red flag

The hammer and sickle flag unfurled in Red Square, Moscow, 1917. The square, in existence since the 15th century, saw the final scenes of the October Revolution, in which the Congress of Soviets, led by the Bolsheviks, seized key sites in the capital, including the Kremlin, and took over power from the provisional government of Russia.

International symbol of socialism. In France it was used as a revolutionary emblem from 1792 onwards, and was adopted officially as its flag by the Paris Commune of 1871. Following the revolution of November 1917, it became the national flag of the USSR; as the Soviet flag, it bore a golden hammer and sickle crossed, symbolizing the unity of the industrial workers and peasants, under a gold-rimmed five-pointed star, signifying peace between the five continents. The British Labour Party anthem, called ‘The Red Flag’, was written by Jim Connell in 1889.