This page is part of © FOTW Flags Of The World website РоссияLast modified: 2021-07-24 by valentin poposki Show Russian Federation / Российская Федерацияimage by António Martins, 21 October 1997
Presentation of RussiaFull name: Russian Federation Description of the flagOn 11th of December, the President’s Order (Ukaz) Nº 2126 gave the following description: State flag of Russia is a rectangular »« with three equal-size horizontal bands: the upper one is white (белый), the middle one — blue (синий), and the lower one is red (красный). Width/length relation equals 2/3.Federal Constitutional Law No 1-FKZ, adopted 25th of December, 2000, assumed the latter as the description of Russian flag. Kirill Marchuk, 04 May 2001 The Russian flag (white-blue-red) was approved as National flag in August 1991 by the Supreme Soviet of RSFSR and was used together with the soviet era flag for a few months until finally adopted by decree of the Congress of People’s Deputies in December 1991. On the 25th of December 2000 the Federal Law On National Flag of Russia was adopted. This document
governs that «National Flag is a rectangular banner, which consists of three equal horizontal stripes: the top one is white, the middle one is blue, the bottom one is red. The width of the flag is related to length as 2 to 3.» Russian national flags normally used in Russia range from the lightest to the darkest shade
(like from argentine blue to british blue), even if in russian light blue is considered a separate color. There are for sure official regulations about the precise shade to be used in national flags used by the government, presidency, armed forces, etc. — but until now I could not find them. All laws state simply "blue" ("siniĭ"). The official ratio is 2:3. It was been changed by Presidential decree Nº 2126 (11 december 1993). In 1991 when Russian tricolor was officially adopted one had 1:2 ratio. National Flag at the London 2012 OlympicsThe protocol manual for the London 2012 Olympics (Flags and Anthems Manual London 2012 [loc12]) provides recommendations for national flag designs. Each NOC was sent an image of the flag, including the PMS
shades, for their approval by LOCOG. Once this was obtained, LOCOG produced a 60 x 90 cm version of the flag for further approval. So, while these specs may not be the official, government, version of each flag, they are certainly what the NOC believed the flag to be. Origin of the flag20th of January 1705 Peter I adopted merchant flag. But this flag was naval ensign since 1693 (without official adoption). Victor Lomantsov, 06 Mar 2001 Although it is mentioned in a lot of (flag)books, it is probably just a myth that the Russian tricolour is derived from the Dutch one during Tsar Peter’s (incognito) visit to the Netherlands in 1697. One of the worlds first flagbooks, compiled by Carel Allard (from Amsterdam) in 1695 [ala95], shows three Russian flags:
More correctly it should be said that the shape of the Dutch flag influenced the Russian one, while the colors were “traditional”. It is to remember that the Dutch ensign, created 1572, was the first marittime flag in the shape of three horizontal stripes, and since then, it got
great popularity. We could say that white, blue and red flags were in used in Russia from about 1667, mainly in the quartered form with a blue cross, while from 1697, after the visit of Peter the Great to Netherlands, the triband design became the preferred one. (Sources: [zig94],
[sto74] and [fow69].) Originally the civil ensign, the tricolour was officially recognized for use on land on 7 May 1883. Under the Bolsheviks, the flag was suppressed. It began to re-surface in 1990, and was officially adopted as the state flag on 21 August 1991, three days after the hardline
attempted coup against (USSR) President Gorbaĉëv. A day later, Russian President Boris Elcin waved the flag from on top of a tank as the coup collapsed. An enormous white-blue-red cloth was paraded through the streets of Moscow and the flag was raised over the building of the Russian Supreme Soviet. On 25 December, it was also hoisted over the Kremlin. The next day, 26 December 1991, the formal legal termination of the USSR and its symbols took place. Smith
[smi75] says that the plain white-blue-red tricolor had been the civil ensign since 1799 and an “alternate civil flag” since 1883 — this owing to the unpopularity of the black-orange-white flag. However, the black-orange-red was not officially abolished, so that Russia had
two civil flags from 1883 to 1914. The white-blue-red is based on the coat of arms of the duchy of Moscow, which is red with Saint George, wearing white armor and a blue cape, riding a white horse, holding a blue shield, defeating the dragon. The rider is said to be St. George from 1730. The dominant colors are in effect red, blue and white. The
white-blue-red flag was used till the fall of Kerenski’s government, in November 1917. The same happened to the two-headed eagle, without the imperial crown. Flag dayNational Holiday "Day of State Flag" in Russia is 22 of august. This holiday was introduced with a decree No 1714 of president B. Eltsin on 20 of august 1994. In 21.8.1991 the national tricolour was firstly raised upon the White House (the building of the Government of Russia). This flag deputies took from the study of deputy minister V. Yaroshenko. In 22.8.1991 it was adopted the decision about official acknowledgement of the tricolour. There were no “flag days” in Russian Empire, USSR, RSFSR or RF before 1994. Supposed color meaningsAll these meanings were invented many years after the adoption the flag. If you have an imagination you can invent thousands of meanings. But officially the colours means nothing. From the ancient times in Russia those three colors had a special symbolic meaning: white is nobility and sincerity; blue is truthfulness, commitment and purity; red stands for bravery, valor
and love. Meaning of the current flag:
In Russia the white color symbolizes generosity and frankness; blue — loyalty, honesty, faultlessness, wisdom; red — courage, magnanimity, love. The Russian tradition may have the following interpretation as well: red color is associated with Russian people, blue — with the Ukrainians, and white — with the Belo Russians. So, the use of these three colors has a long
history in Slavic states, mean the sacred union of the Slavs with a unique cultural heritage of each nation. The colours represent the following:
Alex Shifrin, 11 Jan 2000 Some people
believe that they mean the structure of the world. In russian view: red means the land, blue means sky, and white means hevens. The color of the stripes was then understood according to the ancient explanation of the Universe: on the bottom is a material world, higher are the skies, and the highest is a divine world. Later it began to symbolize a unity of the three Eastern Slavic Nations — Byelorussia, Ukraine and Russia. I seem to recall that the current Russian flag has similar meanings, the white for the White Russians, the blue for the Ukrainians and the red for the Russians of what is now Russia. Flag mourningNow in Russia in mourning the flags flying on half-staff, or two black ribbons added to the hoist. News photo showing the Kremlin dome top flag at half mast. Russian flag museumSee also:
There’s a museum about the Russian flag, in Paris, hosted by the Russian Embassy in France: Musée du Drapeau russe Arnaud Leroy, 19 Jan 2003 Flag related national anthem lyrics proposalThe symbols [flag and coat of arms] are given prominent mention in the words for the revived anthem — the re-established Soviet tune, with new words by the same poet who composed the original nearly 60 years ago. Russia has been without an official anthem since 1991, when the unbreakable union broke up. An arcane tune without lyrics has been used as a stand-in Putin told a new advisory State Council grouping Russia’s regional leaders to decide whether to resurrect the catchy Soviet tune, write words for the current one or compose a new anthem altogether. The source said the Kremlin would send a bill to parliament next week proposing to keep intact the music composed by Alexander Alexandrov in 1943 and personally approved by Soviet dictator Josef Stalin. It will be accompanied by new verses by 87-year-old Sergei Mikhalkov, a beloved children’s poet who wrote the original words in 1943. The Kremlin source quoted the opening lines of the verses Mikhalkov had written for the old tune, making it clear Putin had made up his mind. Its mighty wings spread above usquoted by Lewis Nowitz from the Netscape news site, 30 Nov 2000 The Russian national anthem had no lyrics from 1991 to 2000, the time
period of Russia using the anthem composed by Glinka. Before the change, lyrics were asked to be sent to the Kremlin, an example is what is above. The Kremlin asked for the lyrics to be changed, and took the revision, which does not included any referance to the national symbols. |