Ukraine Flag Wins Symbol of the Year Vote for 2022

January 16, 2023

STANFORD, CA - Affiliates of the Symbolic Systems Program at Stanford University chose the flag of Ukraine as the Symbol of the Year from 2022, in their eleventh annual vote for notable symbols.

Ukraine's flag became a familiar site in the United States and elsewhere around the world following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24th. The flag was flown and displayed by Ukrainians and many others as a show of support for the country and its people, who suffered massive casualties in the ongoing war with Russia over most of the year.

The winning symbol was nominated by fifteen members of the Symbolic Systems community:

Zoe Bogart (B.S., 2007), who wrote: "After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, people around the world protested, and the Ukrainian flag and colors were worn and displayed by millions across the globe. The flag continues to be displayed on public buildings, houses, shops, cars, and clothing in support of the country of Ukraine and its people."
Lester Dorman (B.S., 1996), who wrote: "The most significant symbol of 2022, for all the obvious reasons: 'He will never invade', 'It will be over in 24 hours', 'The whole world will unite against Russia' - none of which materialized. The global economic impact, the threat to a country's right to self-determination, so many critically important impacts of Putin's actions."
Emma Garforth (B.S., 1990), who wrote: "The Russian attack on Ukraine has had worldwide effects in 2022. The Ukrainian resistance and international support are a beacon of hope for the future."
Erik Campano (B.S., 1999), who wrote: "The Russo-Ukranian War escalated in February 2022 with the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This war was consistently the most prominent news story around the world throughout the year. Many organisations and nations showed their support for Ukraine by adopting, and sometimes adapting, some version of the Ukrainian flag, both on and offline."
Jed Rose (B.S., 2002), who wrote: "Ukraine’s national flag with the colors blue and yellow has become a global symbol this year for the unification of people who are supporting their defense of their right to maintain independent sovereignty. The flag has been featured across social media, on lapels/badges for individuals , and lit up colors on buildings to show support."
Roddy Lindsay (B.S., 2007), who wrote: "Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 sparked outrage across the globe. In solidarity with the people of Ukraine, millions of people displayed Ukrainian flags outside their homes and adorned their social media accounts with Ukrainian flag emojis. The blue and yellow flag of Ukraine is now synonymous with bravery, democracy, and defiance."
Troy Schouten (Class of 2024), who wrote: "A rallying cry against imperialism that inspired rare cross-party support, the ubiquitous Ukrainian flag has been a symbol of the world’s opposition to authoritarianism and support for self-determination."
Hussein Kanji (Class of 1998), who wrote: "The flag has turned into a symbol for liberty."
David Albán Hidalgo (B.S., 2017), who wrote: "The unprecedented invasion of Ukraine by Russia has taken the world by storm, changing the geopolitical alignment of the world and affecting all of the West's energy, military and economic policy for the next decade, if not more so."
Mark Lemley (William Neukom Professor of Law and Senior Fellow at the Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research), who wrote: "Flying everywhere, worn on hats and T-shirts, and it's even it's own emoji. A simple symbol of Ukranian resistance to the Russian invasion."
Craig Hughes (Class of 1996), who wrote: "People have been spontaneously decorating every conceivable surface with this symbol this year, where in previous years it was limited to very narrow populations."
Andrés Odio (B.S., 2006), who wrote: "The successful resistance of the Ukrainian people has marked this year, with the Ukrainian flag ever-present especially around Europe."
Dylan Arena (B.S., 2001), who wrote: "Ukraine's response to Russia's invasion in February 2022 surprised and inspired a weary world. The Ukrainian flag has been hung in windows, used as clothing, painted into murals, and projected onto national monuments, making this simple blue and yellow design a powerful symbol of tenacity, resilience, and hope."
Clay Kunz (B.S., 1995), who wrote: "After the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the flag of Ukraine has been used and seen globally as an unambiguous symbol of solidarity with the Ukrainian people."
Jessica Ewing (B.S., 2004), who wrote: "The Ukrainian flag symbolizes many things. Of course, the Russian invasion beginning in February and subsequent land war which has ravaged a nation, but also the vast US and foreign military aid, the millions of refugees, the global response across social media, and the mounting nuclear tensions between superpowers."

One hundred and forty-five alumni/ae, students, faculty, and staff affiliated with the Program cast ballots in a system in which each voter could vote for any nominated symbol as Symbol of the Year, Other Notable Symbol, or neither. All of the program's alums, current students, and faculty/staff were eligible to vote. The ballot stated that the purpose of the vote was "to recognize the important role that symbols play in our world" ("as affiliates of the Symbolic Systems Program").

In addition to the Symbol of the Year, voters also chose 16 other Notable Symbols out of the 30 nominated symbols, which were submitted between December 27th, 2022 and January 1st, 2023, with voting taking place January 7th through the 12th, 2023.. Nominations appeared on the ballot in the words of the nominators. Selection indicated only that the symbol had been significant during the year, rather than an endorsement of any point of view associated with it.

Other Notable Symbols from 2022 chosen by voters for their significance were:

Iranian women cutting their hair- nominated by Eric Zelikman (B.S., 2020), who wrote: "The protests in Iran, sparked by the murder of Mahsa Amini at the hands of the morality police, are creating pressure and hope for change. She was arrested for 'improperly wearing a hijab.'"
Volodymyr Zelenskyy- nominated by Eric Boromisa (B.S., 2008), who wrote: "The standard bearer for Western ideals, freedom and democracy against tyranny and oppression. Bravery personified."
Mahsa Amini - nominated by Webb Phillips (B.S., 2001), who wrote: "Women-led protests have swept Iran since Amini, a 22-year-old Iranian of Kurdish origin, died following her arrest in Tehran for an alleged breach of the country’s dress code."
blue and yellow - nominated by BJ Fogg (Adjunct Professor, School of Medicine, Health & Human Performance), who wrote: "These two colors showed up in so many places in 2022, from fans' faces at FIFA to profile pics on social platforms. When placed together, these two colors conveyed meaning to people around the world. And this all happened in 2022."
#FreeHerFace' solidarity masking - nominated by Todd Davies (Associate Director), who wrote: "In May, Male Afghan journalists began wearing face masks soon after the Taliban ordered female journalists to cover their faces, in a show of solidarity aligned with the hashtag #FreeHerFace."
blank sheets of paper, used in protests - nominated by Andrew Parker (B.S., 2005), who wrote: "When expression is so restricted in authoritarian regimes, protesting using a blank white sheet of paper could land you in jail in 2022. Feels appropriate that saying something using a blank is more powerful than no action at all. Like the difference between zero and null."
"ChatGPT" - nominated by Eric Zelikman (B.S., 2020), who wrote: "ChatGPT has been a buzzword and has made a lot of the popular language model-based tools accessible to a broad audience, getting over a million users in less than a week. This is the first time a machine learning model has gained this level of widespread attention and raises important questions about education, automation, ethics, etc."
President Zelenskyy's olive green casualwear - nominated by Emily Mandelbaum Lowry (B.S., 2002), who wrote: "With the launch of Russia's offensive into Ukraine, President Zelenskyy redefined the image of a wartime president. Using deliberate sartorial choices to align himself with his army of "citizen-soldiers", his look has become synonymous with a leader who is also an every man, striking a sharp contrast to President Putin's expensively tailored suits."
"quiet quitting" - nominated by Emily Mandelbaum Lowry (B.S., 2002), who wrote: "This controversial term has been embraced by both burned out employees who yearn for a work/life balance as well as their leadership frustrated with perceived employee disengagement. With increasing employee turnovers as well as layoffs and the threat of recession, only time will tell how this team emerges (as a call to arms or a loaded insult)."
Germany's World Cup team covering their mouths to protest FIFA's threat to punish players wearing a rainbow in Qatar - nominated by Webb Phillips (B.S., 2001), who wrote: "It was a calculated act of defiance against Fifa, who has warned seven nations, including England and Wales, that they will face sporting sanctions if their captains wear OneLove armbands during matches."
Iran's World Cup team's silence during their national anthem- nominated by Webb Phillipps (B.S., 2001), who wrote: "Not a single member of the Iranian team sang their country’s national anthem . . . . The silence of the team during the anthem was openly reported in reformist Iranian press, which described the first-half performance of the team as a humiliation. The pro-government Fars news agency made no mention of the protest."
Queen Elizabeth II - nominated by Todd Davies (Associate Director), who wrote: "The massive attention given to Queen Elizabeth II, first at her Diamond Jubilee in June, and then following her death in September, illustrated the role that the British Monarch, and Elizabeth in particular, have played as a symbol of Great Britain. In spite of the perks of royalty, living as a symbol is a burden, as Harry and Meghan point out."
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson's daughter looking proudly at her mother- nominated by Emily Mandelbaum Lowry (B.S., 2002), who wrote: "A our first black female US Supreme Court Justice, Ketanji Brown Jackson's confirmation created an historic moment. This image of her daughter looking on as her mother confidently and patiently worked through the confirmation process highlights the present and future of our country."
Ukraine's ‘Russian warship, go f*ck yourself!’ postage stamp - nominated by Webb Phillips (B.S., 2001), who wrote: "Russia's invasion of Ukraine and ongoing war there is the major event of 2022, and this moment perfectly symbolized for the world Ukraine's unexpected resilience and defiance."
empty strollers - nominated by Todd Davies (Associate Director), who wrote: "Empty strollers were used in Ukraine as powerful symbols of Ukrainian children killed in the war with Russia. On March 17th, the city government of Lviv placed 109 empty strollers in Rynok Square -- one for each child killed in the war to that point, according to the authorities there."
Lionel Messi lifting the world cup for Argentina, wearing a bisht - nominated by David Albán Hidalgo (B.S., 2017), who wrote: "'Lionel Messi, regarded as one of the best soccer players of all time, led Argentina to a World Cup victory. However, the moment of sporting glory was overshadowed due to controversy surrounding the Qatari hosts. Qatar's hosting was controversial due to their treatment of migrant workers used to build the stadiums, among other human rights concerns."

The idea for a "Symbol of the Year" was inspired by the many annual "of the year" designations and awards that are put out by various organizations, especially the American Dialect Society's annual "Word of the Year" vote. Stanford's Symbolic Systems Program focuses on human and computational systems that use symbols to communicate and to represent information.

For "Criteria", the ballot stated the following:

"The Symbol of the Year need not be new to 2021, but should have achieved widespread cultural importance during the year. A symbol is both used and understood to represent a concept, object, location, event, or linguistic unit. Types of symbols include the following:

a flag or emblem (e.g. the Olympic flag, the AIDS awareness ribbon, a police badge, a union label)
a costume, garment, or bodily adornment (e.g. a graduation gown, a cowboy hat, the Guy Fawkes mask)
a grapheme, written character, or glyph (e.g. the '+' sign, the lowercase 'e', the Helvetica 'A')
a hand signal or gesture (e.g. the 'A-Okay' sign, a military salute)
an iconic object or animal (e.g. the Statue of Liberty, the black cat)
a symbolic place (e.g. the agora, the Kremlin)
an ideogram (e.g. the peace symbol, the caduceus symbol of commerce)
a logo (e.g. the Red Cross logo, the Apple Inc. logo)
a shape (e.g. the crescent, the upside-down triangle)
a pictogram (e.g. the International Symbol of Access, the Universal Recycling Symbol)
a screen icon (e.g. the magnifying glass/search icon, the trash icon)
an auditory symbol or acoustic signal (e.g. the train whistle, the Intel bongs, the SOS prosign)
a tactile symbol (e.g. a braille character, a TSBVI Standard Tactile Symbol)
a symbolic action or event (e.g. the lighting of a candle, the sun setting)
an iconic photograph or image (e.g. Migrant Mother, Guerrillero Heroico)
a symbolic work or performance (e.g. the Star Spangled Banner, Romeo and Juliet)
a color or pattern (e.g. Navy blue, the Royal Stewart tartan)
a posted sign or signal (e.g. an exit sign, a red light)
an abbreviation or acronym (e.g. 'lbs.', 'USA')
an iconic person or group (e.g. the Pope, the Freedom Riders)
a name or nickname (e.g. 'Betty Crocker', 'Joe the Plumber')
a word, phrase, or morpheme (e.g. 'email', 'Win one for the Gipper!')
a mascot or mythical/imaginary character (e.g. Ronald McDonald, Aphrodite, Yogi Bear)
a token or marker (e.g. a dollar bill, a playing piece in Monopoly, a dial position on a clock)"

"Lots of things can be symbols," said Davies, after the first Symbol of the Year vote, "but relatively few things actually are. Being a symbol is an acquired status, that gets established through use. Symbols can obviously become notable because the things they represent are notable. But we wanted to draw attention to the significance that symbols themselves have, as symbols, beyond what they represent, and to get ourselves and others thinking about the role they play in contemporary life."

Previous Symbols of the Year were:

2012 - the percent sign ("%")
2013 - the equal sign ("=")
2014 - the hands up gesture
2015 - #BlackLivesMatter
2016 - the MAGA hat
2017 - #MeToo
2018 - #MeToo
2019 - "quid pro quo"
2020 - illustrations of the SARS-CoV-2 virus
2021 - the Covid-19 vaccine card