Bans on communist symbols

Communist symbols have been banned, in part or in whole, by a number of the world's countries. As part of a broader process of decommunization, these bans have mostly been proposed or implemented in countries that belonged to the Eastern Bloc during the Cold War, including some post-Soviet states. In some countries, the bans also extend to prohibit the propagation of communism in any form, with varying punishments applied to violators. Though the bans imposed by these countries nominally target the communist ideology, they may be accompanied by popular anti-leftist sentiment and therefore a de facto ban on all leftist philosophies, such as socialism, while not explicitly passing legislation to ban them.

Summary table

General bans

Czech Republic

In 1991, in Czechoslovakia, the criminal code was amended with w § 260, which banned propaganda of movements which aimed at suppressing human rights and freedoms. This applied to any ideology, for example Nazi or neo-fascist groups. But the specific mention of communism was not included, so the communist symbols were not outright banned. However, in 2005 there was a petition in the Czech Republic to ban the promotion of communism, and in 2007 there was a proposed amendment to the law to ban communist symbols. Both attempts initially failed, but in July 2025, President Petr Pavel signed a law that would amend section 403 of the criminal code, criminalizing the promotion of communist ideology in the same law as Nazi propaganda, with punishments ranging from 1 to 5 years in prison. It came into force on 1 January 2026, with exceptions for educational, scientific or artistic uses.