Last modified: 2007-04-14 by antónio martins
Keywords: abkhazia | ssra | ccpa | assra | accpa | apsny | hammer and sickle (yellow) |
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The Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia was established on 4 March
1921. On 16 December 1921 was established a kind of alliance with the
SSR of Georgia (namely an alliance, but in fact
Abkhazia was included in Georgia, just Georgia was a member when the
Transcaucasian SFSR was established and later
when the formation of the USSR).
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Jul 2006
As far as I know, no flag was adopted until the first Constitution
was proclaimed, on 1 April 1925.
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Jul 2006
In 1923 Cyrillic script was used to
wrote Abkhazian language, but the
Cyrillic
alphabet used until 1926 was slightly different to the one adopted in 1954
[and used in the flag above], in which the inscription (even with orthographic
mistakes and wrong order of the words) is. Also the word "Autonomous" must not
appear on the flag, as was not included in the official name of the republic
then. This flag, I’m pretty sure, is absolutely fictitious, and
the source, whatever it be, is undoubtedly wrong.
Antonio Gutiérrez, 06 Oct 2006
The first Constitution was proclaimed on 1 April 1925. The flag was
described in article 116 as a red or scarlet cloth with the image
in the upper left corner of a sickle and hammer, and above them a five-pointed
red star edged in gold, and under them four letters in the Abkhazian language:
"S.S.R.A." Proportions 1:2.
(see extract of
the Constitution of 1925 in Russian language).
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Jul 2006
Although the Constitution establishes that the inscription be under
the sickle and hammer, perhaps variants existed with the inscription on the
right side of the hammer and sickle. This model was the central motive for
a stamp issued by the Republic of Abkhazia
in 1999, labeled Flag of the SSR of Abkhazia. Year 1925.
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Jul 2006
The Constitution says:
»…« обрамленной золотой каймой, под которой внизу четыре буквы на абхазском языке «С.С.Р.А».This implies some kind of frame or border (каймой) around the hammer and sickle…?
As in other texts describing flags of the other (soviet) republics, the
border applies only to the star
«красной
пятиконечной
звезды,
обрамленной
золотой каймой»,
i.e., «a red five-pointed star, edged in gold».
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Oct 2006
At that time the inscription on the flag, as established in the
Constitution, was made in the Abkhazian language, written in Cyrillic
script ("ССРА"), but in 1926 a
new
alphabet based on Latin script was introduced (and replaced in 1928 with
another, also based on Latin script). The inscription on the flag, however,
seems not to have been changed.
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Jul 2006
I’m almost sure that those two latin script orthographies (1926’s and
1928’s) used the same acronym for "Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia":
"S.S.R.A.".
António Martins, 06 Oct 2006
(no changes)
The Constitution, as amended on 7 March 1927, just introduced one
change in the article regarding the flag (now numbered 102):
the reference to the Abkhazian language in the inscription was deleted.
(See text in English
and in
Russian.)
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Jul 2006
In spite of this difference in the legal wording, the flag was not changed,
as it legally still reads "ССРА", in cyrillic script.
(The preceeding article, about the coat of arms, still mentions inscriptions
in Abkhaz, Georgian and Russian.)
António Martins, 06 Oct 2006
The English translation may induce a design error based on description: The Russian version (original?) says:
»…« золотой каймой, под которой внизу четыре буквы »…«including nothing that might be interpreted as text on a curved path («a golden swath, inscribed four letters», in English translantion). António Martins, 06 Oct 2006
Right, that’s a wrong translation into English. The text must read
(also referring to the star, see above) (…) «a
golden frame» (…) or (…) «edged in gold» (…).
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Oct 2006
Also wrong. It uses as basis the
Georgian flag of 1937 (in 1928!!), the
inscriptions include the letter for "autonomous" (SSR until 1931), and
finally the
alphabet
used for the Abkhazian inscriptions is the Cyrillic 1954 one, not the
1928 Latin, as expected.
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Oct 2006
In 1931 the contract of alliance was abolished and Abkhazia was
established as autonomous republic of Georgia, and renamed Autonomous
Socialist Soviet Republic of Abkhazia. In article 84 of the
Constitution adopted 7 January 1935 the inscription reads "ASSRA" (see text
in English and in
Russian). Most
probably the Constitution was amended already in 1931, but I’ve
found no evidence.
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Jul 2006
The 1937 Constitution (adopted 2 August) describes the flag in
article 112. The flag is now adapted to the Georgian model,
with inscriptions of just the name of the mother republic
(Georgian SSR) in three languages: Georgian,
Abkhazian and Russian. No reference to the name of the autonomous republic
(Abkhazian ASSR) is made on the text. (See text of the Constitution in
English and in
Russian).
The image of this flag would be with just the three inscriptions (Georgian
SSR) and with the Abkhazian inscription made in the Latin alphabet used at
that time (and probably in second place, and Russian in the third place,
as in the Constitution text?)
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Jul 2006
On 1938 the Abkhazian alphabet was again changed, this time based in
Georgian script. The Abkhazian inscription in the flag was also probably
changed (unfortunately no images of this flag, if existed, are known, at
least by me).
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Jul 2006
This flag, with corrected Abkhazian inscriptions (this time in the
1938 Georgian script) would be the flag used between 1938 and 1951, but
undoubtedly not in 1928.
Antonio Gutiérrez, 06 Oct 2006
On 1951 the Georgian flag was changed and the
Abkhazian flag was changed accordingly, but any local reference was omitted
and the flags of Abkhazia and Georgia were the same for almost 30
years.
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Jul 2006
The new Abkhazian Constitution, adopted 6 June 1978, made a small change to
the flag, described in article 160, including the name of the republic
under the blue square. According to the text of the Constitution and the
Regulations issued on 3 November 1978 and 21 July 1981 with the complete name,
not abreviated, i.e., "Аҧсны
АССР" ("Ap̧sny ASSR"), not "Аҧ.
АССР" ("Ap̧. ASSR"). Transcriptions of these
documents are found in the book of V. Sokolov Veksillologicheskii
spravochnik po flagam Rossiiskoi Imperii i SSSR (2)
[sol02c].
Antonio Gutiérrez, 07 Jul 2006
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