News:                   

- Blog ! . All commentaries will be published here. [24.10.06]

- The AppleTree.Poem about understanding. [21.09.05]

- To-stemthet. Poem about togetherness. [15.12.04]

- Transforming Ethnic Nationalism - the politics of ethno-nationalistic sentiments in Kosovo published here in full version (205 pages) in PDF format. [31.05.03]

- Is Kosovo Modern Enough? Article written for the JAVA Magazine. [19.04.02]

- Field Research in Conflict Societies - Methodological Problems. Article for the Post-Graduate Student's Year Book 2002. [08.04.02]

- The Potential of the 'Kosovar' Identity in Transforming Ethnic Nationalism in Kosovo. Paper presented at the Popular Culture Association Conference in New Mexico, USA. [14.02.02]

- The concept of Ethnicity, State and Nationalism applied on Kosovo. Written for JAVA in Kosovo. [28.01.02]

- Chapter 1 - Introduction of thesis on "Transforming Ethnic Nationalism" Draft v. 3.1 [22.01.02]

- Transformimi i Nacionalizmit Etnik-Bashkimit Etnik si dhe Mundësia e Paraqitjes së Identitetit 'Kosovar' [Transforming Ethni Nationalism and the Formation and Potential of the 'Kosovar' Identity]. Published in JAVA Magazine in the Albanian dialect 'Gheg' (as spoken in Kosovo) [02.01.02]

-The Norwegian Language Debate. Written for JAVA magazine in Kosovo that promotes the usage of the Northern Albanian 'Gheg' in Kosovo as opposed to the official Albanian language in Albania.

- Dynamic Classification of Ethnic Incorporation. Revitalising Handelmann's table in order to see changes in ethnic incoporation. [17.12.01]

- Transforming Ethnic Nationalism Draft paper (v.2.9) Published for Public Review (17 p). [16.12.01]

- Photos from six months stay in Kosovo working for the OSCE [16.12.01]

- The usage of the Albanian Flag in Kosovo - traces of transformation in ethno-nationalistic sentiments? One of the key points in my thesis. [April 2001]

- Albansk Nasjonalisme og ideen om Stor-Albania: en oppklaring av albansk regional politikk i Serbia, Makedonia og Kosovo [Albanian Nationalism and the idea about 'Greater Albania': analysing the regional albanian politics in Serbia, Macedonia and Kosovo].[April 2001]

We live in a global economy - ATTAC too! Comment about the recent development of the ATTAC movement. [16.04.01]

- Popular Patriotic Songs in Kosovo. Some of the most popular modern songs in Kosovo today translated into english (preliminary translation). [December 2000]

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Personal Web sites are a tool for self-presentation in a world without prescribed social statuses

Maintainance of such a site is an activity of self-indulgement over own personal achievements aiming at gaining social mobility and cultural capital.

The Albanian Flag has a tremendous importance in Kosovo. It is a powerful symbol that all Kosovo-Albanians have attached a lot of meaning and sentiments to. Most of my informants have argued that they would sacrifice personally for the flag. If they would see someone humiliate it, for example by stepping on it, they would feel great humiliation and expressed readiness to take action, even to kill. A particular situation that exemplifies this arose when a Norwegian KFOR soldier in Oblic took the Albanian Flag from a wedding procession and stepped on it. The security situation that arose illustrate the sentiments that was mobilised. The street was immediately blocked by angry people. At the end of the day, the situation was solved by an officer of higher rank that gently folded the flag with respect and according to custom, and handed it in a ceremonial fashion back to the owners. The event was written about in all main Kosovar newspapers, and even in one of the biggest Norwegian dailies (Aftenposten). It is almost certain that the soldier that stepped on the flag would have been injured (or even killed) if he were an unarmed civilian without protection.

Another case illustrates how much respect the international communities have gained for the flag. In the preparation for the municipal elections in October 2000, the OSCE, UNMIK and KFOR discussed their flag policy on election day. The idea was that the Albanian flag, because it represents one ethnical group (Albanians) and thereby excludes minorities, were not to be used on the buildings that were used for polling stations or in a distance of 100 meters from it. A discussion occurred between the parties, of who were going to remove illegally raised flags. The conclusion was that the 1000 International Polling Supervisors that had the responsibility for polling procedures in the polling stations were supposed to remove flags. After Haxhim Thaci (the Leader of PDK) went to the media right three days before election day urging people to put up the Albanian flag on the buildings, and warning about trouble in case they were taken down, the decision was waived the evening before the election day. Because of security reasons, no international personnel should try to remove any flags. The result was that the polling stations were signed with the flag of the ethnic minority in a UN protectorate urging ethnic minorities to participate in state formation and develop tolerance for their political representation.

The Albanian Flag is blood-red in colour with a two-headed black eagle (sqhiponje) in the middle. Like most national flags, the shape is rectangular. The history of the flag is rooted in the history of Albanian opposition to the ottoman Turks in the 14th century, when the heroic Albanian leader Kastrioti Skenderbeg led a 30 year long Albanian revolt against Ottoman control. In medieval times, every clan (consisting of an alliance of families, mostly whole villages or valleys) had a banner .

The legend says that an eagle came and lifted the red banner up from the ground after its bearer had been wounded. Thereby the eagle saved the banner from the humiliation of being left on the ground. The special character of the eagle being two-headed has by an
Albanian ethnographer been traced back to the Hittits, who used a more simple version of an eagle with two heads. It was however, paradoxically also used by the Kingdom of Hungarians, Croats and Serbs and is for example still to be found on the Yugoslav currency 'Dinar' notes. Then again, the eagle is an old Roman state military symbol. It is used by most of the Slav states, as well as others, including the USA. For Kosovo, birds do however, enjoy special symbolism. The battlescene for the famous 1389 battle is for example named after the blackbird. The nightingale is, as we will see, frequently used as a symbol of freedom. The Kukuvajka refers to superstition and is incorporated in an expression used when either mourning (when women is supposed to shout out Koko! in sorrow) or to avoid something evil to happen . It might be possible to say that the birds have symbolic features not very unlik the totemic type. The eagle must be understood as part of this context.

It is of interest to see when and in what circumstances the Albanian flag is used. In the AAK rally there was hundreds of flags, equally divided between AAK flags and the Albanian Flag. While on the demonstration for political prisoners there was only three flags brought by the huge crowd and two put up on the stage. Even more surprising, people did not bring flags when attending the public ceremony on the Flag Day itself. Eight flags were displayed at the stage and only five flags brought by the audience. The two latter ceremonies were held after the election day (October 2000). It seems that flags were used extensively by ordinary participants before the elections. After elections however, the flag lost some of its meaning - the message to be conveyed with the flag (independence) was not anymore connected to a specific event where peoples opinion was important. Therefore people did not bother to bring their flags. The elections had shown that all Albanians were unified when confronted about the claim of independence and self-governance. The message to the world had been clear. In Gellners words, there was congruence between culture and polity. However, in other ceremonies, the flag does not need to be a political message, as it is in a political rally. There are also ceremonies in which the Albanian flag is primarily used for its ethnic connotations.

The Albanian Flag have not always been as it is today. It is, in line with the culture, in constant change. The most recent change was done right after the fall of the Hoxha Communist regime. The communist star above the head of the eagle was removed. This shows how intertwined the flag is with cultural change. The star was imported from the communist ideology introduced in Albania right after World War II. When the ideology it symbolised did not anymore represent the prevailing idea of neither the state and its people, the flag had to be revised to reflect the changes in culture.

What is of particular interest to us, is the increasing awareness at least among the Albanain elite, that Kosovo needs a new flag if it gets it claims for independence acknowledged. The President of LDK, Ibrahim Rugova, presented his suggestion for the new state flag the day after LDK won the municipal elections.

The day after the victory in the municipal elections, the President of LDK, Ibrahim Rugova presents his private suggestion for the new national flag for an independent Kosovo.

It is a widespread opinion that any new state flag for Kosovo must be based upon the Albanian Flag, bearing its red colour and the eagle. Rugovas suggestion incapsulates the Albanian Flag with a circle, leaving the rest of the flag in blue colour. This obviously refers to the EU flag, blue with a circle of stars in the middle. It also bears a banner inscribed 'Dardania', referring to the short-lived kingdom that governed the region before the Ottoman Empire, under which it became an administrative region (vilayet). However, the vice-President of the LDK, Edita Tahiri, does not agree upon the flag and has her own suggestions. She thinks the blue colour is too dominating in Rugovas flag, suggesting only the upper left corner to be used for symbols, leaving the rest of the flag red. The other political fraction, represented by parties sprung out of the former KLA, have made several new institution emblems where the eagle is swapped with the geographical characteristics of the province. This has been developed in cooperation with the OSCE and UNMIK, and now symbols both the KPS and KPC. This is often referred to as another symbolic possibility for a new flag. There is thus an ongoing discourse of how the new flag should look like. As suggestions for a Kosovo flag appears, it is evident that nationalistic sentiments have made an important shift from orientation towards the Albanian state, relying on their symbols of representation, to making its own. In making new symbols of representation, the political elite is actively engaged in both emphasising newly appeared sentiments and slowly also changing the mainstream nationalistic sentiments.

Aasmund Andersen

Copyright, 2001