What Are Common Symbols Of Freedom?
In both American and Russian culture, there is a link between bells and the ideas of democracy and freedom. Most Americans are familiar, of course, with the “Liberty Bell” which was supposedly rung at several significant moments during the founding of the country and the Revolutionary War. The Liberty Bell would further be linked with the idea of freedom when it was used as a symbol of the abolitionist movement. Russian culture also links liberty with the image of bells–particularly, with the bell(s) of the 11th century St. Sophia Cathedral of Novgorod. It was outside of this cathedral in what was then the realm of Rus’ that the ruling council called the “veche” could be called–again, supposedly using the bell–to make decisions regarding communal affairs and even to call rulers to power to protect the city/its outlying area. While this is more myth than fact, the bell is still taken as a symbol for the democratic power of the veche and the liberty embodied by the (presumed) independ
