Change of Flag

December 25, 1991 and the Fall of the Soviet Empire

The lowering of the red flag, which fluttered over the Moscow Kremlin for many decades, became the main symbol of the collapse of a great power—the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

Instead of him, on December 25, 1991, at 19:45 Moscow time, the Russian tricolor was raised over the Kremlin. The era of socialism in one-sixth of the globe has ended. The countdown of the history of a new country—the Russian Federation, which became the successor of the Soviet Union—has begun.

Dear readers and subscribers,

The collapse of empires rarely occurs in a single dramatic moment. Rather, state dissolution involves a variety of legal procedures, power transfers, and symbolic gestures that signal to both domestic and international audiences that fundamental change has occurred.

The events of December 25, 1991, provide a demonstration in how symbols function as instruments of political legitimacy during regime transitions.

The Final Day: A Chronological Analysis

Morning: The Birth of a New Political Entity