The Archives State Agency has received a flag from the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising that was long believed to have been lost. The historical relic was donated by Maria Atanasova, a descendant of participants in the revolutionary struggles in Macedonia and the Adrianople region, who had kept the flag safe over the past decades.
The historical artefact will be on display at the Sofia Regional State Archives until Christmas, following the closure of the current exhibition at the end of the month.
The battle flag belonged to the rebel detachment from the village of Zagorichani (present-day Vasileiada, located in northern Greece), which took part in the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising in the summer of 1903.
The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising was an organised revolt against Ottoman rule, launched in August 1903 by the Internal Macedonian-Adrianople Revolutionary Organization (IMARO), with the aim of securing autonomy for the Macedonia and Adrianople regions. The uprising began on August 2 (Ilinden, or St Elijah’s Day) in the then Ottoman region of Macedonia, followed by a related revolt on August 19 (the Feast of the Transfiguration, or Preobrazhenie) in the Adrianople region of Thrace. The insurgents briefly established the Krushevo Republic in Macedonia and the Strandzha Republic in Thrace, but both were crushed by Ottoman forces. The suppression of the uprising triggered a wave of refugees, many of whom fled to Bulgaria. The events hold an important place in the historical memory of both Bulgaria and North Macedonia, although the two countries have different interpretations of the uprising’s character and legacy.
“The flag was used in combat and bears traces of the fighting. It has three bullet holes and was torn on one side,” said Associate Professor Dr. Mihail Gruev, Chairman of the Archives State Agency.
The relic was saved by Maria Atanasova’s grandfather, Petar Markov, who rescued it from a rebel fighter killed in battle, whose name remains unknown for the time being, Associate Professor Gruev added. A photograph was preserved alongside the flag, showing Petar Markov on the left and the rebel fighter from whom he rescued the flag on the right.
The flag was sewn in the late 19th or early 20th century by Maslinka Grancharova, a teacher in Zagorichani and the mother of the flag’s first standard-bearer. It is not known whether the man in the photograph is the same fighter, Associate Professor Gruev explained.
Following the suppression of the uprising, the historical relic was brought to Sofia. The flag was placed above the remains of Gotse Delchev at the Macedonian Cultural Centre in Sofia. During the Second World War, it was returned to Zagorichani, where it was given a ceremonial welcome by the local Bulgarian community. Until recently, the flag was believed to have been lost or even burned in Zagorichani after 1944.
Thanks to Maria Atanasova’s ancestors, the flag was brought to Bulgaria and preserved despite the repressions against activists of the Internal Macedonian Revolutionary Organization, that began after 1944. It was later taken abroad by Atanasova, who continued to safeguard it. Associate Professor Gruev explained that Atanasova had the flag restored in Vienna and placed in a hermetically sealed glass frame to protect it from fading and moth damage.
The Chairman of the Archives State Agency handed the relic over to Yordan Simov, Director of the Sofia Regional State Archives, where it will be kept.
Following the necessary research and other archival procedures, and after renovation work has been completed at the Iliya Gadjev Institute for the History of Bulgarian Emigration to North America in Gotse Delchev (Southwest Bulgaria), the flag will be permanently transferred there, Gruev said.
He added that the historical relic will be on display in Sofia until Christmas, once the current exhibition closes at the end of the month.

Archives State Agency Receives Flag from the Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising, Long Believed to Have Been Lost THE NEWS FROM BULGARIA – NEWS AGENCY 2009-2025 2026-11-10 03:09:00

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