The recent World Hockey Championship, held in Minsk, became, in addition, a demonstration of Belarusians’ unity (Table 1).
During the days of the championship there were massive outdoor celebrations. A lot of participants of these celebrations used official red-and-green flags to express their feelings. White-red-white flags were much rarer. However, it should be noted that in Belarus utilization of these flags is not welcome and may be even prosecuted. However, according to IISEPS surveys, adherents of these symbols are a minority in Belarus (Table 2).
Table 3 gives an idea of symbols preferences of different groups of Belarusian society.
Table 3. Connection between preferred national symbols and socio-demographic characteristics and political preferences*, %
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Variant of answer
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“Which state symbols (flag and national emblem) better correspond to historical and cultural heritage of the Belarusian nation according to you: those which were in use since 1991 till 1995 (with the Pahonya coat of arms) or the present ones (reminding of the BSSR symbols)?”
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The pre-1995 symbols
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Symbols such as now
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DA/NA
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Age:
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18-29
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37.6
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45.3
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17.1
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30-59
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34.5
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51.4
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14.1
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60+
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19.0
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72.7
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8.2
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Internet usage:
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Everyday
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43.4
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42.8
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13.8
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Several times per week
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36.8
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47.1
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16.1
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Several times per month
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33.3
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55.6
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11.1
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Several times per year
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27.3
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72.7
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0
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No
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17.6
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68.9
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13.4
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I don’t know what is this
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33.3
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66.7
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0
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Trust to President:
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Trust
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19.2
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71.6
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9.2
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Don’t trust
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49.9
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34.7
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15.7
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Trust to opposition:
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Trust
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49.3
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38.1
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12.6
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Don’t trust
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24.5
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64.8
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10.7
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Geopolitical choice:
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Integration with the RF
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21.1
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70.8
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8.1
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Joining the EU
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53.3
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30.6
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16.1
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How do you evaluate the annexation of Crimea by Russia?
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It’s an imperialistic usurpation and occupation
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58.4
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30.8
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10.8
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It’s a restitution of Russian lands and reestablishment of historical justice
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22.0
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65.6
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12.4
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If Russia annexed Belarus or its part, what would you do?
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I’d resist up in arms
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60.2
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34.7
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5.1
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I’d try to adapt to a new situation
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30.2
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56.0
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13.8
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I’d greet these changes
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18.3
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71.3
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10.4
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* Table is read horizontally
Numerical superiority of supporters of current national symbols is observed in all age groups, though their share decreases with age decrease. Similar connection is observed with the frequency of internet usage. Among the everyday users of internet there is parity of evaluations, but with the frequency of usage decrease the share of supporters of white-red-white flag and Pahonya coat of arms decreases as well.
Influence of political preferences is much more evident. However, there is a certain pattern. The share of those who make a choice in favor of the red-and-green flag is high among the supporters of president, opponent of opposition and adherent of integration with Russia. At the same time among their opponents almost each second makes their choice in favor of the white-red-white flag.
And, finally, what’s really impressive is the connection between the choice of flag and readiness to resist a hypothetical annexation of Belarus by Russia. It’s hard to assess if this course of events is probable and if the intentions of respondents will correspond to their real actions. But under a certain condition we may conclude that this resistance would happen under the white-red-white flag.
In conclusion let us mention another symbol. On the eve of Victory Day celebrations Belarusian powers imposed a mild ban on usage of ribbons of Saint George. After the annexation of Crimea and disturbances in Donbass for a lot of people this symbol is associated with the Russian expansion and visits of “polite people”. There were no real protests against the ban as there was no massive usage of these ribbons. However the survey shows that majority of Belarusians associates this symbol with the 69 year old Victory and not with present Russian policy in Ukraine (Table 4).
Certainly, the ribbon of Saint George is not a symbol which can be used to resist the ideology of “Russian world”. But, as you can see from Table 3, the red-and-green flag can hardly be helpful in this case.