Abstract

This article investigates misconceptions of the famous Reichstag photograph of May 1945, combining archival documents and photographic analysis. The author shows that Evgeny Khaldey’s celebrated image was staged using substitute red flags, while the authentic Victory Flag placed by Mikheil Egorov and Meliton Kantaria during night fighting – unsuited to photography at the time – remains distinct. Tracing wartime photojournalism practices and contemporaneous testimony, the research distinguishes the symbolic value of the photographed “Red Flag” from the historical authenticity of the Victory Flag, and explains how staged images shaped public memory of the Battle of Berlin.