This Week In Vexillology #66

Since February marks the start of the Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, I decided to devote the month of February not to our usual business of flags from country around the world, but to some of the flags of the Russian Federation- since they're hosting.  There's already been enough written about the Sochi Olympics to fill several libraries (the corruption, the controversy over Russia's insane anti-LGBT laws, the lunacy of having the Winter Olympics in one of the only places in Russia to have what's technically a sub-tropical climate and is located uncomfortably close to a very active Islamic insurgency) and I might take a poke or two at the topic myself, but for now, I wanted to keep the focus on the flags, so to speak and showcase some parts of Russia that most people, including me, know nothing about.

So, since it's the Olympics, I decided we're going to start with the flag of Krasnodar Krai:

Hold the phone! Just what the heck is a Krai, anyway?

Good question- I myself was under the some what mistaken impression that Russia was a Federation of different Republics.  It's not- you do have 21 Republics, designed as autonomous homes for a specific minority within Russia with their own Constitutions and legislatures.  But, you also have 46 oblasts that have federally appointed governors but locally elected legislatures and then you have 9 krais, which are pretty much the same as oblasts but represent regions that were once considered frontiers areas and are thus referred to as territories.   Got that?  Good.  There's going to be a quiz later!

But, back to the flag...   we started with Krasnodar Krai because that's the krai where Sochi is located so I figured, why not, since they're holding the Olympics there?  Good place to start!  It's flag is identical to the flag of nearby Kuban- but has a golden coat of arms in the center.   Assuming (and I think it's s safe guess) that the colors represent the same thing on both flags, they represent the three principal social-ethnic groups of Kuban socieity-  the majority, Cosscaks (purple), Circassians (green) and all others, (blue.)

The Coat of Arms has been trickier to pin down- from what I can tell, it dates back to Russia's imperial period, but, somewhat irritatingly, I have yet to find an explanation as to what exactly they mean- so for now, just know that they're the Coat of Arms of the Krasnodar Krai and they're historical and stuff.

In the meantime, until next time, keep your flags flying- FREAK or otherwise!