Flag of the Jewish Autonomous Oblast

The Jewish Autonomous Oblast is the only Autonomous Oblast in Russia. It is situated in the Far Eastern Federal District of Russia.

Jewish Autonomous Oblast
Proportion2:3
Adopted27 October 1996 (1996-10-27)
DesignA rainbow on a white background of Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Purple.
Designed byA. D. Valyaev
UseFirst official flag
Adopted31 July 1996
The JAO flag at a public event in Birobidzhan.

Its flag consists of a rainbow on a white background, with seven narrow horizontal colored stripes: red, orange, yellow, green, sky blue, blue and purple. The colors are slightly different from the basic spectral colors, with gold in place of yellow, vivid blue instead of light blue, and indigo as dark blue,[1] The number of colors is meant to symbolize the seven-branched Jewish Menorah. The flag's aspect ratio is 2:3.

The seven colored stripes are centered vertically and regularly spaced; they have a height each equal to 1⁄40 of the flag's height, and are separated by thin spacing (white borders) equal to 1⁄120 of the flag's height.[2]

The rainbow flag design was adopted in 27 October 1996.[3]

Symbolism

The white color of the cloth represents purity. Rainbows are the biblical symbol of peace, happiness, goodness. The number of bands of the rainbow equal to the number of candles in the Menorah, one of the national religious Jewish symbols. The Menorah speaks of the creation of the world in seven days, and the number of bands of the rainbow emphasizes the connection with the ancient Jewish symbol. Also, the rainbow may symbolize the Seven Noahide laws.

Rainbow flag controversy
The 7-stripe gay-pride flag of 1978

In 2013, the flag was checked according to the Russian gay propaganda law for the presence of "gay propaganda", because of its resemblance to the LGBT flag. The JAO flag was confirmed as safe because of its white background, white borders between the colored stripes, and the seventh (light blue) colour.[4] However, there are gay-pride flags that use the seven colors of the JAO flag.[5]

See also

Notes and references
  1. "Флаг ЕАО проверили на наличие гей-пропаганды" [JAO flag checked for gay propaganda] (in Russian). 30 October 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  2. (Russian) http://www.eao.ru/?p=5 Archived 2009-01-26 at the Wayback Machine (English translation)
  3. Flags of the World: Jewish Autonomous Region (Russia) https://www.fotw.info/flags/ru-yev.html
  4. "Символика" [Heraldics] (in Russian). Official State Portal of Jewish Autonomous Oblast. Retrieved 10 June 2020.
  5. [ge.news-front.info/2021/05/25/tbilisi-pride-namakhvanze-mnishvnelovania-rom-samarthlianobisthvis-mebrdzolebi-gaemijnon-dzaladobriv-dajguphebebs/ "TBILISI PRIDE ნამახვანზე: მნიშვნელოვანია, რომ სამართლიანობისთვის მებრძოლები გაემიჯნონ ძალადობრივ დაჯგუფებებს"]. 2021-05-25. {{cite web}}: Check |url= value (help)


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