html |access-date=January 19, 2008 |date=March 2002 |publisher=[[Marxists Internet Archive|Marxists.org]] }}</ref><ref>Foner, "The First May Day and the Haymarket Affair", ''May Day'', pp. 27–39.</ref>

The red flag gained wide popularity in Russia during the [[Russian Revolution]]s of 1917,<ref name="su flag">''Flags of the World'', "[http://www.crwflags.com/FOTW/flags/su.html Soviet]"</ref> having been used as a symbol of revolutionary struggle in both the [[February Revolution]] and [[October Revolution]]; red was the political color of socialists on several opposed sides in the revolutions, such as the [[Bolsheviks]] and [[Socialist Revolutionaries]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20160705095200/https://alex-dars.livejournal.com/412225.html]</ref> During the [[Russian Civil War]] (1917–1922), a red flag, with a [[red star]] symbolising the party and [[hammer and sickle]] to symbolise the workers and peasants respectively, became the official flag of Soviet Russia, and, in 1923, of the [[Soviet Union]].<ref name="su flag"/> It remained so until the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]] in 1991.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia| author= Whitney Smith |encyclopedia= [[Encyclopædia Britannica]]|title= Flag of Flag of Union of Soviet Socialist Republics |url= https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Union-of-Soviet-Socialist-Republics|year= 2008|access-date=5 November 2008}}</ref>

During the [[Chinese Civil War]] (1927–1949), the flag of the [[Chinese Communist Party]] became a red flag with a hammer and sickle, while the [[flag of the People's Republic of China]] became a red flag with a large star symbolising the party and four smaller stars symbolising workers, peasants, the urban middle class, and rural middle class, respectively.<ref name="govprcflag">{{cite web|url=http://www.gov.cn/test/2005-05/24/content_18247.htm|title=National Flag of the People's Republic of China|publisher=Gov.cn|date=24 May 2005|access-date=8 November 2009|language=zh|archive-date=9 October 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191009033643/http://www.gov.cn/test/2005-05/24/content_18247.htm|url-status=dead}}</ref>  During the [[Cold War]], many [[communist states]], such as [[Vietnam]], also adopted red flags,<ref>{{Cite web|title=Flag of Vietnam|url=https://www.britannica.com/topic/flag-of-Vietnam|access-date=2021-03-04|website=Encyclopedia Britannica|language=en}}</ref> while others, such as [[Cuba]], chose to keep their previous flags.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |date=2020-08-17 |title=The Global Legacy of Cuba's Estrella Solitaria (Lone Star Flag) |url=https://nava.org/digital-library/raven/Raven_v24_2017_pp001-026.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200817232020/https://nava.org/digital-library/raven/Raven_v24_2017_pp001-026.pdf |archive-date=2020-08-17  |access-date=2022-08-23 |last=Chacón |first=Hipólito Rafael |website=North American Vexillological Association}}</ref> Red national flags with symbolism unrelated to socialism have also been adopted; the red [[flag of Nepal]], for instance, represents its national flower.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

== Usage ==
=== Anarchism ===
The red flag was one of the first [[anarchist]] symbols prior to the [[October Revolution]], after which red flags started to be associated with [[Marxism-Leninism]], [[Bolshevism]], and [[state socialism]].<ref name=cia>{{cite web |url=http://cia.media.pl/symbole_ruchu_anarchistycznego |title=Barwy anarchistyczne: Skąd czarne i czarno-czerwone flagi? |author=<!-- Not stated. --> |date=19 June 2012 |website=cia.media.pl |publisher=Centrum Informacji Anarchistycznej |language=pl |trans-title=Anarchist colours: Where are black and black-red flags from |access-date=4 September 2016 |archive-date=February 24, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224091417/https://cia.media.pl/symbole_ruchu_anarchistycznego |url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Arab world ===
Recent and current [[Arabia]]n red flags include those of [[Muscat and Oman]],<ref>{{Cite web|title=Sultanate of Muscat and Oman until 1970 (Oman)|url=https://www.crwflags.com/fotw/Flags/om_musca.html|access-date=2021-06-20|website=www.crwflags.com}}</ref> [[Flag of the United Arab Emirates#Flag of each emirate|the individual emirates of the United Arab Emirates]],<ref name="book">{{cite book |date=2007 |title=Complete Flags of the World |url=https://archive.org/details/completeflagsofw0000unse/page/184 |publisher=Smithsonian Handbooks |page=[https://archive.org/details/completeflagsofw0000unse/page/184 184] |isbn=978-0-7566-4115-3 }}</ref> [[Flag of Kuwait#Historical flags of Kuwait|the Sheikhdom of Kuwait]],<ref>{{cite book |last=Nunn|first=Wilfred|date=1932|title=Tigris Gunboats: The Forgotten War in Iraq, 1914-1917|publisher=Naval Institute Press|page=33|isbn=978-1861763082}}</ref> [[Flag of Bahrain|Bahrain]],<ref name="National Flag of Bahrain">{{cite news|publisher=BBC|title=National Flag of Bahrain|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lancashire/plain/A1094203|access-date=16 June 2012|work=BBC News|archive-date=16 December 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141216133801/http://news.bbc.co.uk/dna/place-lancashire/plain/A1094203|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[Flag of Qatar|Qatar]].<ref name="britishempire">{{cite web|url=http://www.britishempire.co.uk/maproom/qatar.htm|title=Imperial era flag of Qatar|publisher=British Empire in the Middle East|access-date=7 May 2015}}</ref>

=== China ===
[[File:庆祝中国共产党成立100周年 天安门广场 红旗.jpg|thumb|Decorative red flags in [[Tiananmen Square]], in the front of [[Great Hall of the People]].]]
[[File:Flag of the Chinese Communist Party.svg|thumb|The flag of the Chinese Communist Party was adopted in 1942 and slightly modified in 1966.]]
In China, both the [[Kuomintang|Nationalist Party]]-led [[Republic of China]] and the [[Chinese Communist Party|Communist Party]]-led [[People's Republic of China]] use red fields for their flags, referencing their revolutionary origins.{{Citation needed|date=August 2009}} Streets, buildings, businesses and product brands named after the red flag are common in China as a result of [[recuperation (politics)|recuperation]].{{Citation needed|date=August 2018}} For example, a famous line of [[limousine]] cars manufactured by [[China FAW Group Corporation]] has the brand name of [[FAW Hongqi|Red Flag]]. In 1967 during the [[Cultural Revolution]], [[Pilal]] in [[Akto County]], [[Kizilsu]], [[Xinjiang]], [[China]] was renamed as Hongqi Commune ({{linktext|红旗|公社}}), meaning 'red flag commune'.<ref name="1997xzqhakto">{{cite web |url=http://www.xzqh.org/html/show/xj/22301.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200122112823/http://www.xzqh.org/html/show/xj/22301.html|archive-date=22 January 2020|url-status=live|script-title=zh:1997年阿克陶县行政区划|trans-title=1997 Akto County Administrative Divisions |publisher=XZQH.org |date=31 December 2010 |language=zh-hans |access-date=30 September 2020 |quote=皮拉勒乡 1958年成立皮拉勒公社，1967年更名红旗公社，1984年改设皮拉勒乡。}}</ref> In 1968, [[Baykurut]] Commune in [[Ulugqat County]], Kizilsu, Xinjiang, China was also renamed as Hongqi Commune.<ref name="history">{{cite web|url=http://www.xjwqx.gov.cn/P/C/3141.htm|script-title=zh:乌恰县行政区划和居民地名称|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008135305/http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache%3AiMajUJAal0wJ%3Awww.xjkz.gov.cn%2FP%2FC%2F7391.htm|archive-date=8 October 2020|via=[[Google Cache]], [[Internet Archive]]|language=zh-hans|publisher=xjwqx.gov.cn|date=2018-06-04|access-date=2019-10-21}}</ref><ref name="1997xzqhulugqat">{{cite web |url=http://www.xzqh.org/html/show/xj/22309.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171015080753/http://www.xzqh.org/html/show/xj/22309.html|archive-date=15 October 2017|url-status=live|script-title=zh:1997年乌恰县行政区划|trans-title=1997 Ulugqat County Administrative Divisions |publisher=XZQH.org |date=31 December 2010 |language=zh-hans |access-date=5 October 2020 |quote=巴音库鲁提乡　{...}1950年成立巴音库鲁提三乡，1962年建巴音库鲁提公社，1968年更名红旗公社，1984年改设巴音库鲁提乡。}}</ref>

=== Labour Party (UK) ===
The red flag was the emblem of the British [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour Party]] from its inception until the [[Labour Party Conference]] of 1986 when it was replaced by a [[Rose symbolism#Socialism|red rose]], itself a variant of the [[fist and rose]], then in wide use by left of center parties in Western Europe. The more floral red rose design has subsequently been adopted by a number of other socialist and social-democratic parties throughout Western Europe.<ref>{{Cite web |title=The Red Rose of Labour |url=http://britishheritage.com/the-red-rose-of-labour/ |access-date=2023-07-24 |website=British Heritage |language=en}}</ref> Members of the party also sing the traditional anthem "[[The Red Flag (song)|The Red Flag]]" at the conclusion of the annual party conference.<ref name="bbc">{{cite news|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/462871.stm|title=The Red Flag ends Labour rally|publisher=BBC News|date=1 October 1999|access-date=21 December 2011}}</ref><ref name="mirror">{{cite news|url=https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-10s/2010/04/07/labour-party-anthems-top-10-songs-the-labour-party-has-used-115875-22168150/|title=Labour Party Anthems&nbsp;– Top 10 songs the Labour Party has used over the years|work=[[Daily Mirror]]|date=7 April 2010|access-date=21 December 2011}}</ref> In February 2006, "The Red Flag" was sung in Parliament to mark the centenary of the Labour Party's founding. The flag was regularly flown above [[Sheffield Town Hall]] on [[May Day]] under [[David Blunkett]]'s [[Labour Party (UK)|Labour]] administration of [[Sheffield City Council]] during the 1980s.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

=== Newspapers ===
Various socialist newspapers have used the name ''The Red Flag.''<ref>{{cite book|last=Weitz|first=Eric D.|title=Creating German Communism, 1890-1990: From Popular Protests to Socialist State|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5kkQyWIFCbIC&pg=PA91|year=1997|publisher=Princeton University Press|pages=91–92|isbn=0691026823}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=The ISL in Australia |url=http://lis-isl.org/en/2019/09/12/la-lis-en-australia/ |accessdate=22 March 2020 |work=LIS-ISL.org}}</ref>

=== Soviet Union ===
[[File:Order of Red Banner.png|thumb|The [[Order of the Red Banner]] was the first Soviet [[military decoration]].]]
[[File:ОрденТрудовогоКрасногоЗнамени.jpg|thumb|The {{nowrap|1936–1943}} variant of the [[Order of the Red Banner of Labour]].]]
[[File:Soviet anniversary medal for the Transbaikal Military District.jpg|thumb|An anniversary medal for the [[Soviet Border Troops#Red Banner Trans-Baikal Border District|Red Banner Trans-Baikal Border District]].]]
[[File:Flag of the Soviet Union (1924–1955).svg|thumb|right|The [[flag of the Soviet Union]], adopted in 1936. This version was famous for its [[Raising a Flag over the Reichstag|photograph]] in Berlin in the closing months of World War II and was used until 1955, when the flag was modified slightly. It lost official status in 1991 when the Soviet Union dissolved.]]

In the [[Soviet Union]], the Red Banner ({{langx|ru|Красное знамя}}, [[Romanized]]: Krasnoye znamya) was a widely used revolutionary symbol.<ref name="su flag" /> Military units, institutions, and organizations that were awarded with the [[Order of the Red Banner]], such as the [[Soviet Army]], [[Soviet Navy]], and [[MVD Internal Troops]], were referred to with the [[honorific]] title "of the Red Banner" ({{langx|ru|Краснознамённый|translit=Krasnoznamyonny|links=no}}), as in "[[Pacific Fleet (Russia)|Red Banner Pacific Fleet]]", "[[Soviet submarine S-56|Guards Red Banner Submarine ''{{nowrap|S-56}}'']]", or "[[Alexandrov Ensemble|Twice Red Banner Alexandrov Soviet Army Choir]]". Civilian establishments that were awarded with the [[Order of the Red Banner of Labour]] were also sometimes addressed with the "Red-Banner" [[honorific]].{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

The Transferable Red Banner ({{langx|ru|переходящее Красное знамя|links=no}}) was an award for Soviet collectives in various workplaces that won [[socialist emulation]] contests. The term "transferable" means that for a given kind of competition at a given establishment (enterprise, school, institute, clinic, etc.) or category of establishments (e.g., type of [[Industry (economics)|industry]]), a single physical copy of the award was transferred from the winner of one competition to the winner of the next (held annually or quarterly). Any of several levels of the award could have been awarded, depending on the level of the socialist competition: all-Union, [[union-republic]]an, [[oblast]]-wide, industry-wide, enterprise/institution-wide, etc. Similar awards existed in several [[communist state]]s.<ref name=bse>{{GSEn|065885|Красные знамена}}</ref>

A new article, 190, was added to the [[Soviet criminal code]] in the 1960s. It permitted imprisonment for [[anti-Soviet agitation]] (part 1), for participation in unauthorized meetings (part 2), and for defamation of the [[Soviet coat of arms]] or the Red Banner (part 3).{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

=== Trade unionism ===
The building to have had a red flag flying<ref>{{cite web |title=Trades Hall |url=https://www.melbournepoint.com.au/information/venues/trades-hall/ |website=Melbourne Point |date=15 February 2015 |access-date=1 December 2018}}</ref> for the longest period of time is the [[Victorian Trades Hall]] in [[Melbourne, Australia]], the oldest [[trade union]] building in the world. The flag has been flying for over a century.{{Cn|date=October 2024}}

== Historical laws banning red flags ==
After the suppression of the [[German revolutions of 1848–1849#Prussia|1848 revolution]], red flags and other insignia dominated by the colour red were banned in [[Prussia]], as would later be the case in France after the demise of the [[Paris Commune]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Balz|first=Hanno|date=|title='Hostile take-over'. A political history of the red flag|journal=Socialist History|volume=59|pages=8–30}}</ref> During the persecution of communists and socialists amid the [[First Red Scare|Red Scare]] of 1919–1920 in the United States, many states passed laws forbidding displays of red flags, including [[Minnesota]], [[South Dakota]], [[Oklahoma]],<ref>Zechariah Chafee, Jr., ''Freedom of Speech'' (NY: Harcourt, Brace and Howe, 1920), 180ff., Appendix V</ref> and [[California]].  In ''[[Stromberg v. California]]'', the [[Supreme Court of the United States]] held that such laws are unconstitutional.<ref>''Stromberg v. California'', 283 U.S. 359 (1931).</ref>

In [[Australia]], red flags were similarly banned in September 1918 under the ''[[War Precautions Act 1914]]''. This ban was an arguable cause of the [[Red Flag riots]].{{Cn|date=October 2024}} The ban ended in Australia with the repeal of the Act in 1920.<ref>{{cite act |title= War Precautions Repeal Act 1920|type= Act|number= 54|date= 1920|url=https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C1920A00054}}</ref>

== Galleries ==
=== Artwork ===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="100">
File:Garde nationale mobile pendant les Journées de Juin.JPG|A French soldier takes down a red flag from barricades in Paris during the [[Revolutions of 1848]]
File:Gravure La Commune de Paris.jpg|A poster from the Paris Commune (1871)
File:Demonstration on October 17, 1905 by Ilya Repin (adumbration 1906).jpg|A demonstration in Moscow during the unsuccessful [[Russian Revolution of 1905]], painted by [[Ilya Repin]]
File:Kustodiev The Bolshevik.jpg|''The Bolshevik'', painting by [[Boris Kustodiev]] (1920)
File:Stamps of Azerbaijan, 2010-903.jpg|A 2010 Azerbaijani stamp commemorating the 65th [[Victory Day (9 May)|anniversary of the Allied victory in World War II]], featuring ''[[Raising a Flag over the Reichstag]]''
</gallery>

===Current flags with socialist and/or communist symbolism===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="100">
File:Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg|[[Flag of China|Flag of the People's Republic of China]]; red symbolises revolution, the large star represents the [[Chinese Communist Party]], and the four smaller stars represent the working class, the farmers, and the urban middle class, the rural middle class, respectively, as described by [[Mao Zedong]].
File:Flag of Vietnam.svg|[[Flag of Vietnam|Flag of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam]]; red symbolises revolution, and the five-point star symbolises intellectuals, farmers, workers, traders and soldiers.
File:Flag of the Workers' Party of Korea.svg|Flag of the [[Workers' Party of Korea]]; the hammer represents workers, the sickle represents farmers, and the paint brush represents artisans.
</gallery>

===Former flags with socialist and/or communist symbolism===
<gallery mode="packed" heights="100">
File:Flag of Afghanistan (1978–1980).svg|[[Flag of Afghanistan#Seventeenth flag (1978–1980)|Flag of the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan]] (1978–1980); the [[Socialist-style emblems|socialist-style emblem]] in the center represented the [[Khalq]] faction of the [[People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan]].
File:Flag of the People's Republic of the Congo.svg|[[Flag of the Republic of the Congo|Flag of the People's Republic of the Congo]] (1970–1991); red symbolised revolution, the star represented communism, while the hammer and hoe symbolised workers.
File:Flag of Democratic Kampuchea.svg|[[Flag of Democratic Kampuchea]]; red symbolised revolution, the silhouette of a temple represented Kampuchean tradition.
File:Flag of the People's Republic of Kampuchea.svg|[[Flag of the People's Republic of Kampuchea]]; red symbolised revolution, the five-towered temple represented the unity of soldiers, traders, workers, peasants and intellectuals.
File:Flag of the Soviet Union.svg|[[Flag of the Soviet Union]] (1955–1991); the hammer symbolised workers, the sickle represented farmers, and the red star symbolised the Communist Party.
</gallery>

== See also ==
{{Portal|Anarchism|Communism|Heraldry and Vexillology|Politics|Socialism}}
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* [[Anarchist flag]]
* ''[[Bandiera Rossa]]''
* [[Communist symbolism]]
* [[Flag of Angola]]
* [[Flag of Belarus]]
* [[Flag of China]]
* [[Flag of Kyrgyzstan]]
* [[Flag of Mongolia]]
* [[Flag of the Soviet Union]]
* [[Flag of Vietnam]]
* [[Flag of the Arab Revolt]]
* [[Green flag]]
* [[Hammer and sickle]]
* {{slink|Racing flags|Red flag}}
* "[[The Red Flag]]"
* [[Red flag warning]]
* [[Red star]]
* [[Red triangle (badge)]]
* [[The Standard of Revolt]]
* [[White flag]]
{{colend}}

== References ==
{{reflist|30em}}

== External links ==
{{Commonscatinline}}
*{{FOTW|id=qt-s_red|title=Red flag of Socialism}}
*[[Auguste Blanqui]], [https://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/blanqui/1848/red-flag.htm ''For the Red Flag''], 1848.

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[[Category:Socialist symbols]]
[[Category:Symbols of communism]]
[[Category:Activism flags]]
[[Category:Political flags]]
[[Category:Red symbols|Flag (politics), red]]
[[Category:Anarchist symbols]]