The mysterious ‘Z’ was first spotted a few weeks ago, painted a couple of feet high on sides of military vehicles moving along the Ukraine-Russian border. With pro-Putin politicians, activists and influencers wearing clothes and badges with the white ‘Z’, it has become a symbol of the Russian invasion. ‘Z’ stickers have also been spotted on the backs of cars and commercial vehicles; corporate logos and brand names with Z in their names have highlighted the letter, so have pro-Putin newspapers. A lot of these institutions have created the 'Z' out of a black and orange ribbon, the St. George ribbon, a symbol of the Russian military. Incidentally, when the Soviet Union with its Western allies defeated Nazi Germany, this ribbon was used to signify victory. The ribbon is symbolic of military valour and was used with medals in Tsarist Russia and the Soviet Union.
In 2015, ahead of Victory Day, when the ribbon was placed on pets, motorbikes, cars, shoes, sofas, handbags and even packets of frozen food, the display wasn’t appreciated. At the time, a prominent nationalist MP Vladimir Zhirinovsky, told BBC, "You can't touch religious symbols, you can't put them on consumer goods." It is ironic indeed that today, such a display has raised no objections from Kremlin. In 2014, pro-Russia separatists in Ukraine sported the ribbon.
The letter, however, seems like a newly fashioned symbol. Interestingly, the Russian alphabet does not contain the letter 'Z'. The Kremlin might be behind this ubiquitous show of support—an effort to drum up support for the war.
The US army, while battling the Iraqi invasion in Kuwait, painted their army vehicles with a big white chevron. Hitler famously manipulated the letter 'Z' to make it resemble the Nazi swastika. According to the Russian defence ministry, the letter can be from Za from the Russian phrase Za pobedu or ‘for victory’. At a UNSC session, Ukrainian envoy Sergiy Kysltsya said the Z actually stood for ‘zveri’, Russian for beasts of animals. To this, the Russian envoy Vasily Nebenzya said that Russians had their own opinion of who the animals were.
The letter being used in support of the invasion is from the Latin alphabet. In the Russian alphabet, 'Z' is written as a3. According to the Russian defence ministry’s official Instagram page, other meanings of the letter 'Z' could include ‘Za Mir’ (for Peace), ‘Za Pravdu (for Truth) and ‘Za Rossiyu’ (for Russia).
Other similar fear-inducing war symbols include the six-sided yellow star with the word ‘Jew’ on it, that Jews under the Nazi regime were forced to wear. Another symbol was the red circle, which became the symbol of death. When Japan went to war with the US, young soldiers were made part of Kamikaze, a suicide unit, which consisted of soldiers who were instructed to nose-dive their planes into warships. It was traditional for Kamikaze pilots to wear a white headband with a red circle in the middle.
Another theory swirling is that 'Z' is for ‘ Zapad’ which means West, a reference to forces of the Western military district, a CAN report reads.
Here are some other ways the ‘Z’ has been displayed: Roskomnadzor, Russia's media regulator, which has recently been working to block media critical of the military operation, edited its profile on Telegram to capitalise the ‘Z’ in its name.
A hospice in the Russian city of Kazan encouraged terminally ill children to stand with their mothers and form a 'Z'. The chairman of the charity then took a picture using a drone and posted it on the hospice’s website. Russian gymnast Ivan Kuliak will now face disciplinary action for wearing the ‘Z’ symbol while standing next to his Ukrainian counterpart on the podium after winning a bronze in the parallel bars. Another theory says that Z in a square means the forces are from Crimea. The letter has been seen inside triangles, squares and on its own.