Donald Trump could get a new look in a beautiful vyshyvanka today.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and first lady Olena Zelenska presented vyshyvankas to world leaders and their spouses for this year’s Vyshyvanka Day on May 21.
Zelenskys sent these Ukrainian national embroidered shirts to their counterparts in the United States, Canada, Germany, France, Poland and Turkey, the Presidential Office reported on May 21.
“Vyshyvanka is an authentic code of our ethnos with protective charms and symbols coded in original ornaments. We sincerely want to share a piece of Ukrainian history and authenticity,” Zelenskys wrote in a cover letter.
The presidential couple also released photographs posing in vyshyvankas. Both the vyshyvankas they are wearing and those presented to world leaders were made by the Ukrainian Etnodim brand.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and first lady Olena Zelenska presented such vyshyvankas to their counterparts in the United States, Canada, Germany and other countries. (Presidential Office of Ukraine)
Google also dedicated a doodle on its main page to the Vyshyvanka Day, one of three doodles the search engine presented on May 21. The Vyshyvanka doodle was illustrated by Kyiv-based artist Tania Yakunova.
“Over 250 distinct embroidery stitches can be used to form the vyshyvanka’s signature coded symbols. These typically fall into three categories: floral ornamentation, zoomorphic figures, and geometric shapes, all of which can be found in today’s Doodle artwork,” Google’s doodle page says.
Google search engine dedicated one of its daily doodles on its main page to the Vyshyvanka Day on May 21, 2020. It was illustrated by Kyiv-based artist Tania Yakunova.
Vyshyvanka is a Ukrainian embroiled shirt, the origins of which date back to ancient times. Archeological evidence and accounts by the Greek historian Herodotus indicate that Scythians who inhabited Ukrainian territories as early the 9th century B.C. often wore embroidered clothing.
Over the centuries, each region in Ukraine developed unique vyshyvanka patterns. Each has detailed meaning and reflects their cultural and natural landscapes. Today, vyshyvanka is the most important part of Ukraine’s national costume and an expression of patriotism and cultural pride.
Vyshyvanka Day, founded by students in the western city of Chernivtsi in 2006, is celebrated every fourth Thursday in May each year. Although not an official holiday, people across Ukraine and in over 50 countries observe it by wearing a vyshyvanka on this day. That’s why it’s often called the International Vyshyvanka Day.
