| The red star is a heraldic sign which was a symbol of the Red Army and was present on the flag and Emblem of the USSR and on the flags and emblems of the countries of the Compact of Warsaw. It is one of the elements of the Symbol of Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, the emblem of the Armed Forces of Byelorussia and the People’s liberation army of China, and is a present element on official symbols of some other states and their administrative units. It is also represented on emblems of some sports clubs such as the Red Army and some companies such as Heineken (since the 19th century).
The emblem of the Red Army football club.
In the USSR, it was understood as the unity of the world proletariat of all the five continents of the Earth: the five-points of star equals the five continents on the planet. The red color is the color of proletarian revolution and the bible purification by blood; it should unite all five continents with a uniform aim and a uniform beginning.
The red star was usually called the “Mars star” by the name of the ancient Roman god of war “Mars”. In Soviet tradition, Mars symbolized the protection of peace work. Therefore, it is no coincidence that the red star flies over a planet in the emblem of the USSR. The red star symbolized the freedom of workers from hunger, war, poverty and slavery.
In Western countries, the red star as a symbol of communism was sometimes identified with a pentagram (which, in one of the versions is underlined as a symbol of Satanism) due to the notion about communism as having universal harm. |
