Ukraine Flag, Anthem and Emblem

The Constitution states that the national symbols of Ukraine shall be the National Flag of Ukraine, the National Emblem of Ukraine and the National Anthem of Ukraine. This Ukrainian minisheet commemorates the 20^th Anniversary of the Ukrainian Anthem, Flag, and Emblem. Thank you Julia for this lovely minisheet of stamps. The stamp on the left (2.00) depicts the emblem, the stamp on the right (3.00) shows the Flag and in between them is written the Anthem of Ukraine.

National Flag of Ukraine. The Ukrainian flag consists of two horizontal stripes of equal width. The top is blue, the bottom - yellow. Blue and yellow, the colours of the sky, mountains, streams, and golden fields have symbolized Kyivan Rus' long before the introduction of Christianity. With the acceptance of Christianity, blue and gold were incorporated into church symbolism. After the Mongol-Tatar invasion in the 1200's the use of blue/gold was interrupted, to be revived again in church ornaments and city crests some time later. The emblem of the city of Myrhorod, for example, was a gold trident over a blue background. Another city, Pryluky, used the head of an ox in gold over a blue background as its insignia. And in Lubny, the city emblem pictured a hand holding a golden mace over a blue background. The banners of the Cossacks (17th Century) were blue with gold stars, a gold cross, or with pictures of saints rendered in gold.

National Emblem of Ukraine. The National Emblem is a trident. The first image of a trident appeared in the 1st century AD. When Ihor, Prince of Kyivan Rus' from 912 to 945AD, sent ambassadors to sign a treaty with the Byzantine emperor, they sealed the document with a trident. As the official emblem of the Kyivan princes, the trident was stamped on coins, seals; it was depicted on porcelain and in frescoes. It is thought that the trident represented the division of the world into three spheres: the earthly, the celestial, and the spiritual as well as the union of the three natural elements of air, water and earth. The trident was endorsed as the official emblem of Ukraine; the blue and yellow flag as the national flag of Ukraine by the Supreme Rada in 1992.

National Anthem of Ukraine. Pavlo Chubynsky -a scientist and poet - wrote the lyrics to the anthem of Ukraine in 1862. M. Verbytsky composed the music.

100th Anniversary of Mikhail Yangel

This cover and the stamp on it was issued by Ukraine in honour of one of the greatest missile designers in erstwhile Soviet Union or USSR. Mikhail Kuzmich Yangel (25 October 1911 –. 25 October 1971) was a leading missile designer in the Soviet Union. His career started as an aviation engineer, after graduating from Moscow Aviation Institute in 1937. He worked with famous aircraft designers Nikolai Polikarpov and later, Artem Mikoyan. Then he moved to the field of ballistic missiles, where he first was in charge of guidance systems. As Sergei Korolev’s associate, he set up a rocket propulsion center in Dnipropetrovsk in the Ukraine which later formed the basis of his own OKB-586 design bureau in 1954. At first, Yangel’s facility served to mass-produce and further develop intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) in which area Yangel was a pioneer of storeable hypergolic fuels. His bureau designed the R-12, R-16 and R-36, whose launch vehicle adaptations are known as Cosmos,Tsyklon, Dnepr respectively are still in use today. Yangel narrowly avoided death during the development of the R-16 in the Nedelin catastrophe. Yangel's bureau was part of the General Machine-Building Ministry headed by Sergey Afanasyev.

For his outstanding work, Mikhail Yangel was awarded the Lenin Prize in 1960 and USSR State Prize in 1967. He was also awarded four Orders of Lenin, Order of the October Revolution, and numerous medals. He died in Moscow on 25^th October 1971.

Several notable places were named after Yangel:

A street in the Chertanovo neighborhood in Moscow

A Metro station Ulitsa Akademika Yangelya on the Serpukhovsko-Timiryazevskaya Line (near the above street)

A street in Kiev

One of the two major streets in Baikonur (the other is in honor of his main rival Sergei Korolev)

The crater Yangel on the Moon.

A minor planet 3039 Yangel discovered by Soviet astronomer Lyudmila Zhuravlyova in 1978 is named after him.

Ukraine - The Ukrainian "Michelangelo”

Western Ukraine is the homeland of one of the most profound and intriguing altar sculptors of the 18th century – the famous artist known as Master Johann Pinzel (1751 – 1770s). Master Pinzel, whose real name remains a mystery, is most known as the founder of “Lviv Rococo” style in art and the author of beautiful altars and sculptures he made in Buchach and Horodenka. The famous sculptor, was rightfully named the ‘Ukrainian Da Vinci Code.’ “Mysterious” he is, in a very literal meaning of this word. We do not know where the sculptor was born, where he was trained, to which lands he traveled, where and when he died. We do not even know for sure how to spell correctly his first and middle name. The Polish spelling gives us “Jan Jerzy” (pronounced yan yezhi); the German spelling suggests “Johann Georg.” But if he was of Ukrainian descent he could have been “Ivan.” Pinzel is all we have for certain. And his amazing sculptures which can be seen on the facade of the Cathedral of St Jura (George) in the city of Lviv, in the Museum of the Sacral Arts, in the Art Museum of the city of Ternopil, and in the town of Buchach. We know that Pinzel’s art flourished in the mid-eighteenth century and that he must have died in the 1770s. We know that he decorated with his sculptures churches and city halls in the towns and villages of Monastyryska, Horodenka, Hodovytsya, Pidkamin and Zolochev. We know that he worked mostly in Buchach in the 1740s and 1750s, and spent the final years of his life in Lviv. We know that he created sculpture for the City Hall in Buchach for both Catholic and Orthodox churches.

Pinzel’s works are so original that they do not fit any art trend of the eighteenth century and no other sculptor of his time can be found who would rival the power of his images. They are distant echoes of High Baroque in Pinzel’s works, and at the same time they look like precursors of the twentieth-century art movement of Expressionism. Pinzel produced a series of works of unrivalled virtuosity, completely emancipated from the material in which they were created — plasterwork, stone and wood. Pinzel’s characteristic formula of sculpture can be described as throwing the draperies into a violent turmoil, the complicated and broken involutions of which are not rationally explained by the figure’s real bodily movement but seem paroxysmally informed by the miracle itself. The stamps depicting the paintings of Pinzel, namely ‘Mother of God” and ‘The Angel’ were released in Ukraine to commemorate this great Artist. Michael sent me this FDC.

Ukraine - St. Nickolas

Here is another nice cover, with lovely stamps sent to me by my friend Stan. The postmark of St. Nickolas with the two children is specially designed for just that day, namely 19th December 2010. Thank you Stan.

Ukraine - Zaporozhets

ZAZ Zaporozhets, was a series of subcompact cars designed and built from 1958 at the ZAZ factory in Soviet Ukraine "Zaporizky Avtomobilny Zavod", or Zaporizhian Automobile Factory. Different types of Zaporozhets were produced until 1994. The name Zaporozhets means a Cossack of the Zaporizhian Sich. It can also mean а man from Zaporizhia oblast.

Zaporozhets is still warmly remembered in many ex-USSR countries. Like the Volkswagen Beetle or the East Germany's Trabant. The Zaporozhets was destined to become a "people's car". It was the cheapest Soviet car and so the most affordable to common people. At the same time, it was rather sturdy and well suited to Soviet roads. They were known for good crossing performance on poor roads; better, than bigger Soviet passenger cars. Among the main differences was an air-cooled V-engine of indigenous design, bigger wheels and front suspension on torsion bars. One of the reasons of choosing rearwards-opening doors was easier access for disabled persons. It introduced significant "ears" - air intakes on sides. Also a rear suspension was new.

My friend Stan who sent me the FDC and the card travelled 500 kms to get to the Zavod, I mean factory for the Anniversary celebrations. Actually, he himself created the card and the personal stamps on the cover. Well-done Stan. Keep it up. And many many thanks.

Ukraine – Czernowitz – 70 Years of Regional Autonomy

Czernowitz is a city on the Prut River in western Ukraine. It is the capital of the historic area of Bukovina and of the administrative region (oblast) of Chernivtsi. Chernivtsi is the administrative center of Chernivtsi Oblast (province) in southwestern Ukraine. The city is situated on the upper course of the River Prut, a tributary of the Danube, in the northern part of historic region of Bukovina, which is currently divided between Romania and Ukraine. At the time of the 2001 Ukrainian Census, the population of the city was 240,600.

Together with the city of Lviv, Chernivtsi is viewed at present to be a cultural centers of western Ukraine. The city is also considered one of modern Ukraine's greatest cultural and educational centers. Historically, as a cultural and architectural center, Chernivtsi was even dubbed Little Vienna, Jerusalem upon the Prut, or the European Alexandria. Chernivtsi is currently twinned with seven other cities around the world. The city is also a major point of railway and highway crossings in the region, and houses an international airport. My friend Stan sent me this card on the important occasion of the 70 Years of Regional Autonomy.

Ukraine - Crimea

Stan send me this card from The Cremia. And, just see the lovely stamps on it.

Ukraine - Christmas

Merry Christmas and a Very Happy New Year From Ukraine. Sent to me by my friend Stanislav.

Ukraine

On the left is a miniature sheet displaying folk dresses of Ukraine in very pretty rural settings. On the right is a mini sheet that gives us a nice idea of Ukraine's varied wealth of flora and fauna.