The flag of the Lithuanian SSR was first adopted by the Lithuanian SSR in 1918, which was a plain red flag. After the Lithuanian SSR was established again in 1940, the flag was a red flag with the national name and a hammer and sickle in the upper canton. The flag in use from 1953 to 1988 was a red flag with the golden hammer and sickle and a gold-bordered red star in its upper canton with a white thin stripe and green thick band on the bottom.
When Lithuanian SSR was established again as a republic of the USSR, it adopted a new national flag on 30 July 1940. The flag was red with the Latin characters LIETUVOS TSR (Lithuanian SSR in the Lithuanian language) in gold sans-serif typeface in the upper canton, and a gold hammer and sickle below the text.[1]
On 15 July 1953, a new flag was adopted. It was modified to meet the new requirements for all flags of the Soviet socialist republics.[1] The top red portion took Шаблон:2/3 of the width and incorporated the mandatory hammer and sickle and red star. The bottom part could be customized by each republic.[1] Lithuania added a narrow white (Шаблон:Frac of the width) and a larger green (Шаблон:1/4 of the width) strips.[2] The green and white stripes thus represented the country's wide fields and forests, which serve the country's agricultural and forestry industries.
