Public Radio of Armenia. Armenia celebrates Constitution Day on July 5, which is also marked as the Day of State Symbols – the flag, the coat of arms and the anthem.
The Constitution of the Republic of Armenia was adopted by a national referendum on July 5, 1995 when the citizens of the republic voted for the adoption of the Constitution of independent Armenia, thus expressing the wish to live in a free and democratic state.
Constitution Day is a public holiday for Armenia and its citizens, which marks the creation of a new governmental framework and the beginning of another era for the country, which for over seven decades had been a Soviet satellite.
The Armenian Constitution was amended with a referendum held in December 2015, in which the overwhelming majority of citizens cast their ballot in favor of shifting to a parliamentary form of government.
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Another referendum was scheduled on April 5, but was subsequently canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
On June 20 the National Assembly voted unanimously to pass bill on Constitutional amendments with 89 votes in favor. The two opposition factions – Prosperous Armenia and Bright Armenia – did not participate in the voting.
Under the changes, the judges who have not yet completed a term of office of 12 years will stay in office until completion of this term, while the tenure of the judges who have already served a term of 12 years will be terminated.
The amendments came into force on June 26.
The coat-of-arms of the Republic of Armenia was confirmed on August 23rd 1990 by the Armenian Supreme Counsel. The new modern design is based on the coat-of-arms of the first Republic of Armenia (1918-1920), which originally was designed by architect Aleksandr Tamanyan and painter Hagop Kodjoyan.
In the centre of the shield is Mount Ararat – the symbol of the Armenian nation. On its peak rests Noah’s Ark, which, according to the Bible, came to rest here after the great flood. Surrounding Mount Ararat are symbols of old Armenian dynasties.
At the bottom of the shield are five objects: a broken chain representing our freedom and independence; a sword, which stands for the power and strength of our nation; a bundle of wheat flower, representing the industrious nature of the Armenian people’ a feather pen symbolizing the intellectual and cultural heritage of the Armenian people, and a tricolor ribbon – the flag of the Republic of Armenia.
The Armenian flag has three equal sized horizontal bands: the top stripe is red, the middle one blue and the bottom stripe is orange. The colors on the Armenia flag represent its people.
The official version of color definition is stated in the Constitution of the Republic of Armenia. It says, that red represents the Armenian Highland and people’s struggle for survival, blue symbolizes the will of Armenian people to live under peaceful sky and orange stands for creative talent and hard-working nature of Armenians.