On the first day of the year, marking Lithuanian Flag Day, the 107th anniversary of the raising of the Lithuanian state flag on the Gediminas Castle Tower will be commemorated in accordance with long-standing tradition.

Each year, following established custom, the Lithuanian flag solemnly lowered from the Gediminas Tower of the National Museum of Lithuania is entrusted for safekeeping to a Lithuanian school distinguished for its civic education and the fostering of historical memory. In 2025, the Lithuanian state flag that flew on the Gediminas Tower will be entrusted to Vincas Kudirka Gymnasium in Kudirkos Naumiestis.

The flag-handover ceremony for this school will take place on 1 January 2026 at 2 PM in Cathedral Square, by the monument to Gediminas at the foot of Gediminas Hill. During the ceremony, soldiers of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Honour Guard Company will solemnly raise the Lithuanian state flag for the year of 2026 on the Gediminas Tower.

This year, the “Flag for a School” competition was held under updated rules: all residents of the country were invited to vote on the creative submissions submitted by schools. Voting took place on the news portal “Delfi” and attracted as many as 7,228 votes. This demonstrated that the public genuinely cares which school is entrusted with the honourable role of safeguarding Lithuania’s tricolour.

The initiative to entrust the Lithuanian tricolour from the Gediminas Tower to a school for safekeeping began in 2005. The competition is organised by the Ministry of National Defence, the National Museum of Lithuania, and the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport. The aim of the initiative is to honour and encourage schools that actively foster civic values and social engagement among children and young people, and promote interest in Lithuanian history, culture, and the armed forces. Prior to 2005, the flag was entrusted for safekeeping to the collections of the National Museum of Lithuania.

The Lithuanian tricolour was raised on the Gediminas Castle Tower for the first time on 1 January 1919 by a group of Lithuanian volunteers. Although the flag flew only briefly at the time, it became an important symbol of statehood and a sign of unarmed resistance during the years of occupation. During the restoration of Lithuania’s independence, the tricolour united participants of the national revival and the Sąjūdis movement, and on 26 June 1991 its status was enshrined in law by the “Law on the State Flag of Lithuania”.