At the start of 2022 most of us would have struggled to identify the Ukrainian flag.
Simple, yet vibrant, its two coloured panels represent cloudless azure skies over fields of golden wheat – the perfect symbol of a proud, independent nation growing in confidence and hope.
But by February 24 last year the Ukrainian state flag had taken on a far wider significance.
It had become a symbol of freedom and defiance for every country in the world.
And we pinned it to our chests and social media profiles to show solidarity with a nation plunged into a war that we prayed would be over by summer.
Twelve months on from the Russian invasion the skies above Ukraine are now grey with smoke and heavy with the sound of gun fire.
And those golden wheat fields are dotted with shell craters and littered with the twisted wreckage of battle.
But while we have taken our flag badges off and changed our profile pictures back to normal the courageous people of Ukraine are still locked in a never-ending nightmare and desperately fighting for their national identity.
So it’s right that the first anniversary of the war has been marked so prominently around the globe.
We need to look back at Ukraine’s year of suffering because it helps us focus on the future.
As President Volodymyr Zelensky said this week, painful war memories “leave deep scars in your heart and soul”.
But, he added: “They remind us of the path we have gone from February to February.
“We have not broken down, we have overcome many ordeals and we will prevail. We will hold to account all those who brought this evil, this war to our land.
“Russia has chosen the path of the murderer. The path of the terrorist. The path of the torturer. The path of the looter.
“There will be state responsibility for the terror committed.”
And hailing their “furious year of invincibility” the remarkable and charismatic leader told his people that victory is achievable THIS year.
Ukraine will never let a white flag fly in the skies above that glorious land.
So it’s time for the world to help them defend the blue and yellow of freedom.
