The blue-red proposed flag of the self-proclaimed confederation of Novorossiya is a variant of the battle flag which was adopted on 24 May 2014, with the addition of the coat of arms. A white-yellow-black tricolor was presented on 13 August 2014 by Oleg Tsarev as a potential state flag. This resembled an upside-down Romanov flag, which was the national flag of the Russian Empire from 1858 to 1883. Novorossiya is an unrecognised confederation of the Donetsk and Luhansk People's Republics, claiming the territory of the respective Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts in the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine. On 20 May 2015 the leadership of the Federal State of Novorossiya announced the 'freezing' of the confederation 'project'.
Battle flag
The battle flag is based on the naval jackof the Imperial Russian Navy. Aleksandr Chalenko, who worked as a political journalist in Kiev, described the flag and explained its symbolism in an item published by Izvestia on 20 March 2014:
"It's a red flag with a blue Saint Andrew's cross. The flag of the Russian Navy. Of the Navy, which played a prominent military role in the emergence and establishment of the historical Novorossiya."
On 15 May 2014 the Russian on-line newspaper Vzglyad noted that the then Governor of the Donetsk People's Republic, Pavel Gubarev, had announced the start of voting for a flag of the proposed state of Novorossiya. the Novorossiya website invited its readers to vote for one of eleven proposed flag designs for New Russia – with Option 1 the red-blue Saint Andrew'ssaltire. Following the proposition of the white-yellow-black tricolour as the national flag, the saltire was then adopted as the battle flag of the republic, while a variant with the coat of arms is in use as de facto national flag since.
Flags of separatist movements in Ukraine
State flag
Each of the member states of the Novorossiya confederation also has a national flag of its own. Both sport pan-Slavic colours and bear resemblances to the flags of Russia, Slovakia and Slovenia.
Donetsk People's Republic
The flag of the Donetsk People's Republic claims to be based on the flag of Donetsk–Krivoy Rog Soviet Republic. The black is commonly thought to represent the Black Sea or the coal industry in the Donbass region. The red is thought to represent freedom and the blue is thought to represent water. However, there is no proof that such flag was used by the original republic, which used the red flag as symbol. The flag also features the coat of arms of the republic in the centre. The flag carries the words "Donetsk People's Republic" in Russian. The previous flag of the Donetsk People Republic was identical to the flag of the Donetsk Republic but did not feature the words "Donetsk Republic". The flag used by the Donetsk Republic organisation is nearly identical, but features the words "Donetsk Republic" in Russian. This flag appears to be more prominently used than that of the state, even appearing on ballot boxes.
Not much is known about the flags of the Luhansk People's Republic. The first flag featured a similar design to the flag used by the Donetsk People's Republic, the main differences being that the top stripe was light blue or cyan instead of black, it featured a different coat of arms, and it contained the words "Lugansk Republic" in Russian. The second was adopted at some point in October, with an abbreviation of the state's local name replacing the aforementioned text. On November 2, 2014 the Republic adopted a new flag that resembled the previous flags but lacked the coat of arms and had a brighter red stripe.
Similarity with the "Dixie flag"
Some have noted that the flag's design resembles the Confederate States of America's navy jack and battle flag, known as the "Dixie flag". Pavliv explains that he had simply stumbled upon the flag online somewhere, and that the leader of the New Russia Party, Pavel Gubarev, later picked it up. However, Gubarev has stated that the inspiration for the flag came from banners used by Cossacks in the 18th century. According to Alexey Eremenko of the Moscow Times, no Cossacks ever used a flag resembling the one chosen. The Confederate flag, including the stars, has been widely used by right-wingpolitical activists in Europe, many with separatist inclinations. In Ukraine it has been reported used both by far-right pro-Kiev groups and by separatists.
