site.btaNational Museum of Military History Deputy Director Kostova: Braila Flag Underpins Bulgaria’s Tricolour

The original Braila flag, widely seen as the prototype for Bulgaria’s tricolour, went on display at the National Museum of Military History in Sofia, Deputy Director Deyana Kostova said in an interview for BTA on Tuesday.

The relic, which rarely leaves the museum’s storage, was put on display specifically for Bulgaria’s National Day. Hundreds of people queued outside the museum to see the exhibit in person.

“As we mark 110 years since the founding of the National Museum of Military History, we chose to honour Bulgaria’s National Day with a special one-day display of a landmark exhibit, the so-called Braila flag, which most researchers consider the prototype of Bulgaria’s tricolour,” Kostova said.

Kostova then spoke about the flag’s history and how it became the model for Bulgaria’s modern national symbol.

“Its story begins 150 years ago, in 1876 in Braila. At the home of emigrant and prominent figure in Bulgaria’s revolutionary exile community Ivan Paraskevov, discussions began on raising funds to make flags for the volunteer detachments that were to join the Russo-Turkish War then being prepared. Paraskevov proposed collecting the money in Braila and said he would personally arrange for a flag to be made. He ordered very expensive materials from Vienna, including three colours of satin silk, metal thread and small natural pearls, and entrusted the work to his 14-year-old daughter, Stiliyana Paraskevova. She spent nearly six months embroidering the flag, hoping it would fly over the future volunteer detachments,” Kostova said.

“Paraskevov did not choose this arrangement of the tricolour by chance," she added. "White is at the top because it begins with B, as does Bulgaria. Bulgaria must always be above everything. Next is green, a reference to the mountains and forests, and to their link with the haiduk bands and the national liberation movement. At the bottom is red, symbolising the blood spilled for our freedom and the strength of a future reborn Bulgaria.”

“With this flag, Paraskevov and his daughter Stiliyana went to Ploiesti, where on May 8, 1877, they presented it to the commander-in-chief of the Russian Danube Army, Grand Duke Nicholas Nikolaevich of Russia, asking him to pass it to one of the volunteer detachments. Two days earlier, the Samara Flag had been presented to the Third Volunteer Detachment. A few days later, a special delegation arrived to consecrate the flag embroidered by Stiliyana, but the ceremony never took place. The flag was not handed to a volunteer detachment, nor were three other flags prepared for the First, Second and Fifth volunteer detachments. For one reason or another, the Russian command did not want Bulgaria’s volunteer units flying a flag different from the Samara Flag, which bore the Russian tricolour,” Kostova said.

She said the Braila flag briefly disappears from the historical record during the war, and its whereabouts remain unclear until it resurfaces in 1879 in a different context. She noted that the Constituent Assembly was convened in Veliko Tarnovo, North Central Bulgaria, where deputies met to draft the country’s founding document, the Tarnovo Constitution.

“At one point, however, they realised they had overlooked something important. As they put it, they had missed the national colours. A serious debate began over what Bulgaria’s national flag should be, and it escalated into a major dispute between Petko Karavelov and Petko Slaveykov about Bulgaria’s original colours, and whether green or red should be included. After several days of arguments, Article 23 of the Tarnovo Constitution was adopted, stating that Bulgaria’s national flag is a tricolour of white, green and red arranged horizontally. Most researchers agree that the prototype was the flag embroidered by Stiliyana Paraskevova. They point to the fact that her future husband, Iliya Valchev, was politically and socially active and often took part in the work of the Constituent Assembly. Some memoirs say he brought the flag into the assembly hall and presented it there; others say he showed it to a group of deputies. Either way, historians agree this flag stands behind one of Bulgaria’s state symbols, and the only one that, despite the country’s long and often turbulent history, has never been changed,” Kostova said.

Asked by BTA why the flag is shown so rarely, Kostova said: “For nearly 150 years, the flag has been exceptionally well preserved, but that requires meticulous care. That is why it is kept in our storage under strictly controlled conditions and, like all silk flags, has limited light exposure. It must be kept in the dark, with tightly regulated temperature and humidity, to preserve its colours and texture. That is why original flags like this are brought out extremely rarely.”

“We at the National Museum of Military History are very glad that interest in this flag is so strong. Since Tuesday morning, there has been a queue outside the museum of people wanting to see it, mostly young people and families with children. Many come carrying a tricolour and stop at the display case with the Braila flag to pay tribute to the prototype of the national flag,” Kostova said.