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ISSN 2223-165X
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Izvestiya SOIGSI |
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DOI: 10.46698/VNC.2026.99.60.014 CHUVASH’S RITUAL FLAG IN A COMPARATIVE HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
Salmin, Anton K.
Izvestia SOIGSI. 2026. Issue 60 (99). P.74-82.
Abstract:
Ethnic history has always remained the most complex of all problems for historical science in the broad sense. Therefore, ethnographers strive to seize every opportunity to find and explain similarities, parallels, and “difficult facts” in the histories of peoples. In this case, the author of this article was interested in a homemade Chuvash ceremonial flag (originally called elem, after Turkification and Tatarization, yalav), rarely encountered in modern research. He hoped that comparisons with existing examples from other peoples would shed at least a ray of light on the topic under discussion. This is the relevance of this article. The aim of the study was to explore the traditions of using a household flag in ritual situations. The time-tested methodology of com-parative historical research was chosen as the scientific basis. The scientific novelty is determined by the existing direct and semantic correspondences between Chuvash patterns and those of the peoples of the Caucasus and the Middle Volga region. It turns out that the ceremonial flag, partic¬ularly among the Chuvash, has become an undeservedly “forgotten” historical and ethnographic problem. Research into this topic has led to the conclusion that the Chuvash had direct historical contacts with the Alan-Ossetians in the Caucasus and the Volga-Don interfluve, and with the Cheremis-Mari, once they had settled in the Middle Volga region. Thus, using this specific exam¬ple, one can trace the migration trail of the Chuvash’s historical ancestors. The mid-20th century saw the greatest number of ceremonial flags recorded among the Chuvash. They were used during pomoch, at weddings, and especially at military service. A richly embroidered women’s head towel, a surpan, was often used in place of a flag. Nowadays, half-forgotten flag rituals are being revived on the wave of neotraditionalism.
Keywords: ritual flag, Chuvash, Eastern Europe, Caucasus, ethnic history.
Language:: Russian
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 For citation:: Salmin, A.K. Chuvash’s ritual flag in a comparative historical perspective // Izvestiya SOIGSI. 2026. Iss. 60 (99). Pp. 74-82. (in Russian). DOI 10.46698/VNC.2026.99.60.014 ← Contents of issue |
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