The Samara Flag (Bulgarian: Самарско знаме, Samarsko zname, Russian: Самарское знамя, Samarskoye znamya) is a historical military symbol of the Bulgarian Army.
History
The flag was woven by local nuns and given to the Bulgarian volunteers during the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78 by inhabitants of the Russian city of Samara, on 18 May 1877.
The flag became famous after it escaped capture by Ottoman forces at the Battle of Stara Zagora, where many Bulgarian soldiers died in order to prevent the flag from being captured by the Ottoman forces.
The flag, originally intended for the rebels of the April Uprising, was handed to the Bulgarians near Ploieşti on 18 May, having been transported through Chişinău, where it arrived on 1 May. A delegation from the city of Samara, headed by Efim Kozhevnikov and Pyotr Alabin, handed the Samara flag to the volunteers in a special ceremony, with the flag being attached to its pole with gold nails. Tseko Petkov, a leader of a band in the Troyan part of the Balkan Mountains, exclaimed:
"May God let this holy flag pass from end to end through the long-suffering Bulgarian land. May our mothers, wives and sisters wipe their sorrowful eyes with it, and after it may durable peace come, and prosperity!"
The flag, entrusted to the 3rd battalion of the Bulgarian volunteer corps, went through of the battles at Stara Zagora and Nova Zagora, where a number of flag-bearers perished protecting it (including Lieutenant-Colonel Pavel Kalitin), as well as the Battles of Shipka Pass and Sheynovo.
The Samara flag was initially kept in Radomir, the birthplace of its last bearer, Pavel Korchev. It was later kept in the royal palace in Sofia (now the National Art Gallery) from 1881. In 1946, the flag was transferred to the National Museum of Military History (NMMH). It has remained there ever since, preserved in a chamber under special conditions.
Two copies of the flag were made in 1958, one of which was sent to the Central Military Museum in Russia. Another two were subsequently created, one of which was made in the Mihail Maletski NMMH restoration workshop by in 1978. The nuns of the Russian-founded Knyazhevo Nunnery of the Shroud of the Most Holy Mother of God created another precise replica in 2006.
Design
The flag, a tricolour 1.85 × 1.90m in size, was sown from silk and contains pan-Slavic colors (red, white, blue). Icons of the Holy Mother of God and Cyril and Methodius were drawn on it in a golden cross by the Saint Petersburg artist Nikolay Simakov. It bears a silver point designed by Graf Rochefort.
Honours
The Samara flag is the only flag that has been awarded the Bulgarian Medal for Bravery, the medal being placed in its pole's richly decorated point. The flag has been portrayed numerous times by noted artists, including The Samara Flag by Jaroslav Věšín from 1911 and Handing of the Samara Flag to the Bulgarian Volunteer Corps in Ploieşti by Nikolay Dmitriev-Orenburgsky.
The Flag Monument of Stara Zagora is a concrete replica of the Samara flag and commemorates the deaths of Bulgarian soldiers in the Russo-Turkısh War of 1877–78.
Gallery
Authentic replica of the Samara flag in the Shipka Monument
Handing of the Samara Flag (Nikolay Dmitriev-Orenburgsky)
The Samara Flag (1911, Jaroslav Věšín)
The monument Samarsko Zname
References
- "Монахините от Княжевския манастир ушиха копие на Самарското знаме" (in Bulgarian). Dnes.bg. 2006-03-24. Retrieved 2006-11-25.
- "Samara Region Administration — The History of the Flag". Samara.ru. Archived from the original on 2006-10-09. Retrieved 2006-11-25.