Unity and division - National symbols in Macedonia, Belarus, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Russia

With regard to nationalism and symbolic nation-building, there seems to be a crucial difference between old, established and new, insecure states. In the former the flags and other national symbols unite the nation, and in the latter they often fail to fulfil this most important function as promoters of national unity. Instead, they often reveal strong divisions within the putative nation. There are no inherent qualities in state symbols that prevent them from being accepted, and the divisiveness vs. unifying potential of new state symbols is first and foremost a function of who they are associated with and how they are exploited politically. In this article these dynamics are examined in four countries: Macedonia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Belarus and Russia.