MOSCOW, August 20, 2009. Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM) presents the information about Russia's state symbols: whether Russians know them, what feelings these symbols evoke, and what Russians are proud of.
Russians know coat of arms of Russia best of all. An overwhelming majority of Russians are correct about what is shown on it (83-86% from 2004 to 2009). It should be noted that more educated Russians (91%) much more often name the components of the coat of arms (86-88% among Russians with secondary and secondary special education and 65% among respondents with elementary level of education).
The knowledge of Russians about the national flag is slightly worse: more than half of Russians are correct to name colors and their arrangement on the flag (54-60% of respondents from 2004 to 2009). About one-third of Russians (32-34%) name correctly only colors. Only every twentieth (5%) point out everything wrong. The younger the respondents are, the better knowledge of flag they have (75% of 18-24-year-old respondents versus 46-65% of older respondents correctly name the colors and their arrangement).
The opinion poll revealed that among the national symbols of Russia respondents know the national anthem worst: over the recent two years more than one-third of Russians (33-40%) name only the first words from it correctly. Virtually the same percentage of Russians report the wrong words from the anthem (34-36%). Younger respondents remember the national anthem better (56% of respondents aged 18-24 versus 24-41% of older Russians).
More than half of Russians (56%) feel admiration and pride when listening to the anthem of the country. In comparison: 52% of respondents have the same feelings when they see the flag and 49% - when they look at the coat of arms of Russia. Liking is evoked by the Russian flag (29%) and the coat of arms (28%), rather than anthem (25%). Only in 14-17% of cases respondents feel indifference when they see national symbols. Irritation and antipathy is reported by 1-2% of respondents. Remarkably, the feelings of Russian towards national symbols have stayed almost the same over the recent three years.
The initiative Russian opinion polls were conducted on June 6-7, 2009. 1600 respondents were interviewed at 140 sampling points in 42 regions of Russia.
The margin of error does not exceed 3.4%.
Could you name the colors of the Russian flag and their arrangement? | ||||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
Colors and arrangement named correctly | 56 | 54 | 58 | 55 | 59 | 60 |
Only colors named correctly | 33 | 33 | 34 | 34 | 32 | 32 |
All is wrong | 5 | 8 | 5 | 7 | 5 | 5 |
Hard to tell | 6 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4 | 3 |
Could you name the colors of the Russian flag and their arrangement? | ||||||
| Total respondents | Age, years | ||||
18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 and above | ||
Colors and arrangement named correctly | 60 | 75 | 64 | 61 | 59 | 46 |
Only colors named correctly | 32 | 21 | 31 | 32 | 34 | 37 |
All is wrong | 5 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 9 |
Hard to tell | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
What are the first words of the national anthem of Russia? (open-ended question, one answer) | ||||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
Correct | 19 | 23 | 34 | 33 | 40 | 39 |
Incorrect | 36 | 43 | 36 | 32 | 36 | 34 |
Hard to tell | 44 | 34 | 30 | 35 | 24 | 26 |
What are the first words of the national anthem of Russia? (open-ended question, one answer) | ||||||
| Total respondents | Age, years | ||||
18-24 | 25-34 | 35-44 | 45-59 | 60 and above | ||
Correct | 39 | 56 | 41 | 46 | 37 | 24 |
Incorrect | 34 | 26 | 33 | 33 | 34 | 44 |
Hard to tell | 26 | 17 | 26 | 22 | 30 | 32 |
Could you tell, what is shown on the coat of arms of Russia? (open-ended question, one answer) | ||||||
| 2004 | 2005 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
Correct | 83 | 83 | 86 | 84 | 85 | 86 |
Incorrect | 8 | 7 | 8 | 7 | 9 | 7 |
Hard to tell | 9 | 9 | 6 | 9 | 6 | 7 |
Could you tell, what is shown on the coat of arms of Russia? (open-ended question, one answer) | |||||
| Total respondents | Education | |||
Elementary, or lower, incomplete secondary education | Secondary (school, technical college) | Secondary special (college) | Incomplete higher (not less than 3 years), higher | ||
Correct | 86 | 65 | 86 | 88 | 91 |
Incorrect | 7 | 17 | 6 | 8 | 4 |
Hard to tell | 7 | 18 | 8 | 4 | 5 |
What do you feel when you see the national symbols of Russia? | ||||||||||||
| National coat of arms | National flag | National anthem | |||||||||
| 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 | 2006 | 2007 | 2008 | 2009 |
Pride, admiration | 47 | 46 | 47 | 49 | 49 | 48 | 52 | 52 | 53 | 53 | 56 | 56 |
Liking | 26 | 23 | 27 | 28 | 26 | 24 | 28 | 29 | 24 | 20 | 25 | 25 |
Indifference, no feelings | 21 | 21 | 21 | 17 | 20 | 18 | 17 | 15 | 17 | 16 | 14 | 14 |
Irritation, skepsis | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 1 | 1 |
Antipathy | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Shame | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Hard to tell | 2 | 6 | 3 | 3 | 2 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 8 | 3 | 3 |
Note: Using materials from the site www.wciom.ru or www.wciom.com, as well as distributed by VCIOM,
the reference to the source (or hyperlink for the electronic media) is obligatory!