The current national flag of Belarus was formally adopted on June 7, 1995, following the result of a referendum voted on by the Belarusian people in the previous month. This new design replaced a historical flag that Belarus had used before becoming a Soviet Republic, and again after it regained its independence in 1991. The current flag is a modification of the 1951 flag used while the country was a republic of the Soviet Union. The 1995 flag has been the basis of several flags used by government bodies. A few groups have continued to use the previous flag, though its use in Belarus has been restricted by the government of president Alexander Lukashenko. The 1991 flag is still used in protests against the government. Independent observers have said that the referendum that selected the current flag did not meet democratic standards.

Read the rest of this article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_Belarus

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

3761 BCE: The epoch of the modern Hebrew calendar. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hebrew_calendar)

1571: The Ottoman Empire was decisively defeated by the Christian West for the first time, as a multinational fleet led by Don John of Austria crushed the Turkish navy near the Gulf of Corinth in the Battle of Lepanto. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Lepanto_%281571%29)

1949: The German Democratic Republic was proclaimed in East Berlin. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Germany)

1985: The Mediterranean ocean liner Achille Lauro was hijacked by Palestine Liberation Front terrorists while sailing from Alexandria to Port Said. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Achille_Lauro)

2001: War on Terrorism: The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan began at 16:30 UTC with an aerial bombing campaign targeting Taliban and Al-Qaida forces. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._invasion_of_Afghanistan)

_____________________ Wikiquote of the day:

"The opposite of a correct statement is a false statement. But the opposite of a profound truth may well be another profound truth." -- Niels Bohr (http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Niels_Bohr)