Communist symbolism

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Communist symbolism consists of a series of symbols that represent (either literally or figuratively) a variety of themes associated with communism. These themes may include (but are not limited to) revolution, the proletariat, the peasantry, agriculture, or international solidarity. Communist states, parties and movements use these symbols to advance and create solidarity within their cause.

Usually these symbols, along with a pentangle representing either the five inhabited continents (in the context of the six-continent model where Eurasia is counted as a single continent) or the five components of communist society (the peasants, the workers, the army, the intellectuals, and the youth), appear in yellow on a red background representing revolution. The flag of the Soviet Union incorporated a yellow-outlined red star and a yellow hammer and sickle on red. The flags of Vietnam, China, Angola, and Mozambique would all incorporate similar symbolism under communist rule.

The hammer and sickle have become the pan-communist symbol, appearing on the flags of most communist parties around the world. However, the flag of the Korean Workers' Party includes a hammer representing industrial workers, a hoe representing agricultural workers, and a brush (traditional writing-implement) representing the intelligentsia.

In Hungary, Latvia, Moldova, Lithuania and Poland, communist symbols are banned.

Hammer and sickle

Main article: Hammer and sickle

Description

The hammer and sickle (Unicode: ☭) is a symbol of the communist movement. The hammer stands for the industrial working class while the sickle represents the agricultural workers; together the hammer and sickle represent the unity of these two groups.

It is also speculated that the hammer represents power, while the sickle represents efficiency: "Power and Efficiency."

History

The hammer and sickle were first used during the Russian Revolution but they did not become the official symbol of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic until 1924. Since the Russian Revolution, the hammer and sickle have come to represent various communist parties and socialist states.

Red star

Main article: Red star

Description

The five-pointed red star is a symbol of communism as well as broader socialism in general. It is sometimes understood to represent the five fingers of the worker's hand, which run the five continents; or it is understood to symbolize the five entities "classes" of socialist society: workers, farmers, intellectuals, soldiers, and youth.

History

The red star was one of the emblems, symbols, and signals representing the Soviet Union under the rule and guidance of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union, along with the hammer and sickle.

Red flag

Main article: Red flag (politics)

Description

The red flag is often seen in combination with other communist symbols and party names. The flag is used at various communist and socialist rallies like May Day, or used in a red bloc. The flag, being a symbol of socialism itself, is also commonly associated with non-communist variants of socialism.

History

The red flag has had multiple meanings in history but it was first used as a flag of defiance. The red flag gained its modern political meaning in the 1871 French Revolution. After the October Revolution, the Soviet government adopted the red flag with a superimposed hammer and sickle as its national flag. Since the October Revolution, various socialist states and movements have used the red flag.

Starry Plough

Main article: Starry Plough (flag)

Description

Although not an exclusively Communist symbol this is a symbol of Irish Socialism that may have the same roots as the original Hammer and Plough that was replaced by the Hammer and Sickle in Russia. The significance of the banner was that a free Workers Republic of Ireland would control its own destiny from the plough to the stars and the sword forged into the plough would mean the redundancy of war with the establishment of a Socialist International. The flag depicts the constellation of Ursa Major, known as The Plough in Ireland. Ursa Major is one of the most prominent features of the night sky over Ireland throughout the year.

History

This was unveiled in 1914 and flown by a Socialist Workers Militia, The Irish Citizen Army, during the 1916 Easter Rising.

The Internationale

Main article: The Internationale

The Internationale is an anthem of the socialist movement. It is one of the most universally recognised songs in the world and has been translated into nearly every spoken language. Its original French refrain is C'est la lutte finale / Groupons-nous et demain / L'Internationale / Sera le genre humain (English: This is the final struggle / Let's group together and tomorrow / The International / Will be the human race). It is often sung with a raised fist salute.

History

The song has been used by communists all over the world since it was composed in the 19th Century and adopted as the official anthem of the Second International. It later became the anthem of Soviet Russia in 1918 and of the USSR in 1922. It was superseded as the Union anthem in 1944 with the adoption of the State Anthem of the Soviet Union, which places more emphasis on patriotism. The song was also sung in defiance to self-proclaimed socialist governments, such as in the German Democratic Republic in 1989 prior to reunification as well as in the People's Republic of China during the Tienanmen Square protests of the same year.

Other communist symbols

The following graphic elements, while not necessarily communist in nature, are often incorporated into the flags, seals and propaganda of communist countries and movements.

• Crossed proletarian implements, including picks, hoes, scythes, and in the case of the Workers' Party of Korea, a brush to represent the intelligentsia. The ubiquitous hammer and sickle also belong in this category.
• Rising sun, exemplified on the crests of the Soviet Union, Socialist Republic of Croatia and Turkmen Soviet Socialist Republic as well as Communist Romania.
• Cogwheels, exemplified on the crest of Afghanistan, Angola and the People's Republic of China.
• Wreaths of wheat, cotton, corn or other crops, present on the crests of almost every historical communist state.
• Rifle, such as the AK-47 on the flag of Mozambique and Mosin-Nagant on Albanian lek.
• Red banners with yellow lettering, exemplified on the crests of Vietnam and China.
• Red or yellow stars, perhaps the most common communist symbol behind the hammer and sickle.
• Open books, exemplified on the state crests of Mozambique, Angola and Afghanistan, and also on the party crests of Communist Party of the Russian Federation and Communist Party of Ukraine.
• Factories or industrial equipment, exemplified on the crests of North Korea, Socialist Republic of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Democratic Kampuchea and Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic.
• Natural landscapes, exemplified on the crests of SR Macedonia, Romania and the Karelo-Finnish SSR.
• Torches, exemplified on the emblem of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.
• Sword and shield, exemplified on the KGB emblem, and the Mother Motherland.
• Cross and sickle are the symbols of the Christian communism

Notable examples of communist states that use no overtly communist imagery on their flags, crests or other graphic representations are Cuba, and the former People's Republic of Poland.

See also

A tableau in a communist rally in Kerala, India, showing two farmers forming the hammer and sickle, the most famous communist symbol.

• Anarchist symbolism
• Hammer and sickle
• Hammer and dove
• Red flag (politics)
• Red star
• Raised fist
• The Internationale

National

• Flags of the Soviet Republics
• Flag of East Germany
• Coats of Arms of the Soviet Republics
• Coat of Arms of the German Democratic Republic
• Coat of Arms of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia
• Coats of arms of the Yugoslav Socialist Republics
• National Emblem of the People's Republic of China
• Soviet Union state motto