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by Antonio Martins
,12 September 1999
See also:
Capital: Simferopil' (Soviet era name: Simferopolh).
historical name: Taurida; transfered from RSFSR to Ukr. SSR in 19
Febuary 1954. Today is the only Ukrainian autonomous republic.
Antonio Martins , 10 July 1999
According to "Maliy Atlas SSSR" , the name of this
oblast was already Crimea in soviet times (Krymskaya oblast')
Jorge Candeias , 11 July 1999
In Soviet Union, while republics and autonomous districts (formerly,
national districts) had their own names, most regions and
territories were named after the capital's name (a situation that
remains in Russia). There were some exceptions, and Crimea (Krym)
was one of them;
it is currently an Autonomous Republic ; in fact it is the only
"autonomous" subdivision of current Ukraine.
Interestingly enough, in soviet times it was not "autonomous",
being just "Region Crimea"
(_Krymskaa^ oblasth_)
Antonio Martins , 12 July 1999
The televised opening of the Crimean Parliament showed a white
flag, with a blue band at the top and a red at the bottom (proportions
1:5:1).
Jaume Olle'
From: http://uh.ms.km.ua/Time1/krym/endex1.html
In September 24, 1992 the session of the Supreme Rada approved a
flag: a rectangular white canvas with a ratio of the sides 1:2.
In the top there is dark blue and below there is red stripe with
a width of 1/6 from a width of the flag.
Dark blue? certainly, but in the image is
light blue
Jaume Olle' , 18 July 1999
Since Ukranian has two (or even three) words for blue, what is
described as "dark blue" may be something else. The
Crimean flag might be a special case among all the rest (as
Crimea is a
special case among ucranian subdivisions, anyway...). The flag is
one of many variations used since 1991 and it is an obvious
variation of the Russian flag theme: After the deportation of the
Crimean Tatars, the region was settled mainly by russians -- the
very attachment of Crimea to Ukraine,
although geographically logical, was not a peaceful decision and
even today is a a reason for local unrest.
This said I wouldn't be surprised if the Crimean flag is, like
the Russian flag legally prescribed to be "blue" (_sinii~_),
but in practice made in a wide range of shades, from sky blue to
the darkest blue. Zeljko's image at is thus as good as any other,
lacking further info.
Antonio Martins , 19 July 1999
In his artcile about the Crimean flag Wim Schuurman writes in
Vexilla Nostra no. 211 (July-August 1997), page 83: "Article
1 of the law on the state flag of the Crimean republic clearly
states that the blue stripe must be dark of shade".
Mark Sensen , 21 July 1999
I'm afraid that we have a translation problem here, again. In
russian (and most certainly in ucranian, too -- but Crimea is
mostely russian speaking, anyway) there are two words for blue:
"_sinii~_" and "_goluboi~_". The second is
translatable as "sky blue" or "light blue",
but that doesn't mean that the first is necessarily "dark
blue". In fact, the correct translation would be plain
"blue", since "_goluboi~_" is used to
describe a very specific shade, while "_sinii~_" cover
a much wider shade range than the english "dark blue".
AAMOF, only a few national flags (Botswana, Argentina or the
Bahamas) are said by russians to be "_goluboi~_".
Thats said, I'd believe that <<the law on the state flag of
the Crimean republic clearly states that the blue stripe must be
dark of shade>> if the *original* text of the law specifies
"_temne sinii~_" ("dark blue"), either in
russian or in ucranian. An english translation stating "dark
blue" might just be a poor translation of normal "_sinii~_".
Antonio Martins , 21 July 1999
Is it possible the Ukrainian or Russian text could say "Temne
goluboi" ? Although "dark lightblue" certainly
sounds oxymoronic in English, that doesn't mean the concept is
necessarily so in another language ( and the color in the image
with the original message actually could fit such a description).
Ned Smith , 22 July 1999
It sure could be, but it is not. "temne goluboi~"
sounds defenitely strange, almost like "dark white" or
something like that. As I said yesterday, the difference between
"sinii~" and "goluboi~" is not "dark
blue" / "light blue", but rather "[simple,
normal] blue" / "special light blue". It's really
like spanish "azur" / "celeste". So, saying
"temne goluboi~" is like saying "flat mountain",
a contradiction in terms, an oxymoron.
BTW, let's note that the Crimean flag and some others are
depicted in a normal pole, while the others, all the square ones
and most of the rectangular, are hanging from the "gamma"
shaped (upside down "L") pole. This seems to be the
difference between "flag" and "gonfalon",
while I mantain my doubt about the correction of this term.
Antonio Martins , 22 July 1999
This flag is listed under number 98 at the chart "Flags
of Aspirant Peoples" [asp] as :
"Krim (Russians) - Krimean peninsula.
Ivan Sache , 16 September 1999
Ownership of the Crimea peninsula has changed repeatedly over
the centuries. In 1954, ownership was transferred to Ukraine,
although Russians were in a majority. With Ukrainian independence,
this became a point of contention; one considerably complicated
by the fact that Crimea's ports are the bases for the important
Black Sea fleet. Russians agitating
for union with Russia fly a variety of flags, including a white
flag with a light blue stripe at the top and a red one at the
bottom.
stuart notholt
This flag was later adopted as the flag of the Autonomous
Republic of Crimea, see above
Antonio Martins , 29 July 1999
Note: See also: Variants of the flag
by Zeljko Heimer , 5
June 1996
Editorial Note : See also Tataria
In 1944, Crimea's Tatar population was deported for 'disloyalty'
during WW2. Although this decision was later revoked, it was not
until 1989 that the Tartars were legally allowed to return to
Crimea, where they now constitute around 8 per cent of the
population. Tartar nationalists fly a light blue flag with a
yellow _tarak_ in the upper hoist. (The _tarak_ is an ancient
symbol originally used as a cattle brand.)
stuart notholt
This flag is listed under number 97 at the chart "Flags
of Aspirant Peoples" [asp] as :
"Krim (Tatars) - Crimea peninsula."
Ivan Sache , 16 September 1999
A paper originally published in Izvestia (Moscow) and
translated in French in Courrier International (# 464, 23
September 1999) gives additional information about the history
and current status of Tatars in Crimea
Status
On 17 May 1999, the Ukrainian president Leonid Koutchma signed
a decree creating a Council of Representants of Crimea's Tatars
at the Ukrainian presidency level. Mustapha Djemiliev, the
President of the Tatar parliament (Medjlis) was appointed at the
head of the Council. The Medjlis had been elected by the
traditional Tatar assembly (Kurultai) but had not been officially
recognized. On 24 May, the Prime Minister of Crimea, Serguei
Kounitsyne, promised to create a similar structure at the Crimean
level. These decisions followed weeks of Tatar demonstration in
Simferopol, which would elsewhere had been controled by the
Ukrainian Army.
History
Tatars colonized Crimea in 13th century. Between 1475 and 1775,
Crimea was an independent khanat (capital Bakhtchissarai). It was
annexed by Russia in 1783 (proclamation by Catherine II). During
the Second World War, Crimea was occupied by Germany from October
1941 to May 1944. The whole Tatar community, ca. 400,000 peoples,
were accusated to have collaborated with the Germans and
massively deported to Siberia and Uzbekistan. On 14 November 1989,
the Supreme Soviet of USSR allowed the Tatars to come back in
Crimea.
Claims
The Crimea's Tatars ask for:
- a status of autochtonous Ukrainian people
- an official status for Kurultai and Medjlis, as supreme
representative authorities
- an effective representation at all levels of political
organization
- a status of national language for their language
- the establishment of material conditions allowing the come-back
of all deported peoples
- the equality of rights of all peoples of Crimea regarding
privatization and emploiement
Other autochtonous peoples are Greeks, Germans, Bulgarians,
Armenians, Karaites (Jews) and of course Russians. The Tatar
question will be central in the next Ukrainian presidential
elections (autumn 1999)
More valuable info can be obtained at: <http://www.euronet.nl/users/sota/krimtatar.html>
Courrier International shows a picture taken during
demonstrations in Simferopol. The flag shown (same as above),
although folded, is easily recognizable.
van Sache , 27 September 1999