Flag of the Sorbs

Flag of the Sorbs

Sorbian flag on the village square in Crostwitz (1972)

The flag of the sorbent ( Sorbian Serbska chorhoj , Lower Serbska chórgoj ) is a tricolor in the pan-Slavic colors that from West Slavic people of the sorbent in the Lausitz is used. It was first mentioned in 1842 . On March 23, 1848, the color sequence blue-red-white was determined in Berlin by representatives of various Slavic ethnic groups in order to distinguish them from the other flags in the Pan-Slavic colors. In 1912 the Domowina , the Association of Lusatian Sorbs, was founded as an umbrella organization for the Sorbs. During the National Socialist era , the flag was banned in 1935 and the federal government in 1937. After the invasion of the Lusatia by Soviet and Polish troops, the flag was first raised by the Domowina on May 17, 1945. The Sorbian flag was not mentioned in the flag laws of the German Democratic Republic . The councils of the districts of Cottbus and Dresden regulated their use on special occasions and on public holidays.

The Constitution of the Free State of Saxony regulates in Article 2 Section 4: In the Sorbian settlement area, in addition to the state colors and the state coat of arms, colors and coats of arms of the Sorbs, in the Silesian part of the country the colors and the coat of arms of Lower Silesia, can be used equally.

Sorbian flags at a football match of the Europeada 2016

In the state of Brandenburg , Article 25 Section 4 of the state constitution initially only provides: In the Sorbian settlement area, the Sorbian language is to be included in the public labeling. The Sorbian flag has the colors blue, red, white. The Sorbian (Wendish ) law also regulates the possible uses under Article 1 Paragraph 4: The Sorbian (Wendish) flag has the colors blue, red and white. In the traditional settlement area of ​​the Sorbs (Wends) it can be used on an equal footing with state symbols.

The flag of the Sorbs can therefore be used in both countries, in the Sorbian settlement area , on an equal footing with the respective national flags.

The colors are sometimes described as follows: “Above is the sky, which becomes lighter and lighter downwards.” The Sorbian poet Handrij Zejler gave the following meanings to the colors in his poems: blue is the sky, red is the sunrise and love, white the innocence.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Article 2 of the Constitution of the Free State of Saxony
2. ↑ Flags of the World - Flag Legislation (Saxony, Germany) (English)
3. ^ Constitution of the State of Brandenburg. In: brandenburg.de f. Retrieved June 10, 2020 . 
4. ↑ Law on the structuring of the rights of the Sorbs / Wends in the state of Brandenburg (Sorbs / Wends Act - SWG). In: brandenburg.de. Retrieved June 10, 2020 . 
5. ↑ Flags of the World - Sorb People (Brandenburg and Saxony, Germany) (English)
6. ↑ Ladislav Hnát: The flag of the Lusatian Sorbs . In: The flag courier . No. 21/22 , October 2006, pp. 3-6 .

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