On September 19 Belarusian opposition held a rally dedicated to the anniversary of the adoption of the white-red-white flag and Pahonia coat of arms as state symbols.
In the evening over a hundred activists marched from Kastryčnickaja (Oktyabrskaya) Square and Niezaliežnasci (Independence) Square.
The activists were distributing ribbons with the colors of the flag and the traditional Belarusian patterns.
After about an hour of waving flags along the main street, the activists gathered in Oktyabrskaya Square to listen to a speech by two oppostion politicians – Zmitser Dashkevich, one of the leaders of the unregistered youth opposition movement Young Front, and Evgeny Afnagel.
Dashkevich announced the start of the collection of signatures to give the white-red-white flag the status of the intangible cultural heritage. He plans to collect a thousand signatures, and file them to the Ministry of Culture in a month.
Monday’s protest went ahead calmly without police intervention.
The white-red-white flag and Pahonia coat of arms were adopted as state symbols on September, 19, 1991, by the Supreme Council after BSSR was renamed into the Republic of Belarus. In 1995, after Alexander Lukashenko came to power, they were replaced by the current red and green flag and national emeblem chosen in a referendum.
The white-red-white flag and Pahonia coat of arms are hence considered historic symbols of Belarus and are used by the Belarusian oppostion.
Source: TUT.BY