65.255.77.24 at 23:49, 5 January 2007

65.255.77.24 — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 23:49:49 GMT

New page

{{otheruses}}
[[Image:Red flag waving transparent.png|200px|right|]]
Historically, and most generally, the '''red flag''' is an international symbol for the ''"[[blood]] of angry [[working class|workers]]."''

Although much older than [[socialism]], the flag has mainly been a [[socialism|socialist]] and [[communism|communist]] emblem associated in particular with those [[ideology|ideologies]]' [[revolution]]ary [[left-wing|left]] and [[Radical Left]] sections.

A plain red flag has often been raised or carried by socialists, [[left-wing]] radicals, and communist groups. Such groups have used both plain red flags and red flags [[superimposed]] with the names or emblems of their [[communist party|parties]], or [[social movement]]s. Red flags are often seen at [[protest]]s, [[Demonstration (people)|demonstrations]] and left-wing [[Demonstration (people)|rallies]] such as [[May Day]].

The red flag is most strongly associated in public consciousness with communism. It forms the backdrop to the [[flag of the People's Republic of China]] and the [[flag of the Soviet Union]]. Also, "waving a red flag" is a [[euphemism]] for [[incitement]] (see [[bullfighting]]), and red is the "colour of [[defiance]]."

The red flag has also been associated with [[social democratic]] and [[labour movement|labour]] traditions, having been a banner used by parties such as [[Labour (UK)|Labour]] in Britain, France's [[SFIO]] and similar groups throughout the [[world]]. But its use by social democrats declined sharply over much of the [[20th Century]] as many such people moved away from the left.

==History==
[[Image:Jaurès02.jpg|thumb|[[France|French]] socialist leader [[Jean Jaurès]] addressing workers from under a red flag.]]

From as early as the [[15th century]] the red flag was known as the "flag of defiance"[http://www.crwflags.com/fotw/flags/vxt-dvf2.html#flagofdefiance]. It was raised in cities and castles under siege to indicate that there would be "no surrender" [http://www.oldandnewedinburgh.co.uk/volume1/page60.html] [http://www.oldandnewedinburgh.co.uk/volume1/page61.html].

It is known that from about 1300, [[Normans|Norman]] ships would fly red streamers to indicate that they would "give no quarter" (take no prisoners) in battle. This usage persisted into the [[17th century]], when the flag was adopted by [[Buccaneer]]s, who were pirates of French origin operating in the [[West Indies]]. Buccaneers would initially hoist the [[Jolly Roger]] to intimidate their foes. If the victims chose to fight rather than submit to being boarded, the pirates would then raise the red flag to indicate that once the ship had been captured, no man would be spared.{{NamedRef|PirateFlags|1}}

The red flag first became associated with revolutionary [[left-wing]] politics during the [[French Revolution]], when it was adopted by the [[Jacobin Club]].{{NamedRef|JacobinFlag|2}} The Jacobins controlled the insurrectionary [[Paris Commune (French Revolution)|Paris Commune]] during the [[10th of August (French Revolution)|assault on the Tuileries]], the [[September Massacres]], and throughout the [[Reign of Terror]].

In [[1797]], when sailors of Britain's [[Royal Navy]] [[Nore mutiny|mutinied at the Nore]] on the mouth of the [[River Thames]], they hoisted the red flag on several of the ships.

The flag became the symbol of the [[Merthyr Tydfil|Merthyr riots]] of 1831, in [[South Wales]], when [[working class|workers]] took over the town for five days, until they were massacred by soldiers. Their flag is said to have been a [[shirt]] soaked in [[calf]]'s [[blood]] by [[Dic Penderyn]].

[[Socialists]] and radical republicans in the [[Revolution of 1848 in France|1848 French Revolution]] adopted the red flag, ostensibly as a symbol of "the blood of angry workers." Supporters of the more moderate [[French Second Republic]], which had been established in the first phase of the revolution, rallied to the ''[[tricolore]]''. The red flag subsequently became the banner of the [[Paris Commune]] in 1871, at which time it became firmly associated with socialism. This tradition was bolstered in the rallies in [[Chicago]] in 1886, which resulted in the execution of some of the Haymarket Eight (cf. [[Haymarket Riot]]).
[[Image:Reichstag flag.jpg|thumb|250px|left|Red [[Hammer and Sickle]] flag flown over the [[Reichstag (building)|Reichstag building]] as Berlin falls to the [[Red Army]] during [[World War II]].]]
In pre-[[Russian civil war|civil war]] Russia the Red flag was used as a symbol of warning. Villages that were afflicted by disease or plague would fly the Red flag from the highest building in the village or town. The use of the Red flag by the [[Red army]] in the civil war confused White army soldiers, who supposedly, upon seeing a Red flag flying from a village or town held by the Bolshevik forces, would believe that place to be diseased and would leave it alone.{{NamedRef|Civilwar|3}}

After the [[October Revolution]], the red flag with a [[hammer and sickle]] was adopted as the official flag of the new [[soviet]] government and was used by the [[Communist]] movement internationally. Accordingly, a number of Communist and socialist newspapers have used the name ''The Red Flag'' (perhaps most famously including ''[[Die rote Fahne]]'', the newspaper of the [[Spartakusbund]] and subsequently the [[Communist Party of Germany]]).

One of the most famous images of the flag is of it being raised over the [[Reichstag (building)|Reichstag building]] by the conquering [[Red Army]] during the [[Battle of Berlin]].

The red flag, and the colour red generally, was adopted by the Communist Party in [[China]], where it interacted in complex ways with the cultural meanings that the Chinese had traditionally attributed to the colour.

==The British Labour Party==
The red flag was the emblem of the [[Labour Party (UK)|British Labour Party]] from its inception until the [[Labour Party Conference]] of 1986 when it was replaced by a [[red rose]]. The red rose has subsequently been adopted by a number of other socialist and social-democratic parties throughout Europe. Members of the party would also sing the traditional anthem ''The Red Flag'' (see below) at the conclusion of the annual party conference, but this was also dropped. In October 2003 the song made a return and was sung along with ''[[Jerusalem (hymn)|Jerusalem]]''. In February 2006 the ''Red Flag'' was sung in Parliament to mark the centenary of the Labour Party's founding.

==The Anthem==
The anthem '''The Red Flag''' was written by Irishman [[Jim Connell]] in 1889. Connell was born in [[County Meath]] and as an adult moved to [[Dublin]] where he worked as a [[docker]] until he became blacklisted for attempting to unionise the workers. He came to live and work in London and was inspired to write a socialist anthem after attending a lecture at a meeting of the [[Social Democratic Federation]]. He set down the words whilst on a bus (no. 28) journey to his home in [[New Cross]], [[South London]]. It is normally sung to the tune of the German [[Carol (music)|carol]] ''[[O Tannenbaum]]'' (also used for the state song of [[Maryland]]), though Connell had wanted it sung to a tune he called ''The White Cockade'' [http://www.comms.dcu.ie/sheehanh/songs/rf-wc-dg.mp2]. [[Billy Bragg]] recorded a version of the song for his mini-album [[The Internationale (album)|The Internationale]] to this tune. This version, which is probably the best known version in English, uses the lyrics printed below with the exception of the verse beginning "Look round...". Another left-wing musician, [[Robert Wyatt]] recorded the song (with the O Tannenbaum tune) for his album "[[Nothing Can Stop Us]]", although he didn't use the full lyrics [http://www.sound.jp/tknk1/cant/nothing/lyric.html].

In 1920 in "How I wrote The Red Flag" Jim Connell wrote:

:''"Did I think that the song would live? Yes, the last line shows I did: "This song shall be our parting hymn". I hesitated a considerable time over this last line.''
:''I asked myself whether I was not assuming too much. I reflected, however, that in writing the song I gave expression to not only my own best thoughts and feelings, but the best thoughts and feelings of every genuine socialist I knew . . . I decided that the last line should stand."''

There are some alternate versions (for example, "The workers' flag" is sometimes sung in place of "the people's flag", or "beneath its folds" instead of "within its shade"). There are a number of satirical alternatives, such as "[[The People's Flag is Palest Pink]]". The longest-standing satirical tradition is within the [[Liberal Democrats (UK)|Liberal Democrats]] who can often be heard singing variants in the bars at their annual conference. The humour derives from mockery of either the absence of [[socialism]] from the modern Labour Party or of the Lib Dems' own [[Social Democrat]] roots.

===The Red Flag (words by Jim Connell)===
Often only the first verse and chorus are sung.

: ''The people's flag is deepest red,''
: ''It shrouded oft our martyr'd dead''
: ''And ere their limbs grew stiff and cold,''
: ''Their hearts' blood dyed its ev'ry fold.''

:: ''Then raise the scarlet standard high,''
:: ''Beneath its folds we'll live and die,''
:: ''Though cowards flinch and traitors sneer,''
:: ''We'll keep the red flag flying here.''

: ''Look round, the Frenchman loves its blaze,''
: ''The sturdy German chants its praise,''
: ''In Moscow's vaults its hymns are sung,''
: ''Chicago swells the surging throng.''

: ''It waved above our infant might''
: ''When all ahead seemed dark as night;''
: ''It witnessed many a deed and vow,''
: ''We must not change its colour now.''

: ''It well recalls the triumphs past;''
: ''It gives the hope of peace at last:''
: ''The banner bright, the symbol plain,''
: ''Of human right and human gain.''

: ''It suits today the meek and base,''
: ''Whose minds are fixed on pelf and place,''
: ''To cringe before the rich man's frown''
: ''And haul the sacred emblem down.''

: ''With heads uncovered swear we all''
: ''To bear it onward till we fall.''
: ''Come dungeon dark or gallows grim,''
: ''This song shall be our parting hymn.''

==Laws to ban red flags==
During the [[First Red Scare]] in the United States, many [[U.S. state]]s passed laws forbidding the flying of red flags, including [[Minnesota]], [[South Dakota]], and [[Oklahoma]]. Most of these statutes have been repealed by state legislatures, but Oklahoma statute still provides that flying "any red flag or other emblem or banner, indicating disloyalty to the Government of the United States or a belief in anarchy or other political doctrines or beliefs, whose objects are either the disruption or destruction of organized government, or the defiance of the laws of the United States or of the State of Oklahoma" is a felony with a possible 10 year prison sentence and a $1,000 fine. The constitutionality of this statute is in question but has not been tested in the courts to date.

==References in popular culture==
{{unreferenced|date=August 2006}}
*The Canadian alternative Rock band [[Billy Talent]]'s song, ''[[Red Flag (song)|Red Flag]]'', contains lyrics that reference this symbol, and is also the second single on their new album "Billy Talent II".
*In Britain, 'flying the red flag' has been used as a tongue-in-cheek expression for [[menstruation]] - and hence, having 'fallen to the communists'.

==References==
* {{NamedNote|PirateFlags|1}} Pringle, Patrick (1953), 2001 ''Jolly Roger: The Story of the Great Age of Piracy'' Published by W.W. Norton and Company, Inc. ISBN 0-486-41823-5
* {{NamedNote|JacobinFlag|2}} Brink, Jan ten 1899 ''Robespierre and the Red Terror'' Published by Lippincott
* {{NamedNote|Civilwar|3}} Khvostov, Mikhail (1996), 2000 ''The Russian Civil War (1) The Red Army'' Published by Men-At-Arms ISBN ISBN 1-85532-608-6
* [http://www.oscn.net/applications/oscn/deliverdocument.asp?id=69131&hits= Oklahoma Statute 21 O.S. §374]

==See also==
*[[Red star]]
*[[Hammer and sickle]]
*[[Anarchist symbolism#Black flag|Black flag]]
*[[Flag of the Soviet Union]]
*[[Flag of the People's Republic of China]]
*[[Flag of Vietnam]]
*[[Red Ensign]]
*[[Red bloc]]
*[[Communist symbolism]]
*[[Flag of Oklahoma]]
*[[Eureka Flag]]

==External links==
{{commons|Red flag}}

*[http://www.comms.dcu.ie/sheehanh/connell.htm The Red Flag, the song, the man, the monument]




[[Category:International flags]]
[[Category:Socialism]]
[[Category:Communism]]
[[Category:Symbols]]
[[Category:Political party songs]]
[[Category:UK Labour Party]]

Red flag - Revision history

65.255.77.24 at 23:49, 5 January 2007