Ruissa & Serbia the Big & Little Bear

It's interesting to note that the flag of Russia and Serbia are strikingly similar. I have conjoined them in my mind as the Little Bear and Big Bear, kind of like Ursa Major and Ursa Minor. If you take the flag of Serbia and rotate it 180 degrees you will get the flag of Russia, rotate another 180 degrees and it becomes the flag of Serbia. Unless either of them has their coat of arms on it!

FLAG OF SERBIA

FLAG of RUSSIA

Here is the neat part: their cultural coincidences. Both Russia and Serbia are traditionally rooted to the Eastern Orthodox Church of Constantinople. Currently the world calls this place Istanbul. But don't tell that to a fundamentalist Eastern Orthodox Christian. Imagine if the Arabs had invaded Rome and renamed it Islamashad? You can imagine the angst and rivalry some Catholics would retain?

Both Serbia and Russia are Slavs in language and tongue. Although the languages are a little distant. Russians can understand Ukrainian and Belorussian, likewise Serbian is mutually intelligible with Croatian and Bosnian, and to some extent with Bulgarian.

Russia and Serbia were the dominant partner during their Communist phase in the 1900s. Basically the Soviet Union was run by the Russians while Yugoslavia was run by the Serbians. Yugoslavia was Communist-lite, while USSR was Communist-full bodied.

Because of their willingness to experiment with new forms of obtuse 'democratic' governments both nations had frictional relationships with United States and Western Nations. Both were allied with America during the Great Patriotic War. The Little and Greater B ear united to defend the world against Hitler and his buddies, both nations suffered immensely from the Axis Powers of Europe. After WWII the Bears became fierce social rivals with the Western Democracies.

RUSSIAN Coat of Arms

SERBIAN Coat of Arms

After sensibly and honorably surrendering the Cold War, Serbia and Russia had rough transitions to freedom. Unfortunately they both entered into new conflicts with their former underlings: Chechnya and Bosnia. Serbia and Russia had a technological and numeric advantage but Chechnya and Bosnia became the proverbial thorns in their paws, and quite frankly they still are.

Although NATO was primarily directed at the Soviet Union and Communism, it was quite an irony that 'free right wing' Serbia was bombed by 'leftist' NATO during the Bill Clinton Administration. Thus the US has interfered in both modern day Russian and Serbian 'Civil Wars.'

Unlike most European Nations, Russia and Serbia have a history of being dominated by Islamic Society. Russia was first over ruled by the Mongol Empire mostly under Islamic Khans. Who are sometimes called Tartars. There is a big difference between Tartars and Mongols, but the interchange of these terms is not strictly enforced. On the other hand, Serbia was ruled by Islamic Turks in the Ottoman Empire from the 1500s until the 1800s.

FLAG OF RUSSIA
with coat of Arms

Both Serbia and Russia get a lot of negative press in the US Media, no matter what they do. They see m to always be portrayed as the as bad guys. Even the Nazis got some good

positive press, Tom Cruise recently made an odd movie

about the 'good Nazis' in Valkyrie in 2008. Perhaps someday Hollywood will have to make a movie about the happy good Serbian and friendly Russian Communist?

FLAG OF SERBIA with coat of Arms

So when the Russians planted their flag at the bottom (or rather top) of the North Pole under the Arctic Ocean, I was informed by my Serbian Neighb or that it was actually an upside down Serbian Flag!

Link to 20 part series about Flag Symmetry with Russian Flags (on this BLOG)
zebratigerfish.blogspot.com/2010/12/russian-fraternal-twin-flags.html