Mordovia & Mari El
Mari El Republic Flag
The flag symmetry is obvious. The flags of these two Russian Republics keenly align by geometry and design. They have the same stripes of red, white, and blue - but are inverses with each other. In the center of both flags are cultural emblems at odds by 45 degrees.Culturally the Mordovian and Mari are related as Uralic Peoples. This general group also includes Estonia, Finland, and Hungry. But the Mordovian and Mari languages differ much from each other and their more famous national cousins.
The Mari people amazingly maintained the ancient Marla Faith which existed before the arrival of Christianity. But not all Mari follow their traditional faith, a good percentage have joined the Eastern Orthodox Church.
Mordovia Republic Flag
The Mordovian people are divided as well. The Mordovians are mostly united in faith under the Eastern Orthodox Church but divided by language. The two main dialects of Mordovian are Moksha and Erzya. There is even a Mordovian Language that is considered a mix of Moksha and Erzya. It is called 'Shoksha.'
Furthermore since the Mordovians were ruled by the Islamic Tatar-Mongols, therefore there are Mordovians who converted to Islam. Most live in Tartarstan and have become 'Tatarfied' since they adopted Tartar customs, language and Sunni Islam. In balance to that, there are Mordovians who became totally 'Russified' by adopting Russian customs, language, and Eastern Orthodox Christianity.
Paradoxically the Mari and Mordovians are Russian people and yet not Russian people. They are ancient peoples of Russia and a part of a larger family of Uralic people that includes Hungry and Finland.
The Mari people like a rock maintained the Mari Way, but their western cousins the Mordovians like clay were molded into various fashions by the powers that be and totally abandoned the old polytheistic Mordovian Way. Although Mordovians are united under monotheism they are divided by Islam and Christianity.
Russia Today Video About Mordovia
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