Lithuania's Land Forces mark official day with flag ceremony

VILNIUS - Lithuania's Land Forces marked their official day on Thursday with a ceremonial transfer of military flags at Trakai Island Castle.

Soldiers from various Land Forces units carried the old and new flags nearly 400 kilometres from Klaipeda over six days. During the ceremony, Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas presented the new Land Forces field flag to the force commander, Brigadier General Nerijus Stankevicius.

The new flag features crossed swords and a shield on a green background. The previous Land Forces flag, depicting the yellow Columns of Gediminas on a red background, was handed over to Chief of Defence General Raimundas Vaiksnoras.

"Today the march ends. But the service does not. Because service is not a path from start to finish. Service is a daily choice," Stankevicius said during the formal parade.

He said the continuous chain of the march "became a living reminder that Lithuania's defence relies on people, their mutual trust and a shared determination to serve the state."

The military said the decision to change the flags followed nearly a year of symbolic evaluations and consultations with historians and heraldry specialists aimed at standardising military insignia.

From now on, the service insignia of the Lithuanian Armed Forces and the Land Forces will correspond with their respective field flags.