Historian Every Saturday: Andriy Grechylo. Ukrainophobia and Its Symbols (22.02.2025)
A lecture by historian and heraldist Andriy Grechylo (head of the Ukrainian Heraldry Society; the “Historian Every Saturday” series). Key points: Ukrainophobia as both a phenomenon and a political technology, enshrined in a 2023 law; Ukrainian symbols (the flag, the trident, the coat of arms) as targets of Russian information-psychological operations; debunking the myths of the “inverted flag” and the “wrong” symbols; and artificial “political Rusynism” as a separatist technique. A source for the article on Ukrainophobia and the struggle over symbols.
Key moments
- 4:34 Ukrainophobia as an unacknowledged phenomenon; directed against the political nation
- 8:48 Laws on symbols: decommunization 2015, symbols of the invasion 2022, decolonization 2023
- 1:03:21 The "inverted flag" myth: the blue-and-yellow is the symbolism of the UNR, 1917–21
- 1:08:33 Information-psychological operations against the symbols: "the wrong coat of arms/anthem," "the flag was a gift from Mazepa"