White-red-white flag

The white-red-white flag (Бел-чырвона-белы сьцяг) is a historic flag used by the Belarusian Democratic Republic in 1918 before Western Belarus was occupied by the Second Polish Republic and Eastern Belarus was occupied by Soviet Union (two years later becoming the Byelorussian Soviet Socialist Republic). The flag was then used by the Belarusian national movement in Western Belarus followed by widespread unofficial use during the German occupation of Belarus between 1941 and 1944, and again after it regained its independence in 1991 until the 1995 referendum. Opposition groups have continued to use this flag, though its display in Belarus has been restricted by the government of Belarus under Alexander Lukashenko, which claims it is linked with Nazi collaboration due to its use by Belarusian collaborators during World War II. The white-red-white flag has been used in protests against the government, most recently the 2020–2021 Belarusian protests, and by the Belarusian diaspora. The design of the flag used between 19 September 1991 and 5 June 1995 had originally been devised by the Belarusian Democratic Republic (March to December 1918). The original person behind the design of the flag is believed to have been Klawdziy Duzh-Dushewski before 1917 and this design is known in Belarusian as the (Бел-чырвона-белы сьцяг; literally "white-red-white flag"). Red and white have traditionally been used in the coat of arms of Lithuania (Пагоня), the state heraldry of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania and also the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth, both of which included lands that are now Belarus. There are several other theories explaining the flag's origin. One theory speaks of an allusion to the name of the country, White Ruthenia. In 1918, the Belarusian People's Republic (BNR) was proclaimed, the symbols of which became the coat of arms ("Pahonia") and the white-red-white flag. On 11 August, the newspaper Svobodnaya Belarus published the first official description of the flag and coat of arms.