From the Embassy window, I can see a pair of eagles circling above Pristina; I've seen many in the Kosovo countryside, but I think it is rare to see them in an urban environment.
Eagles are revered across the Balkans (and more widely in Central and Eastern Europe). They feature on both the Albanian and Serbia (state) flag, in double-headed form. This set me thinking about the power of symbols in this part of the world.
There is a much-quoted story from the war in Croatia where a ceasefire was called between Croatian forces and Croatian Serb militia. The details of a local truce had been agreed, but the whole ceasefire collapsed over the issue of which flag - Serbian or Croatian - should fly over the local train station.
I can't vouch for the accuracy of the story, but it illustrates the importance given to symbols in this part of the world. Flags are everywhere in Kosovo; people fly them at weddings, when building houses, and on celebrations. And flags cause arguments, too: last week, a man was arrested after allegedly breaking into a Mosque and hanging a Serbian flag from the roof (and then, apparently, shooting at Kosovo police officers).
This was why so much effort was placed into the design of the new Kosovo flag, designed to represent ideals shared by all Kosovo's communities (its colours - blue, yellow and white - represent the European identity of Kosovo), and to alienate none. It is a commendable design, for this reason. But it will be a long time before we see Kosovo Serbs flying the flag. This is not the flag's fault. It's pretty obvious to say, but symbols represent people and views. So when the people are divided, the use of symbols will reflect that. Even the eagle symbol fails to unify; the Albanian eagle is black, the Serbian white. But the flag does represent a noble intention; to create new symbols that can represent everyone. And it is that intention - rather than the symbols themselves - that may mean that, in the future, everyone in Kosovo feels represented by shared symbols.
Posted at 16:29 04 July 2008 by Ruairi O'Connell |
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