Wrong depictions of the Chuvash flag (Russia)

Last modified: 2013-12-09 by zoltán horváth
Keywords: error | acv | sun: 8 rays | star: 8 points (fimbriated) | oak |
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• Federal Arbitration Court version
• The “Aspirant” chart version
• Wrong flag image in government brochure
• Unbased detailed prescription
• The “purple” flag of Chuvashia

• Chuvashia
• Russia

Federal Arbitration Court version

This is often seen in chuvash flag poles: It is like the real flag, but with the central device offset towards the hoist. A closer observation reveals that those are simply normal flags wrapped around the pole by the wind… Too my big surprise however, I found this design depicted as the chuvash flag in an official location: In the main entrance of the Federal Arbitration Court (Федерального Арбитрацический Суд) of Ĉeboksary, a fassade plaque shows the russian coat of arms (including the red shield) between two flag depictions: dexter, the russian tricolor; and sinister, this unusual depiction of the chuvash flag — the normal flag shows in this same position in other federal and local facilities’ fassade plaques…
António Martins, 01 Aug 1999

The “Aspirant” chart version

This flag is listed under number 91 at the chart Flags of Aspirant Peoples [eba94] as: «Chävash’ Jen (Chuvashes) - Central Russia». It is not only purple, but with three eight-pointed stars instead of the three suns.
Ivan Sache, 15 Sep 1999

Wrong flag image in government brochure

In the leaflet The first acquaintance — Cuvashia: on the threshold of the new millenium (by Kanal 5 Plus Advertising Agensy (sic!), publ. Min. of Foreign. Relations of the Chuvash Respublic, ref. I-1916-700-96), an artistic rendering of a Chuvash flag flying against a cloudy sky superimposed on a map of the republic was made using these colors:

Not a big error, the colors — these shades would be in the acceptable range for a real flag (even if not by large…). However, a more careful look would reveal not only wrong proportions in the stripes that make up the oak’s trunk and in the size of the suns (wich also would be acceptable deviations…), but especially the presence of a thinner square between the two central coils! (Can you tell it? Many chuvashians, exposed to that flag almost every day since 1992, didn’t noticed the mistake.)
I suppose that this thinner square is an artifact derived from the use of a rendering of the coat of arms of the Chuvash Republic as clipart to build that flag image. The coa has a thin lining contouring the oak against the shield’s background and the artist simply forgot to erase the remaining isolated part of it inside the two central coils. This theory is also consistent with the incorrect width of the stripes and size of the suns.
António Martins, 15 Sep 1997

I’ve seen this error again and again, in a number of other depictions.
António Martins, 01 Aug 1999

Unbased detailed prescription

In spite of the vague legal description, the Color Code page of the Catalonian Vexillological Association, based on [jtn99a] manages to define this shade as its ID107, aka rM++, aka RGB 64 10 0… (please note that the RGB values given are in precentiles, instead of the usual 0-255 range — that’s the motive for the incorrectely interpreted almost black shade previously hosted here.)
António Martins, 21 Nov 1996, 09 Oct 1999 and 06 Apr 2007