Banderism is simply a extremist stream of Ukrainian nationalism from the first half of the 20th century, based on the cult of Stepan Bandera and the ideology of the faction of the Ukrainian Nationalist Organization (OUN-B) and the Ukrainian Insurgency Army (UPA). It was the formations of this sign that made genocide on the Polish population in Volyn and east Galicia between 1943 and 1945, as confirmed by a resolution of 22 July 2016. The main symbol of flagism is the red-black flag.
Banderism: definition
Banderism is an ideology and political movement derived from the faction of the Ukrainian Nationalist Organization (CNS-B), which mainly operated in the 1940s. It is named after Stepan Bandera, leader of this faction.
Historically, flagism represents an utmost variation Ukrainian integral nationalism: striving for an independent Ukrainian state by all means, including political panic and cultural cleansing, based on the cult of the chief, monoparty and militarism. Historians point to the relation between this ideology and fascism and Nazism of the late 1930s and 1940s.
In the Polish public reception this word functions primarily as a word cult of formations liable for the Volyn massacre and modern glories of Bandera and UPA. The discrimination is important: flagism is simply a narrower and more extremist phenomenon than Ukrainian nationalism as a whole.
Genesis: Ukrainian Nationalism of the 20th Century
The thought foundation of flagism was the doctrine of Ukrainian nationalism formulated by Dmitry Doncov (1883-1973). It combined the cult of strength, eliteism and racist themes, and its aim was to make a united ethnically united Ukrainian state.
At the turn of January and February 1929, a legislature of Ukrainian Nationalists was held in Vienna, where extremist groups united in Organisation of Ukrainian Nationalists (CNS). legislature adopted Doncov's doctrine as the authoritative ideology of the movement. The CNS conducted a conspiracy and terrorist activity in the Second Republic, aimed among others at Polish officials and politicians.
In 1940, the organization divided up. 2 factions emerged:
| OUN-B (Banders, OUN-R "Revolutionary") | Stepan Bandera | radical, ready for physical extermination of the Polish population |
| OUN-M | Andrij Melnyk | more moderate, enemy of Poland, but without support for mass killings of civilians |
It was Bandera that became the core of what we call flagism today.
Who was Stepan Bandera
Stepan Bandera was born on 1 January 1909 in Uhrynów Old, east Galicia, and died on 15 October 1959 in Munich, killed by KGB agent Bohdan Staszynski. From 1929 he was owned by the CNS, and from 1940 he led the OUN-B faction.
On June 30, 1941, in Lviv, the banner community proclaimed the creation of the Ukrainian state. Shortly thereafter, in July 1941, the Germans arrested Bandera and put him in the Sachsenhausen concentration camp, where he stayed until September 1944. The fact that the Germans were imprisoned is utilized present to “clean up” his image, but this does not change the criminal nature of the movement that he was utilizing as his name.
OUN-B and UPA: Volyn crime
In 1942, it was created Ukrainian Povs Dance Army (UPA), armed arm of the bander faction. It was the OUN-B and UPA that carried out the coordinated extermination of the Polish population in Volyn and east Galicia between 1943 and 1945.
According to estimates of Polish researchers, recalled by the Institute of National Memory, the Volynsk crime took about 100 1000 Poles:
| Volyn | 40-60,000. |
| Eastern Gaul | 30-40 thousand. |
| lands of present Poland | at least 4,000. |
The symbolic apogee of execution is July 11, 1943 ("Blood Sunday") erstwhile the Polish population was massacred in about a 100 towns.
Polish Sejm resolution with July 22, 2016 He officially referred to these events as genocide (the votes of 432 MPs, with 10 abstentions, no votes against), and set the day of remembrance on 11 July. Act with June 4, 2025 This day was raised to the rank of state vacation as National Day of Memory of Poles, Victims of Genocide made by the CNS and UPA.
More about the crime itself is written in the satellite text about Volyn massacre (interlink to Pillar "Volyn").
Flagism symbols: red-black flag
The most recognizable flag symbol is Red-black flag: rectangular lobe divided into 2 horizontal stripes, advanced red and lower black.
It was officially adopted at the 2nd large OUN-B Congregation in April 1941, alongside the alleged trizuba. In accepted symbolism:
- red means blood shed in Ukraine,
- black means Ukrainian land.
Historians point out that this explanation refers to the Nazi thought Blut und Boden ("blood and earth"). The flag was part of the authoritative symbolism OUN-B and UPA, as confirmed by the historian IPN Tomasz Bereza. In Poland, it is clearly associated with the Volyn massacre, which is why its public vulnerability raises strong opposition.
Banderism Today: Glorification and Dispute with Poland
Today in Ukraine, Stepan Bandera is worshipped as a national hero and symbol of the conflict for independence. After the Russian invasion in 2022, any Ukrainians give the red-black flag a fresh meaning as a symbol of opposition to Russia, detached from the Volyn context.
From the Polish perspective, specified rehabilitation is unacceptable due to the fact that it concerns the formations liable for genocide. At the same time, 2 cases must be separated: a tough historical policy towards flagism is not the same as hostility towards Ukraine as an ally in conflict with Russia. The criticism of Bandera's cult is to defend historical truth, not replicate Kremlin's narrative, which cynically uses the slogan "denasification" to justify its own aggression.
The dispute besides has a legal dimension. In September 2025, the presidential task (comprised by Karol Nawrocki) of the amendment of the Act on IPN and the Criminal Code, which explicitly prohibits the promotion of OUN-B and UPA ideologies and flag symbols, including the red-black flag, went to the Sejm. The first reading took place on 3 July 2026, and the draft was then stuck on the Sejm committee. The details of the legal position are explained below.
Sources
- Resolution of the Polish Sejm of 22 July 2016 on tribute to victims of genocide by Ukrainian nationalists (M.P. 2016 item 726), isap.sejm.gov.pl
- Institute of National Memory, materials about 11 July and estimates of victims (about 100 thousand: Volyn 40-60 thousand, east Galicia 30-40 thousand, lands of present Poland min. 4 thousand), ipn.gov.pl (access 07.2026)
- Act of 4 June 2025 establishing 11 July National Day of Memory on Poles, Victims of Genocide made by the CNS and UPA (relationship: kontry.pl, tvp.info, 2025)
- jest.pl, a biogram of Stepan Bandery (born 1.01.1909, amended 15.10.1959; OUN 1929 Vienna; divided 1940; proclamation 30.06.1941 Lviv; UPA 1942)
- Wikipedia (pl), Organization of Ukrainian Nationalists and the Red-Black Flag (Congress 1929, acceptance of the flag at the II large OUN-B Congregation, April 1941; symbolism of blood/earth, Blut und Boden)
- rp.pl (history), Tomasz Bereza / IPN: red-black flag in the authoritative symbolism of the CNS-B and UPA (2024-2026)
- rp.pl, draft presidential amendment of the Act on IPN and the Criminal Code prohibiting the symbols of the CNS-B/UPA; Art. 256 KK (referred to the Sejm 29.09.2025, And reading 3.07.2026); commentary by Prof. Piotr Cardas
- Criminal Code, Art. 256 (promotion of totalitarian system, up to 3 years), lexlege.pl / arlege.pl
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