Cossack cross

The Cossack cross (Ukrainian: Козацький хрест, romanized: Kozatskyi khrest) is a type of cross pattée used by Cossacks, the Zaporozhian Army and the Ukrainian Ground Forces.^[1][2][3][4] It is frequently used in Ukraine as a memorial sign to fallen soldiers^[5][6][7][8] and as military awards.^[3][9]

A Cossack cross on the flag of the Poltava region

A Cossack cross on the flag of the Volyn region

It has also been adapted as part of the emblem of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the State Emergency Service of Ukraine, the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and the Security Service of Ukraine, and is depicted on the flags and coat of arms of several Ukrainian regions, districts and cities, like Konotop, Zinkov and Zolotonosha.^[3][10][11] The Memorial to Ukrainians shot at Sandarmokh uses a Cossack cross.^[12][13][8]

As of September during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, Ukrainian forces started to paint a simplified white Cossack cross on their vehicles as an IFF marker designating Ukrainian vehicles from a distance.^[14]

Examples

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  Flag of the Zaporozhian Sich.
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  Historical Cossack flag from 1651 exhibited in the Armémuseum in Stockholm^[15]
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  Emblem of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
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  Emblem of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
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  Security Service of Ukraine Emblem.
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  State Service of Ukraine for Emergencies.
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  The Ukrainian Registered Cossacks.
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  Order of Bohdan Khmelnytsky.
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  Order of Danylo Halytsky.
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  The Badge of Honour.
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  Medal For Supporting the Armed Forces of Ukraine.
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  Flag of Poltava Oblast.
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  Flag of the Bobrovytsia Raion with a Cossack cross under its coat-of-arms
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  Flag of Azov (Russia) with a Cossack cross
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  Flag of Cetinje
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  Coat of arms of Montenegro with three crosses pattée wedge on its regalia
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  Coat of arms of the Rivne Oblast
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  Coat of arms of Konotop
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  Memorial at Sandarmokh.
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  Cossack crosses seen at the Usatove cemetery.
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  Plain Cossack cross.
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  Vehicle marking during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
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  Vehicle marking during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine
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  Soldier of the 17th Tank Brigade painting a cross on a captured tank

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Category:Ukrainian Cossack crosses.

References

1. "У Харкові відкрили "Козацький хрест", присвячений загиблим на Донбасі". Укрінформ - актуальні новини України та світу (in Ukrainian). 3 December 2019. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
2. "Козацький хрест в с.Аврамівка". Катеринівська сільська рада Кіровоградська область, Кропивницький район (in Ukrainian). 10 August 2021. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
3. "ПРЕЗИДЕНТ В СУМАХ ВІДКРИВ КОЗАЦЬКИЙ ХРЕСТ БОРЦЯМ ЗА ВОЛЮ УКРАЇНИ". vpr.sm.gov.ua (in Ukrainian). 22 July 2015. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
4. "Стародавній козацький хрест повернеться в історичний центр Житомира. ВІДЕО". Журнал Житомира (in Ukrainian). 21 August 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
5. . Трибуна (in Ukrainian). Archived from the original on 9 December 2022. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
6. "Naszą siłą jest jedność!". Monitor Wolynski (in Polish). 15 July 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
7. "Memorial cross to defenders of Ukraine unveiled in Kyiv". Religious Information Service of Ukraine. 14 October 2021. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
8. Kozielski, Jan (September 2014). "W Sołowkach przy kamieniu pamięci…" [In Solovki, next to the memorial stone…] (PDF). Dziennik Kijowski (Дзеннік Кійовскі) (in Polish). Vol. 17, no. 480. Kyiv. p. 4. OCLC 749394789.
9. "Волонтерам від військових. Олену Куртяк відзначено нагородою – "Козацький хрест " III ступеню (ВІДЕО)". ВАРТО - Галицькі Новини (in Ukrainian). 19 December 2020. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
10. "Krzemieniec - Karta Dziedzictwa Kulturowego - Teatr NN". Shtetl Routes (in Polish). Retrieved 18 March 2022.
11. В.Г. Кисляк (2010). Україна: герби та прапори (in Ukrainian) (Парламентське вид-во ed.). О.А. Нескоромний. p. 456.
12. "A Cossack Cross in Sandarmokh". A Cossack Cross in Sandarmokh. 6 September 2005. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
13. Coynash, Halya (28 January 2020). "Historian Yury Dmitriev imprisoned in Russia for insisting on Memory of the Soviet Terror and Sandarmokh". Kharkiv Human Rights Protection Group. Retrieved 19 March 2022.
14. "The backstory about the sense of the white cross used by the Ukrainian troops to mark their vehicles during the latest counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region". We Are Ukraine (in Ukrainian). 2022-09-21. Retrieved 2023-01-04.
15. "23 серпня - День державного прапора України: історія23 серпня - День державного прапора України: історія". Новини України - #Букви. 2020-08-23. Retrieved 2023-01-09.