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Georgia: Flags used during the Rose Revolution (November 2003)

Historical outline
National Movement
Kmara! (კმარა!)
Unidentified flags

See also:

Georgia

Historical outline

The so-called "Rose Revolution" led to the ousting of former President Shevernadze. The revolution started in the beginning of November following elections considered as rigged by the opposition and ended on 22 November with taking over of the Parliament by the opposition and Shevarnadze's resignation. His main opponent, Mikhail Saakashvili, was elected President of Georgia on 4 January 2004.

Ivan Sache, 24 January 2004

National Movement

Flag of National Movement - Image by Željko Heimer, 23 November 2003

The flag with the five crosses has been used for about three years by the opposition coalition led by Mikhail Saakashvili, called National Movement. This flag became the national flag on Georgia on 14 January 2004.

Jaume Ollé & Ivan Sache, 24 January 2004

Kmara!

Flag of Kmara! - Image by Victor Lomantsov, 1 December 2003

The flag of the youth movement Kmara! (That's enough!), here reconstructed from a photo, is a white flag with a white fist on black disc above the name of the movement, კმარა! set in black lowercase Georgian serif letters.

Victor Lomantsov & António Martins, 1 December 2003

The flag of Kmara! is strikingly similar to the flag of Otpor (Resistance), the students' movement that significantly contributed to the fall of Milošević, in Serbia.
A member of Otpor said to the Serbian radio B92 that the Georgian students have been trained by Otpor. The Hungarian daily Nepszabadsag stated that the students of Otpor had themselves been trained by American experts in Hungary.
It was reported that a national flag of Georgia was displayed in December 2004 during the "Orange Revolution" in Ukraine. It was also said that the students' movement Pora was supported by the Georgian movement Kmara!.
[Courrier International, No. 682, 27 November 2003]

There is an important Georgian community in Ukraine, mostly made of students. The Georgian flag was hoisted on a tent neighbouring the tent commemorating the Georgian journalist Georgiy Gongadze. The journalist worked in Ukraine, where he was murdered in 2000. The affair was never elucidated but video tapes implicating former President Kutschma and former Prime Minister Yanukovitch circulated in the country and contributed to the uprising. Demonstrators hold an orange rose, as a symbol of Georgian solidarity with the Ukrainian revolution.
[CafeBabel, 11 February 2005]

Ivan Sache, 6 September 2005

Unidentified flags

Unidentified flag - Image by Ivan Sache, 25 April 2021

A white flag with a black Bolnisi Cross inscribed in a black circle was seen in demonstrations held on the Parliament square in Tbilis, on 22 November 2003 (video, video).

Jaume Ollé & Esteban Rivera, 31 December 2020

Two unidentified flags - Images by Ilya Kartashov, 24 November 2003

Yet another unidentified flag - Image by Ivan Sache, 24 November 2003

These flags, which use the colours of the (then) Georgian national flag, were seen in news reports on Russian channels ORT, RTR and NTV I on 22 and 23 November 2003.

Mikhail Revnivtsev, 24 November 2003

On The World on BBC4 TV on 11 June 2004 there was a long interview with Nino Burjanadze, Speaker of the Georgian Parliament, who was visiting London.
Ms Burjanadze came to notice outside Georgia during the "Rose Revolution" when she acted as President after the resignation of President Shevardnadze. The interview was illustrated with clips from that time. An image shows a yellow flag with a symbol. There was also a white flag being waved vigorously which I'm sure was that of Kmara!, though the logo was on a white background in the centre circle, and not, as we have it, on a black background.

André Coutanche, 15 June 2004