Armenian Flag in Space: A Six-Year-Old Achievement

Recent reports from Azerbaijani media have been buzzing with claims of an Azerbaijani-origin Turkish astronaut displaying Turkish and Azerbaijani flags in space. Against this backdrop of 'space' noise and excitement, it's worth recalling that the flags of Armenia and Yerevan had already been in space for nearly 200 days back in 2017-2018. This information was shared by the newspaper 'Pats'.

In 2017, at a museum in Almaty, it was proudly narrated to us that a flag there had been sent to space at the request of Nursultan Nazarbayev. At that moment, I thought about how wonderful it would be if the flags of Armenia and Yerevan could also appear in space. I held meetings and got acquainted with cosmonaut Oleg Artemyev. During a meeting with Armenia's ambassador in Russia, we handed over the flags to Oleg Germanich, after they were blessed by the Armenian Patriarch. These flags were then waved in space by cosmonauts Oleg Artemyev and Anton Shkaplerov. Notably, the year 2018 coincided with the centenary of the Declaration of the First Republic of Armenia and the 2800th anniversary of Yerevan, and they sent congratulations to the people of Yerevan on the occasion of the city's anniversary via video message,” says Armenian philanthropist Hrachya Poghosyan from St. Petersburg.

Some time later, Anton Shkaplerov visited Armenia and ceremonially presented our country's flag to the Prime Minister. “I hope that this flag is now in one of Armenia's museums, where visitors can learn about its history. The Yerevan flag was handed over a little later to Yerevan’s mayor, Hayk Marutyan,” Poghosyan adds.

Poghosyan emphasized that it is a great honor for Armenia that the flags of Armenia and Yerevan have been flown in space. “Cosmonaut Anton Shkaplerov noted in Armenia that huge nations dream of having their flags in space, but not everyone gets such an opportunity. I am very happy that the flag of our fraternal country made it to space. Such actions, of course, speak to the friendship and close ties between the Armenian and Russian peoples,” he concluded.