You have most likely seen the white ‘Z’ symbol on the television, online or in the newspaper at least once. From a gymnast on the podium to terminally ill children at a cancer hospice, Russians are sporting the letter seen on their country’s forces. But what does the symbol mean and why are the Russians using it?
The Russian defence ministry explained on social media last week that the symbol stems from the Russian За победу, which begins with a ‘z’ sound and means “for the victory”. However, people have noted its similarity to the swastika – the symbol used by Nazi Germany in the Second World War – and have begun to nickname the ‘Z’ ‘’Putin’s swastika”.
It was originally thought that the “Z” was a way for Russia’s military to identify its own forces. That would serve the purpose of preventing incidents within war such as friendly fire. However, even if this is to be viewed as correct, the ‘Z’ has become more widely seen and adopted by war supporters. As a result, the military’s PR arm decided to follow suit.
It has also been suggested that the symbols are a way of denoting where the particular forces come from. It has been claimed that the ‘Z’ denotes forces from Russia’s eastern district, while the ‘Z’ inside a square seen on other Russian vehicles means the forces are from Crimea, which was annexed by Russia in 2014.
Other symbols
Different symbols that you may have seen in media coverage of the war are as follows:
‘V’ which is said to denote Russian Marines.
‘O’ which is said to denote Belarussian forces.
‘X’ which is said to denote Kadyrov Chechen forces.
‘A’ which is said to denote special ops.
Additionally, Russian helicopters are stated to be grey while the Ukrainian helicopters are ether pixelated green or blue.
Here are some of the places that you will most likely have seen the ‘Z’ symbol used in support of Russia.
Terminally ill children in the Russian city of Kazan were encouraged to stand outside in the snow with their mothers to form the letter Z to express their support for the invasion. The chairman of the cancer charity that runs the hospice stated that he used a drone to take the photo before posting it on the hospice’s website.
Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak wore the ‘Z’ symbol on the podium after finishing third in the current Paralympic games. He shared the podium with Ukrainian gymnast Illia Kovtun, who finished first and was not impressed by the symbol of the oppression of his people being shown in sport.
Kuliak does not seem to regret his decision at all and as stated on Sky Sports news said that: ‘If there was a second chance and I had a choice whether to go out with a letter ‘Z’ on my chest or not, I would do the same. I saw it on our military and looked at what this symbol means. It turned out to be ‘for victory’ and ‘for peace’. I just wanted to show my position. As an athlete, I will always fight for victory and play for peace.‘
He is refusing to see why wearing the ‘Z’ symbol on international television in the middle of the conflict was so significant and controversial.
You may have also noticed that very recently the symbol has been seen in Russia on people’s cars, on T-shirts, on vans with business logos and even on war supporters’ social media avatars.
The online company Amazon has recently prompted public outrage after they were found to be advertising Russian military-style ‘Z’ symbol clothing on their website. Items which included long-sleeved tops, phone accessories and military green T-shirts bearing the controversial symbol, were selling on the platform for prices ranging from £10 to £15.99. The ads were swiftly removed by Amazon on the morning of Tuesday 7th March.
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