In spite of a relatively short history as an independent country, Ukraine has a string of national symbols that stress its existence as a full-fledged nation. These symbols have originated (or are said to have originated) in various epochs across the Ukrainian territory, and reflect for a part the multitude of foreign influences and domestic local divisions that today, make the Ukrainian unit.
The symbol that possibly bears the closest bond to the Ukrainian nation, more than any national anthem or flag, is its coat of arms. It is called the “Tryzub” (trident), and is officially referred to as the Sign of the Princely State of Volodymyr I the Great (Kievan Rus’, 10th century). Its peculiar form conceals various meanings, but the most popular are the following. First, it is said to represent the Holy Trinity, core of the Christian faith which permeated in Ukraine in the late ninth century. The second explication relates Ukraine to the multiple raids by Norse explorers and settlers. The trident is then supposed to represent a stylised falcon (central strait) dashing onto its prey.
The blue-yellow flag alludes to the main economic activity that Ukraine has known until deep into the twentieth century, namely, agriculture. The blue represents the skies of the typical Ukrainian continental climate, and the yellow stands for its fructuous harvests. Due to the quality of its meadows and its weather, Ukraine has long been referred to as the ‘breadbasket’ of the Russian Empire and later the Soviet Union.
The blue-yellow combination arose for the first time as the flag of the kingdom of Galicia-Volhynia, used in the 12th century. In modern times, it was used at the Spring of Peoples in 1848, as it was hoisted over the Rathaus of Lviv (then in Austria). Later on, it was official in the Ukrainian People’s Republic (1917-1921), a short-lived state during the Russian Civil War. Finally, it can be noted that in spite of the repudiation of Ukrainian symbols and patriotism under the USSR after the rise to power of Stalin, the flag of the Ukrainian SSR bore the blue colour, alongside the yellow and the Soviet Red.
The national anthem, composed and written in 1862-63, had already been used by some predecessors of the modern Ukrainian state (Ukrainian People’s Republic, West Ukrainian People’s Republic, and Carpatho-Ukraine). It is named ‘Shche ne vmerla Ukraina’(Ще не вмерла Україна), which could be translated as: Ukraine as not perished yet.
If one looks at the lyrics, it is striking how it draws a line between Russians (Great Russians, here referred to as ‘Muscovites’), and the Ukrainian people. It claims, in romantic fashion, its Cossack roots, rising to dispose of the Muscovite scourge:
“Souls and bodies we’ll lay down,
For the call for our freedom,
And we’ll show that we, brothers,
Are of the Cossack nation!”
Image References:
https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukraine#/media/File:Flag_of_Ukraine.svg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/95/Lesser_Coat_of_Arms_of_Ukraine.svg
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ukrainian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic#/media/File:Flag_of_the_Ukrainian_Soviet_Socialist_Republic.svg
European London 
