Address by the President of Ukraine on Ukraine’s National Flag Day

Dear warriors, distinguished guests of Ukraine, dear friends, dear attendees, 

Dear people of Ukraine, 

Today is an important day – the day of our important Ukrainian symbol, our true guardian, a day of a very powerful emotion. It is the warmth you feel when you are at home – or when, anywhere in the world, you recognize your own people and what is yours by two colors – the colors of the Ukrainian heart and soul, to which this day is dedicated. Ukraine’s National Flag Day.

On these solemn days – on the eve of the 35th anniversary of the restoration of Ukraine’s independence – many of our friends are here with us: numerous international partners, distinguished and honored guests. I want to thank each and every one of you for being here on such a very important day for all of us – in Kyiv, in our capital, in Ukraine, with our people, on our side.

And today, there is another special “guest” at this ceremony. It witnessed and took part in the great day of August 24, 1991. This is the very same historic flag – now known as the Independence Flag – that was carried into our Parliament in the first moments after Ukraine restored its independence. And this is not merely a symbolic gesture or a beautiful display. It is about Ukrainians’ ability to preserve what is theirs and not be afraid.

Seventy years of Soviet rule did not erase our people’s memory of which flag was the true flag of all of us, of all Ukrainians. Knowledge of this national symbol was preserved from the Cossack era and the Ukrainian People’s Republic all the way to that very day in 1991. Back then, what is normal today was impossible – today, almost everyone has a Ukrainian flag at home. But 35 years ago, you could not simply walk into any souvenir shop and buy our flag. It had to be sewn by hand. First, they could not find blue fabric. Then, yellow fabric was nowhere to be found. And once they had found everything they needed, this flag was sewn at night, in secret, under threat of punishment.

But in the end, Ukraine and Ukrainians succeeded. Independence was restored. The blue-and-yellow flag was carried into the Verkhovna Rada, into our Parliament. And soon, thousands of Ukrainian flags were flying in Kyiv, Odesa, Lviv, Kharkiv, Dnipro, in Donbas and Crimea – across our entire independent and united Ukraine.

And so it remained for decades. But some were deeply irritated by it. For Russia and Putin, all this time, our flag, our colors, the very existence of Ukraine have been the greatest irritant. This concerns them far more than their own domestic issues and the problems faced by millions of Russians.

That is why, in 2014 and in February 2022, Russia attacked – to take away this flag, our symbols, our freedom and independence. They came to take everything that is ours.

Russia has not abandoned these ambitions. Massive, truly massive strikes, terror, killings – all of this is driven by one person’s maniacal dream that Ukraine should not exist. The Kremlin is obsessed with this. And in the end, it will lose precisely because of it. Because it does not understand Ukraine and its people. It does not understand that the greater the pressure, the stronger our resistance has been and continues to be. Because for us, life without Ukraine is not life, and Ukraine in captivity is not an option. That is why all Ukrainians fight even harder. They do not surrender their country. They defend their independence, they defend Ukraine and all of Europe – and they do it in such a way that today everyone, both in Europe and around the world, knows: blue and yellow are the colors of Ukraine, the colors of our people, the colors of our courage. The Ukrainian flag is the flag of strength, resilience, freedom, and the victory of life.

We have been fighting for this for so many years, we have been fighting for this for 1,642 days of full-scale war. And on every one of those days – including today – our true friends and partners have stood with us in this shared struggle, supporting us and helping us. 

All those I am incredibly glad to see here today – our true friends, our brothers and sisters from the Nordic and Baltic countries. The leaders of Finland, Denmark, Norway, Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia. Today, we stand here together. Thank you. Thank you for your support. Thank you for the fact that our countries stand together. Our flags are side by side. Our nations stand shoulder to shoulder. And I want to thank you, friends! This is invaluable to Ukraine, to our people, and to our independence.

Dear Ukrainians!

Our national flag – our blue-and-yellow source of strength and spirit – is with us now and will always be with us. In all the most important moments in the life of independent Ukraine. In times of hardship and joy, in moments of happiness and pain, in battles on the front lines, in captivity, under temporary occupation, and when Ukraine reclaims what is hers, when our people in liberated cities and villages welcome their own warriors. With words of gratitude, with eyes brimming with tears of joy, and this very flag of ours. It is with us through every one of Ukraine’s victories. May the greatest of them all be the victory of peace on our land!

May God see our flag in the sky and help us on this truly just and very difficult path. The path toward Ukraine securing peace.

May it happen. May Ukraine move proudly upward and square her shoulders – like this Ukrainian flag here, the largest in our country, which we are raising here today beside Mother Ukraine.

And I would like us now to remember our strength, our heroes, those who will forever remain in our memory and in the history of our country, and to honor with a moment of silence the memory of all those killed during the war. 

Glory to everyone who defends our national flag!

Eternal memory to all those who did so at the cost of their lives.

Honor and respect to the Ukrainian military and to our entire nation!

Glory to Ukraine!