Vladimir Putin's United Russia Party unveils 'straight flag' to rival gay pride symbol
Upset, dismayed and evidently feeling a little left out by the global embrace of the gay pride flag following the US Supreme Court ruling legalising same-sex marriage, Vladimir Putin's United Russia Party has hit back against with their own "straight" flag.
While homosexuality is not illegal in Russia, Mr Putin introduced a law in 2013 that bans symbols which promote "non-traditional" values.
Therefore, in response to the LGBT movement's rainbow flag, the United Russia Party unveiled a banner celebrating the traditional, nuclear Russian family. The flag depicts two parents - a woman and a man - holding hands with three children.
It was unveiled at a party rally in Moscow's Sokolniki park on the Day of Family, Love and Fidelity, an annual country-wide celebration held on July 8. Andrei Lisovenko, deputy head of the United Russia branch in Moscow, told the Izvestia newspaper, "This is our response to same-sex marriage, to this mockery of the concept of the family.
"We have to warn against gay-fever at home and support traditional values in our country. "We are speaking of the traditional family. We mean the average standard Russian family that is ours: mother, father and three children."
The flag was launched alongside the hashtag #realfamily and it comes in three different Russian-coloured backgrounds.
On social media, many were quick to point out that United Russia may have a plagiarism case on their hands, given that the flag of La Manif Pour Tous, a French group against gay marriage, is incredibly similar to the Russian one - the only difference being that United Russia's nuclear family has three children, while the French stopped at just the two kids.
