Carpatho-Rusyn Society

The emblem's left field is divided into 7 horizontal blue and gold alternating stripes representing the seven largest rivers of the land: the Tysa, Teresva, Tereblya, Rika, Borzhava, Latorica and Uzh.

The silver background represents the rich salt mines of the area and the red bear is depicted as the king of the snowy Carpathian Mountains.

In addition to promoting self-awareness of Carpatho-Rusyn identity, the mission of C-RS 'holds in high esteem the continuity of life which connects the living Rusyn culture to its treasured and ancient heritage'.

Through its growing membership, the society promoted opportunities to learn, express, and enjoy the beauty and life affirming values of a living Carpatho-Rusyn heritage.

The Humanitarian Aid Fund was created in 1996 when Carpatho-Rusyn villages in the Transcarpathian oblast of Ukraine experienced an unexpected late fall flood killing 17 and leaving hundreds homeless.

Since 2011, C-RS has supported and offered scholarships to the Studium Carpato-Ruthenorum, an annual international summer school for Rusyn language and culture held at Presov University.

In 2004, C-RS purchased the former St. John the Baptist Byzantine Catholic Cathedral at 915 Dickson Street in Munhall, Pennsylvania and converted it into the Carpatho-Rusyn Cultural and Educational Center.

It was designed in 1903 by Hungarian-born architect Titus de Bobula and was patterned after the Carpatho-Rusyn Greek Catholic Cathedral of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross in Uzhhorod (then Ungvár, Kingdom of Hungary).

Professor Paul Robert Magocsi, the world's foremost authority on Carpatho-Rusyns, gave the keynote address and received the society's highest honor, the Michael Strank Award, named after the Carpatho-Rusyn-American Marine sergeant who helped raise the US flag at the Battle of Iwo Jima.