The blue and yellow colors of the Ukrainian banner flew high over Kyiv on August 23 to mark the country’s National Flag Day.
Representatives of the Ukrainian Armed Forces and National Guard took part in the official flag-raising ceremony, which was led by President Volodymyr Zelensky and also included performances from a military band and an impressive display by the National Guard. Elsewhere in the city, Ukrainians paraded a giant Ukrainian flag through the city center and across Kyiv’s Independence Square.
National Flag Day became an official holiday in 2004 by decree of then-President Leonid Kuchma. The date, which falls on the eve of Ukraine’s Independence Day, marks the first time the Ukrainian flag was brought into the country’s newly-formed parliament in 1991.
