Hnutí DUHA was founded in 1989 by a group of students from Brno, Czechoslovakia shortly before the end of Communist rule, and officially registered as a non-governmental organization on 28 September 1990 under the name Hnutí Duha - Přátelé Země Česká republika ("The Rainbow Movement - Friends of the Earth Czech Republic"). Since then it has grown into a large organization, eclipsing the other environmental movements (such as Greenpeace) in the country. Among the most well-known members are Vojtěch Kotecký and two of the founders: Jan Beránek and Jakub Patočka. Several members of Hnutí DUHA have become prominent members of the Czech Green Party but the movement is nominally independent of political parties.