Ukrainian Flags Are on Display All Over Maine. Why? - The New York Times

WALDOBORO, Maine — Clam diggers sojourn Elaine and Ralph Johnston’s hardware store successful the coastal municipality of Waldoboro for shellfish rakes and waders. Since Russia invaded Ukraine, they person besides been capable to prime up a much antithetic item: the Ukrainian flag, sold for $15.99.

Across Maine, the yellowish and bluish banner — yellowish symbolizing the plentiful wheat fields of Ukraine, blue, the entity overhead — flutters from flagpoles. It decorates lobster buoys and barn doors, clapboard houses sprayed with oversea brackish and cabins nestled successful conifer forests.

Unlike successful cities similar New York and Chicago, wherever symbols of Ukrainian pridefulness successful portion bespeak a ample diaspora community, determination are fewer radical of Ukrainian practice successful Maine. But the flag’s wide beingness successful the authorities shows different benignant of solidarity. Mainers similar to accidental theirs is simply a flinty spirit, calved of enduring harsh winters and an arsenic harsh economy.

“People implicit determination are doing a bully occupation warring for their onshore and their survival, and we successful Maine, we similar that,” Ms. Johnston said. “We merchantability flags to radical who consciousness the mode we do.”

In Skowhegan, a municipality successful Maine’s agrarian interior, Tom McCarthy, a contractor who besides runs a Christmas wreath business, called up a emblem shaper whose store is down the road.

“I said, ‘Make maine the biggest Ukrainian emblem you can,’” Mr. McCarthy said. “He did.”

Mr. McCarthy has nary familial transportation to Ukraine, though helium did erstwhile big an speech pupil from neighboring Belarus, which is governed by an authoritarian person aligned with President Vladimir V. Putin of Russia.

“The bulk of radical successful Maine cognize what conflict is, from the pulp woods to the murphy fields, to blueberry patches to lobster waters — we cognize that 1 time you person thing and different time you don’t,” Mr. McCarthy said. “The radical of Ukraine, they’re survivors, too, and putting up their flag, well, that’s a tiny token. But it’s thing I could do.”

Bill Swain, the emblem shaper whom Mr. McCarthy contacted, said helium had needed to Google what the Ukrainian emblem looked similar erstwhile his neighbour called. Mr. Swain typically makes drapes for hotels and flags decorated with a conifer histrion and star, the aged Maine authorities emblem.

The peculiar shadiness of bluish connected the apical fractional of the Ukrainian emblem had to beryllium ordered specially, helium said. It is simply a uncommon azure (Pantone 2935, successful the parlance of the institution considered a colour authority), not the navy bluish (Pantone 281) of the Norwegian and Liberian flags oregon the royal bluish (Pantone 293) of the Dutch and Slovenian flags.

Mr. Swain ordered a batch of cloth successful Pantone 2935. Mr. McCarthy, who bought a five-by- eight-foot emblem from him, told him the Ukrainian awesome would beryllium popular.

Since making his archetypal Ukrainian emblem successful April, Mr. Swain has sold much than 2,000 of them, a faster gait of income than for his American and Maine flags. Orders travel successful from crossed the state — a reminder that flying the Ukrainian emblem is not conscionable a Maine improvement — and helium donates a 4th of the proceeds to a foundation moving successful Ukraine. The oldest emblem shaper astatine his institution is 73. Mr. Swain attaches the grommets himself.

“When you marque a flag, you privation to bash it right,” Mr. Swain said. “When you spot flags that are printed, not sewn similar ours, you tin archer close distant that they’re not going to last.”

Maine is politically divided betwixt its confederate seashore and a immense interior, and it is 1 of 2 states wherever districts formed their electoral assemblage votes separately. In the 2020 statesmanlike election, President Biden took the seashore and erstwhile President Donald J. Trump the interior.

The affinity for Ukraine, though, is bipartisan.

“Ukraine is not a reddish oregon bluish issue, it’s a bluish and yellowish issue,” said Mr. McCarthy, who is simply a Vietnam War-era veteran.

Kimberly Richards, who lives successful Friendship, Maine, is joined to a third-generation lobsterman and paints achromatic cedar buoys successful customized colour combinations. Commercial lobstermen usage bands of colors to separate the buoys floating supra their traps. This year, she has been coating a batch of yellowish and blue, buying the bluish overgarment from the Johnstons’ hardware store successful Waldoboro.

“Pretty overmuch everybody successful Maine, we recognize the injustice that’s going connected implicit determination and we privation to amusement our enactment to the Ukrainian people,” Ms. Richards said.

The household of Ms. Johnston, the hardware store owner, came to the United States from Finland, which was invaded by the Soviet Union aboriginal successful World War II. Ms. Johnston’s grandma arrived successful Maine arsenic a small girl, trading 1 snowy onshore for another.

“We cognize however it feels for the Ukrainians, with Putin acting similar that,” Ms. Johnston said.

Waves of Finns, on with Scots and Swedes, came to Maine to enactment the granite quarries. Other immigrants came to haul timber and provender insubstantial mills connected onshore that has been location to the Wabanaki, a confederation of Indigenous peoples.

Still, lone 4 percent of Maine’s existent colonisation is overseas born, though immigrants from Africa and Asia person arrived successful the authorities successful caller years, galore driven from location by conflict.

Muhidin Libah, an taste Bantu from Somalia, arrived successful Lewiston, Maine, successful 2005 aft having won a visa lottery spot. He helps the state’s astir 2,000 Bantus entree societal services and use their accepted cultivation acumen to a colder climate. (A number colonisation successful Somalia, Bantus were erstwhile enslaved by different taste groups.)

Mr. Libah sees the Ukrainian flags flying from farmhouses arsenic helium drives astir agrarian Maine looking for onshore that tin beryllium cultivated by Bantus.

“The Ukrainian flags successful yards successful Maine, it is bully to spot that support,” Mr. Libah said.

Still, helium noted that portion galore Ukrainians recovered refuge extracurricular their state soon aft the invasion, helium spent 20 years successful a exile campy successful Kenya earlier winning his accidental to emigrate to the United States.

“I deliberation portion of it comes down to radical associating with the whiteness of Ukrainians,” Mr. Libah said. “You privation to assistance idiosyncratic successful occupation who looks similar you. Will they consciousness the aforesaid for an Afghan exile oregon a Bantu refugee?”

Compared with the displaced of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, Ukrainian refugees person been welcomed much rapidly and with wider arms successful Europe and the United States.

Oleg Opalnyk, a Ukrainian native, came to Maine successful 2002 and present owns a contracting and existent property business. There are lone a fewer twelve Ukrainians successful the state, helium estimated. When Russia invaded Ukraine, helium yearned to bash something.

“At first, I wanted to spell to Ukraine and fight,” helium said, “but I realized I could assistance radical much from present than from there.”

Mr. Opalnyk has truthful acold supported 24 Ukrainians who person arrived successful Maine nether a Department of Homeland Security programme that allows for immoderate 100,000 Ukrainians to enactment successful the United States for up to 2 years if they person a fiscal sponsor. Mr. Opalnyk is besides sponsoring different 18 Ukrainians who volition get successful Maine successful the coming weeks, helium said.

Only 1 of the 24 Ukrainians who person arrived truthful acold has gotten support to work, Mr. Opalnyk said, making a sustained invited from the assemblage adjacent much important. Residents of the cities of Lewiston and Auburn, wherever the Ukrainians person settled successful apartments provided by Mr. Opalnyk, person donated clothes, furnishings and food.

“They spot the Ukrainian emblem each implicit here, connected cars and connected buildings, and they consciousness the bully of the radical of Maine,” Mr. Opalnyk said, referring to the caller arrivals. “Americans, and Mainers especially, they person delicate hearts to radical who are suffering.”