Land Forces Day marked by flag handover ceremony at Trakai Castle

Lithuania’s Land Forces Day was celebrated on Thursday with a ceremonial handover of the service’s march flag in the courtyard of Trakai Island Castle, reports BNS.

A new flag, featuring crossed swords and a shield on a green background, was presented to Land Forces commander Brigadier General Nerijus Stankevičius by Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas. The old flag, bearing the Gediminas Columns on a red field, was handed to the commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, General Raimundas Vaikšnoras.

Nearly 400 soldiers from various units had carried the old and new flags on a six-day, 400-kilometre march from Klaipėda to Trakai ahead of the ceremony.

“Today the march ends. But service does not. Because service is not a race from start to finish. Service is a daily choice,” Brigadier General Stankevičius said during the event. He emphasised that the uninterrupted relay of the flags had become a living reminder that Lithuania’s defence relies on its people, their mutual trust, and shared commitment to serve the state.

The Armed Forces previously lacked a dedicated ceremonial march flag. Following nearly a year of evaluation, consultations with historians and heraldry experts, it was decided to transfer the current Land Forces flag to the Armed Forces to standardise military symbolism.

According to the military, the Gediminas Columns are the symbol of the Armed Forces, used in the service badges of the command staff, units directly subordinate to the commander, and many other military units’ insignia, service badges, and flags.

“It is common practice for a military unit’s service badge and its ceremonial march flag to share the same symbolism. Until now, this was not the case for the Land Forces—their service badge and march flag were different. The decision resolves this: from now on, the service badges of both the Lithuanian Armed Forces and the Land Forces will match their respective march flags,” the military stated.