Hammer and sickle

an alliance, then a state, then a statute

Unicode: U+262D hammer and sickle
Meaning: The industrial worker’s hammer crossed with the agricultural worker’s sickle: the alliance of the two as a single class.
History: Adopted for the state emblem of Soviet Russia in 1918 and carried onto the flag of the Soviet Union from the early 1920s, from where it passed to communist parties and states worldwide. Since 1991 its legal position has diverged sharply: several countries — among them Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Ukraine and Georgia — restrict or prohibit its display under laws addressing the symbols of totalitarian regimes, while it remains lawful and in ordinary political use elsewhere in Europe, and the European Union has declined to legislate a common position.
Variants: Usually beneath a five-pointed star on state usage; the crossed arrangement itself is stable.
Related: 卍 Ⓐ the other regulated marks; 星 the red star.
Appears: Soviet-era architecture, monuments and documents; the banners of communist parties; and, in the states that restrict it, court records.
Evolution: Emblem of a class alliance → emblem of a state → a mark whose legality now depends on which border you are standing behind.

Sources · 4

documented The adoption of the emblem for the RSFSR in 1918 and its subsequent use on the flag of the USSR.
documented National legislation restricting the display of totalitarian symbols in several central and eastern European states, and the absence of an EU-wide instrument.
documented The Unicode Standard, U+262D HAMMER AND SICKLE.
traditional The attribution of the design to Yevgeny Kamzolkin. Consistently credited and not firmly documented.