People at all times paid attention to signs and symbols. The five-pointed red star, one ray of which is directed upwards, thanks to the communists, has become one of the main symbols of the USSR. And in a fairly short period, it has become one of the main symbols of totalitarian statehood. Let's find out how the red star became one of the main symbols of the USSR.
How did the history of the red Soviet star? After the Great October revolution changed not only political system, but many signs and attributes have gone into oblivion. Thus, a new system of symbolism began to take shape. Initially, the emergence of a star as a symbol is associated with Masonic societies. Since the influence of Freemasonry on revolutionary activity in different parts of the world (including the USSR) was truly significant. However, genuine evidence this fact not available.
On the territory of the USSR, the scarlet star appeared as the emblem of the Soviet Army. Unfortunately, today it is not possible to give the exact name of the author of the emblem. So, some historians suggest that for the first time it was proposed for the army by N.A. Polyansky (commissar of the military Moscow district). Other historians associate the name of K.S. with the red star. Eremeevna (commander of the troops of the Petrograd district).
The official history of the emblem begins on April 18, 1918. It was then that the red five-pointed star with a gold border, which depicts a golden hammer and a plow, was appointed by the order of the People's Commissariat for Military Affairs as a badge for everything personnel Workers 'and Peasants' Red Army (RKKA). It became a distinctive sign that allowed people to be divided into “us” and “them”. In this regard, an act was issued that forbade people who were not in the service of the Red Army to wear the emblem. Violation of this rule was punished by the tribunal.
The meaning of the red star. The scarlet star is a heraldic sign that is closely associated with both the Soviet army and directly with the USSR. This sign was depicted on the flag and emblem of the Soviet Union.
What is the meaning of this key symbol of the USSR? It was believed that the star is a symbol that was supposed to unite the world proletariat. So, for example, the 5 ends of a star were associated with 5 continents, on which communism spread. In addition, it is a symbol of security and protection. And the red color was associated with the proletarian revolution, was the color of brotherhood and blood shed in the struggle for the rights of the proletariat.
Also, some scientists associate the scarlet star with the god of war Mars (the ancient Roman god), who was considered the protector and patron of workers. It is possible that some influential Soviet people were guided by this theory.
The image of such a symbol on the flags and emblems of the socialist countries denoted the unity of ideologies and solidarity on the path of development. Many Soviet newspapers described that the red star characterizes the struggle of the peasantry, which was trying to free itself from poverty, hunger, war, and slavery.
Hammer and plow as an addition to the symbol. On the badge of the Soviet army, as described above, there was also an image of a plow and a hammer. They also symbolize the union of workers and peasants. Later, the image was slightly modified: instead of a plow, a sickle was placed on the sign for clarity. But the meaning of the emblem "" did not change from this.
It is also noteworthy that initially the star was depicted with two ends up. However, such an arrangement among the Soviet people was associated with the "satanic" pentagram. And this is in a country where they were treated negatively. So, the star began to be depicted with one end up and two ends down. And the position of the star never changed again. On this occasion, even a large circulation leaflet was issued in the USSR with the title: "Look, comrade, here is the Red Star."
Star and the Great Patriotic War. During the Second World War, this Soviet emblem began to acquire new qualities. In 1943, along with pre-revolutionary shoulder straps, the stars returned to the army, which helped to distinguish between ranks. officers. In addition, at the same time, the red star is taken as the basis in many orders and medals (for example, the Gold Star medal, the Order of Glory, the Order of the Red Star).
One way or another, the star is considered an ancient symbol that has been and is used in various traditions. Probably, this ensured the cult role of this sign in Soviet society.
Fall 2014 LDPR leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky sent a letter Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu, in which he raised the question of the formation of army symbols for Orthodox Orthodox military personnel. The reason for the letter, judging from its content, was Zhirinovsky's trip to the farm German Sterligova. The owner's son allegedly complained that he was serving in Russian army it cannot, because the five-pointed star in army symbols is associated with satanic symbols.
State Secretary of the Russian Ministry of Defense Nikolai Pankov answered the head of the Liberal Democratic Party with a detailed letter stating that the linking of a five-pointed star to Satanism is unreasonable - for example, such a pentagram during the Roman Empire marked the transition from paganism to Christianity as the true faith. As for the history of the star in the Russian and Soviet army, there has never been a trace of Satanism here.
This correspondence is indicative - in the post-Soviet period, attacks on Soviet symbols took on the character of uniform harassment, and its participants did not make it too difficult to substantiate their statements.
Red star as a symbol Soviet army got it especially - they saw in it both Satanism, and Freemasonry, and militant Zionism, and much more. They saw everything, depending on the level of intellectual development.
Nicholas introduced French fashion
But what is true story the appearance of a star in general and a red star in particular in the armed forces of our country?
Like many other things, the five-pointed star came to Russia from abroad. AT late XVIII - early XIX century in the French army, five-pointed stars appeared on the epaulettes and headdresses of officers and generals, which determined their rank. This tradition dates back to ancient rome, where the five-pointed star was a symbol of the god of war - Mars - and denoted the lily from which he was born.
In 1827 Russian Emperor Nicholas I adopts French experience and introduces stars on the epaulettes of officers and generals of the Russian army. We are talking about gold forged stars. 27 years later, in 1854, the same Nicholas I introduces shoulder straps into the Russian army, as well as sewn stars on them.
There is no consensus on how widely the five-pointed star was used in the Russian army. On the Internet you can find pictures of the famous Russian photographer Carla Bulla, on which in 1904-1905 he captured Russian military trains, the cars of which are marked with five-pointed stars with a double-headed eagle inside. Opponents insist that this is a clever photomontage.
A five-pointed star with an eagle on a military train car, Russian empire, photo by Victor Bulla, 1905. Photo: Public Domain
Logic, and nothing but logic
After the February Revolution, the royal insignia in the army was abolished. April 21, 1917 by order of the Navy and the Maritime Department No. 150 of the Military and Naval Minister of the Provisional Government Alexandra Guchkova shoulder straps were replaced by sleeve insignia, and a new cockade was introduced. On it, a five-pointed star was placed above the socket with an anchor.
The interim government could not completely solve the problem of revising military symbols due to the fact that it was in power for a very short time.
After October 1917, the same question had to be solved by the Bolsheviks, who were busy building a new workers' and peasants' army.
The five-pointed star as a symbol new army fit in many ways. Firstly, although it was used in the Russian army, it did not have a stable link to the institution of the monarchy. Secondly, she migrated to Russia from France, where she appeared in the army after the French Revolution, the leaders of which the Bolsheviks treated with great respect.
The answer to the question about the color of the star was also obvious - the red banners of the revolution and the Red Guard as the forerunner of the revolutionary army implied that new symbol will be red.
The uniform of fighters and commanders of the Taman army, the Red Army of the times civil war, 1919 Photo: Commons.wikimedia.org / Jp.negre
Five Continents of the Proletarian Revolution
Who first proposed the red five-pointed star as a symbol of the army is not exactly known. Most likely, such an idea arose from several people independently of each other. Among them are mentioned Commander of the Petrograd Military District Eremeev, Commissar of the Moscow Military District Polyansky. Be that as it may, this idea was supported by the Military Collegium for the organization of the Red Army.
Initially, the red star was considered as a badge. by order People's Commissar of the Republic of Leon Trotsky No. 321 of May 7, 1918, it was approved as a sign that determines the affiliation of persons serving in the Red Army. However, the half-year experience of using the sign led to a change in its location. On November 15, 1918, by order of the Revolutionary Military Council of the RSFSR No. 773, the star began to be worn on headdresses instead of royal cockades, and the wearing of red stars also extended to sailors.
Reproduction of poster "Year of the Red Army" by artist A. Apsit. Photo: RIA Novosti / Pavel Balabanov
Initially, the red star as a symbol of the Red Army was approved with the image of a plow and a hammer, personifying the solidarity of workers and peasants.
Like any heraldic symbol, the army red star had its own interpretation. In the first years of the existence of the Red Army, it meant the unity of the world proletariat of all five continents of the Earth: the five ends of the star are the five continents of the planet. Red is the color of the proletarian revolution, it was supposed to unite all five continents with a single goal and single beginning. In a later period, the red star was interpreted as a symbol of warriors standing guard over peaceful labor, protecting workers from hunger, war, poverty and slavery.
Ours are already in Washington!
Almost immediately from the moment the red star appeared, opponents of the Bolsheviks began to actively promote the idea of \u200b\u200bthe "satanic" nature of the symbol of the Red Army. This kind of propaganda had some success, and the Military Department of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee published a leaflet “Look, comrade, here is the Red Star”, in which in detail, using the parable of Truth and Krivda, the true essence of this sign was told, extremely far from Satanism, and the red the star was pathetically called the "star of truth."
There were also more objective critics who believed that the problem was that Russia simply did not have such rich history use of a five-pointed star, as in other countries. For example, such stars were widely used in the army of Japan, as well as other countries.
If you look even wider, then the five-pointed star, and it is red, can be found in very unexpected places. For example, there are four on the flag of the Deputy Commander of the US Navy, and three on the flag of the city of Washington.
Flag of Washington, USA. Photo: Public Domain
To whom is the star, and to whom is the cross
During the existence of the Red Army - the Soviet army - the red star changed several times, changing the plow and hammer to a sickle and hammer.
The red star has become a symbol of military victories and the country's defense power.
In the post-Soviet period, the red five-pointed star became a symbol of the armed forces of Kazakhstan and Belarus. But in Ukraine, the military refused the five-pointed star - the cross became the symbol of the army there, resembling the symbols of the German Wehrmacht during the Second World War.
Concerning Armed Forces RF, then in 2014 they had a new logo - a red-white-blue five-pointed star. Experts argue about whether the new star is a departure from Soviet traditions or, conversely, a return to them.
One thing can be said with certainty - Satanism and mysticism have nothing to do with it.
The first official sketch of a red star as a sign of the Red Army was approved in the spring of 1918. On April 19, a correspondence appeared in the newspaper Izvestia of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee of Soviets of Peasants', Workers', Soldiers' and Cossacks' Deputies, stating that the Commissariat for Military Affairs approved a drawing of a badge for the Red Army soldiers in the form of a red star with a golden image of a plow and a hammer in the center. The star itself, which, by the way, was called the “Mars star” both in the article and for some time after its official adoption, personified, on the one hand, the god of war Mars, and on the other hand, due to its red color, the protection of the revolution. And it was even easier to read the symbolism of the hammer and plow: they, of course, personified the “worker-peasant” character of the new army.
It is interesting that on one of the preliminary sketches, drawn and proposed by the Commissar of the Moscow Military District Nikolai Polyansky, in addition to the plow and hammer, there was also a book - as a symbol of the intelligentsia. But the book was rejected, believing that it overloads the sign and makes it hard to read. The idea itself to combine the symbols of workers and peasants in one sign was first realized in March 1917, when an image of a crossed hammer, plow and rifle appeared on the banner of the workers of the Moscow Faberge factory.
When officially approved by order of the People's Commissar of the Republic No. 321 of May 7, 1918, the new sign of the Red Army was called the "Mars star with a plow and a hammer" and was supposed to be worn on the chest on the left. By the way, many Red Army soldiers, especially red commanders, preferred to wear a badge on their belt - so that it would not cling to it and close it, turning the red warrior into an unknown armed man. And this consideration in July 1918 forced the Revolutionary Military Council of the Republic to give an order to transfer the red star from the chest to the band of the cap - a place that has become familiar to several generations of Soviet soldiers. And on November 15 of the same year, order No. 773 of the Revolutionary Military Council was issued, by which the red star was finally placed on headdresses, not only of the Red Army, but also of the Red Navy.
The first enamel red star, called "Mars", had characteristic shape. Its rays were thicker than we are used to seeing, and their edges were slightly convex, which made the whole star seem more voluminous. In this form - with convex thick rays, a hammer and a plow - it lasted four years. On April 13, 1922, the plow, which was considered a symbol of the wealthy peasantry, that is, the kulaks, was replaced with a poor sickle (although, most likely, this replacement had a more mundane design explanation: the sickle is easier to depict and easier to perceive). Three months later, on July 11, the shape of the rays of the star was also changed - they were straightened, giving the sign a look familiar to us.
That rare case when the Bolsheviks did not "throw overboard" history and traditions
In the early nineties, it became fashionable to trample Soviet symbols into the dirt. In particular, there were many attempts to discredit the red five-pointed star - they say, this is a satanic sign associated with black magic. However, if we consider the history of this symbol, it becomes clear that it was not Satanists who invented it at all.
From the depths of centuries
The five-pointed star as a symbol, according to the most conservative estimates, is about five thousand years old. The Sumerians used this sign to designate a corner, a pit or a small room, a room. The Pythagoreans saw five shelters in the pentagram, in which, when creating our world, primitive chaos was hidden. The inhabitants of Babylon used a star with five rays as a sign protecting their home from thieves. For a while, the five-pointed star was the official seal of Jerusalem - perhaps that is why medieval scholars who dreamed of mastering magic called the pentacle the seal of the king Solomon. And the ancient Romans considered the five-pointed star a symbol of the god of war. Mars- according to legend, he was born from a lily; it was the lily that symbolized the “Mars star”.
During the French Revolution, the five-ray star penetrated the military symbols of the young republic and settled on epaulettes and headdresses of generals and officers. It was from France that the five-pointed star made its way to Russia: in 1827, with a light hand NicholasI epaulettes of the highest army ranks began to be decorated with gold forged stars. After 27 years, in 1854, also under Nicholas I, epaulettes will appear on the shoulders of the Russian military, and embroidered stars will appear on the epaulettes.
well forgotten old
When the February Revolution broke out in 1917, all the royal insignia in the army were abolished en masse.
According to order No. 321 dated May 7, 1918, issued by the People's Commissar of the Republic Leon Trotsky, "Mars star with a plow and a hammer" becomes the sign of the Red Army. There is an opinion that the introduction of the five-pointed star into the symbolism was carried out as part of a campaign to attract former tsarist officers to the Red Army.
The star, symbolizing the Red Army, was also red - like the banners of the young republic. At first, it was thought of as a badge on the breastplate - however, after six months it successfully migrated to the headdresses of the military and sailors, where it remained for many years.
Each character needs a legend. At the dawn of the existence of the Red Army, the red five-pointed star personified the unity of the "proletarians of all countries" - workers from all five continents; red was the color of the revolution, the color of the blood that was shed for freedom. Later, red stars on headdresses became associated with defending warriors.
From January 1919, stars began to be sewn onto the new headdresses of the Red Army, resembling the helmets of ancient knights in shape. The first name of these pointed hats - "heroes" - did not take root; they remained in the memory of the people as Budyonovka.
Poster "Join the red cavalry", 1920 Coats of arms and flags
Soon the red stars gained such popularity that they lit up on the coat of arms and banner of the young country building communism. And then they began to light up on the emblems of the republics. By the way, the red star appeared on the coat of arms of the RSFSR only in 1978!
Interestingly, another ancient sign had a good chance of becoming a symbol of Soviet Russia, which later, in the middle of the 20th century, gained notoriety thanks to the Nazis. Yes, we are talking about the swastika. She even at one time flaunted on banknotes - "Kerenki". However, the coat of arms of the country never got over.
In 1928, an October star was born - also red, but with a portrait of a young Volodya Ulyanova in the middle. All Octobrists were obliged to wear it on the left side of the chest. And in 1935, the stars, decorated with Ural gems, shone on the Spasskaya, Troitskaya, Borovitskaya and Nikolskaya towers of the Kremlin. True, these stars soon dimmed, so that in 1937 Stalin ordered to install red stars made of milky (inside) and ruby (outside) glass on these towers, as well as on the Vodovzvodnaya Tower. The leader considered that with such stars the Kremlin would become more beautiful. And this, perhaps, is the little in which we can agree with him.
Trinity Cathedral is one of the most significant temples of the Northern capital. It is visible for 25 kilometers - from all over St. Petersburg. The temple turns 182 this year. Before construction, according to legend, this place was a wooden chapel, which was founded by Peter I.
The project of the Trinity Cathedral was designed by the architect Stasov. Nicholas I took an active part in the work on the drawings. In his youth, the future emperor dreamed of becoming an architect. The restorers tried to follow Stasov's surviving drawings.
The temple was always heated. To hide the pipes that would spoil the majestic view of the cathedral, Stasov went to the trick: he disguised them. Each dome is surrounded by bowls containing trumpets. When the temple was heated, it turned out that the smoke came from the bowls. From a distance it looked very beautiful.
The central chandelier for the cathedral was made in 1886 in the jewelry workshop "Nicholas and Plinke". Pushkin often ordered things there, and even owed a fair amount to the masters. The restorers tried to restore the former splendor of the chandelier, despite the fact that Plinke's drawings mysteriously disappeared from St. Petersburg after the revolution.
Before the revolution, soldiers of the Izmailovsky regiment, the most privileged in the imperial army, prayed in the temple. AT different years Suvorov's father, Gogol's grandfather, and Pushkin's uncle and father served there. Each ruler, entering the throne, gave the regiment a special banner for military merit. After the restoration, the banners were blatantly hung in place.
Six-pointed stars have long been a symbol of the army. It was the will of Nicholas I. The emperor wanted everyone to see that the temple belongs to the military clergy. After the revolution, the Bolsheviks painted over the dome, but now the restorers have restored the long-forgotten symbol.
Drawings and sketches of the marching iconostasis are stored in the temple. Before the revolution, every military priest had one. Before a similar iconostasis, the dying Nekrasov and his beloved Fekla Viktorova were crowned. The writer could no longer move, and his friends asked the military clergy to perform the ceremony in Nekrasov's apartment.
The restorers painted the interior of the dome using the fresco technique. The pattern imitates a three-dimensional pattern. It was repeated exactly according to Stasov's drawings kept in the Hermitage. "Careful attention to the original documents makes it possible to repeat and even strengthen what Stasov wanted to show," says Irina Voinova, chief architect of the cathedral's restoration project.
Restorers rebuilt the stairs and repaired the floor. Chips were visible on the side sheets of the columns inside the temple. They were carefully cleaned, re-cast from plaster and frozen.
