"The survey indicates that a vast majority of the Russians know what the Russian flag looks like, and can describe it correctly (86 percent). A somewhat smaller percentage of the pollees respond with certainty what the Russian Federation's national emblem represents (79 percent)," the pollster says in a report posted on its web site.
On the other hand, 14 percent of the Russians know neither the tune nor the lyrics of their national anthem. A mere 17 percent remember both the music and the lyrics while most (65 percent) can reproduce the tune, but not the words.
By and large, the Russians are quite positive about their national symbols; 73 percent of those surveyed have said they like the flag; 67 percent like the anthem; and 61 percent like the emblem.
With many, Russia's national symbols evoke long-standing associations. Thus, for instance, 8 percent of the respondents have admitted that the tricolor flag brings back to them the memories of upheavals in their country's recent history, specifically the 1991 coup.
Seven percent of the pollees associate the flag with triumphs of Russian athletes at major international sporting events; to 6 percent, the flag reminds of their country's monarchial past; another 3 percent say the tricolor makes them feel patriotic while 9 percent concede that it gives them the feelings of nostalgia for the Soviet era, when the national flag colored red throughout. To most Russians, however, the national flag brings no associations whatsoever, the survey shows.
Three percent of the pollees associate the Russian anthem with events in this country's recent past while 40 percent have no historical associations at all. To twenty-two percent of the interviewees, the sounds of the anthem bring back memories of the Soviet times; 6 percent recall the wartime (World War II); and another 6 percent reminisce about their childhood and adolescence. Four percent of the respondents say the anthem makes them think back to Soviet-era public celebrations and military parades, while 2 percent have associations related to the CPSU (Communist Party of the Soviet Union) and the Youth Communist League; one percent recall political leaders of the Soviet state; and another 1 percent, the space mission of Yuri Gagarin and the world's pioneer astronaut. Sport fans associate the anthem with Russian athletes' achievements in the international sporting arena.
According to Obshchestvennoye Mneniye, 4 percent of those surveyed say the anthem sends chills down their spines and makes them experience an upsurge of patriotic feeling.
An overwhelming majority of the Russians (90 percent) associate the national emblem with the pre-Soviet times. Just 2 percent say the emblem makes them feel proud of being a Russian national.
For this particular survey, Obshchestvennoye Mneniye has interviewed 1,500 adult Russians in 100 urban and rural communities across the nation.
