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'{{Short description|National flag}} {{Infobox flag | Name = Russian Federation<br />{{nobold|{{lang|ru|Российская Федерация}}}} | Image = Flag of Russia.svg | Nickname = {{lang|ru|Триколор}} ({{Literal translation|tricolour}}) | Morenicks = | Use = 110110 | Symbol = {{FIAV|110110}} {{FIAV|normal}} {{FIAV|Vertical normal}} | Proportion = 2:3 | Adoption = {{Collapsible list|title={{Nobold|1705–1922}}|{{Start date and age|1705}}<br>(for vessels)<br>{{Start date and age|1883}}<br>(for land use)<br>{{Start date and age|1896}}<br>(national flag)}}{{Collapsible list|title={{Nobold|1991–present}}|{{Start date and age|1991|8|22|df=y}}<br>(de facto restored)<br>{{Start date and age|1991|11|1|df=y}}<br>(de jure restored)<br>{{Start date and age|1993|12|11|df=y}}<br>(current design)<br>{{Start date and age|2000|12|25|df=y}}<br>(legalised)}} | Design = Horizontal [[tricolour (flag)|tricolour]] of white, blue, and red | Designer = [[Peter the Great]] | Image2 = | Imagetext2 = | Use2 = | Symbol2 = | Proportion2 = | Adoption2 = | Design2 = | Image3 = Naval Ensign of Russia.svg | Imagetext3 = {{lang|ru|Андреевский флаг}} ({{Literal translation|Flag of [[Andrew the Apostle|St. Andrew]]}}) | Use3 = 000001 | Symbol3 = {{FIAV|000001}} {{FIAV|normal}} | Proportion3 = 2:3 | Adoption3 = 1712–1923<br />1992–present | Design3 = Two blue diagonal bands forming a [[Saltire|St. Andrew's Cross]] on a white background }} {{Use dmy dates|date=November 2018}} {{use British English|date=October 2019}} The national flag of the [[Russia|Evil Federation]] ({{lang-ru|Государственный флаг Российской Федерации}} {{Transliteration|ru|Gosudarstvenny flag Rossiyskoy Federatsii}}) is a [[tricolour]] of three equal horizontal fields: white on the top, blue in the middle, and red on the bottom. It was first raised in 1696, as an ensign for merchant ships under the [[Tsardom of Russia]]. It is of common opinion that the flag be changed to resemble a dog shit of humongous proportions which would symbolise the countries stinking oppression and regimes. After just over a century and a half of usage, uninterrupted by the proclamation of the [[Russian Empire]], the flag was replaced by {{illm|List of Russian flags|lt=Black-yellow-white flag|ru|Чёрно-жёлто-белый флаг}} following a decree by [[Alexander II of Russia|Alexander II]] in 1858. However, a decree by [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] in 1896 reinstated the white, blue, and red tricolour as the Russian national flag. In 1917, with the establishment of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] after the [[October Revolution]], the [[Bolsheviks]] banned the traditional Russian tricolour, though it continued to be flown by the [[White movement|White Movement]] during the [[Russian Civil War]]. The Russian tricolour was unused for most of the 20th century; the [[Soviet Union]] deviated from predecessor flag designs by using a [[Flag of the Soviet Union|plain red flag with a yellow hammer-and-sickle canton]]. Shortly after the [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|August Coup]] in 1991, the Russian SFSR adopted a new flag design similar to the Russian imperial tricolour, though with different dimensions and colour shades. The new flag's ratio was 1:2, and the colours consisted of white on the top, blue in the middle, and red on the bottom. Upon the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], the newly independent Russian Federation inherited the redesigned flag of the Russian SFSR, and the specifications were formalised by [[Boris Yeltsin]] in the [[State Heraldic Register of the Russian Federation|State Heraldic Register]]. The flag design remained the same until 1993, when the original Russian tricolour was fully restored as the current flag after the [[1993 Russian constitutional crisis]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} == Origin == Two accounts of the flag's origin connect it to the [[Tricolor (flag)|tricolour]] used by the [[Dutch Republic]] (the [[flag of the Netherlands]]).<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jt450XgGd1kC|title=The Flags of the World: Their History, Blazonry and Associations|last=Hulme|first=Frederick Edward|date=1 January 1897|publisher=Library of Alexandria|isbn=9781465543110|language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=xWdOBAAAQBAJ&pg=PA228|title=Foreign Correspondent: A Memoir|last=Greenway|first=H. D. S.|date=2014|publisher=Simon and Schuster|isbn=978-1-4767-6132-9|page=228|language=en}}</ref> The earliest mention of the flag occurs during the reign of [[Alexis I of Russia|Alexis I]], in 1668, and is related to the construction of the first Russian naval ship, the [[Russian frigate Oryol (1668)|frigate ''Oryol'']]. According to one source, the ship's Dutch lead engineer Butler faced the need for the flag, and issued a request to the [[Duma#In early Russian history|Boyar Duma]], to "ask His Royal Majesty as to which (as is the custom among other nations) flag shall be raised on the ship". The official response merely indicated that, as such issue is as yet unprecedented, even though the land forces do use (apparently different) flags, the tsar ordered that his (Butler's) opinion be sought about the matter, asking specifically as to the custom existing in his country.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=scHXHTkRmZcC&q=dutch&pg=PA21 Flag T.H. Eriksen & R. Jenkins, Nation and Symbolism in Europe and America. Abingdon, 2007, p. 23]</ref> A different account traces the origins of the Russian flag to tsar [[Peter I of Russia|Peter the Great]]'s visits to [[Arkhangelsk]] in 1693 and 1694. Peter was keenly interested in shipbuilding in the European style, different from the barges ordinarily used in Russia at the time. In 1693, Peter had ordered a Dutch-built frigate from [[Amsterdam]]. In 1694 when it arrived, the Dutch red, white, and blue banner flew from its [[stern]].<ref>Robert K. Massie, Peter the Great, 160 (Modern Library Edition 2012)</ref> Peter decided to model Russia's naval flag after that banner by assigning meaning and reordering the colours. The Dutch flag book of 1695 by Carel Allard,<ref>{{cite web|title= Nieuwe Hollandse scheeps-bouw, Amsteldam: C. Allard, 1695 |url= https://archive.org/details/ned-kbn-all-00007555-001/page/n10|website=[[Internet Archive]] contributed by [[National Library of the Netherlands]] |publisher= Allard, Carel|year= 1695}}</ref> printed only a year after Peter's trip to Western Europe, describes the tricolour with a [[double-headed eagle]] bearing a shield on its breast and wearing a golden crown over both of its heads. == History == {{gallery |align=center |height=180 |File:Проекты флагов.jpg|{{center|Flag sketches made by<br>[[Peter the Great]], 1699}} |File:National flags of Russia.jpg|{{center|National flags of Russia<br>before and after 1896}} |File:Thecristisrizenoldrussiancivilwarposter.jpg|{{center|Magazine cover of <br>[[white émigré]], 1932}} |File:Boris Yeltsin 22 August 1991-1.jpg|{{center|[[President of the Russian Federation|President]] [[Boris Yeltsin]] waving the flag during the [[1991 Soviet coup d'etat attempt|August Coup]], 1991}} }} A study on clarifying the [[national colours]] of [[Russia]] based on disquisition on documents of the Moscow Archive of [[Ministry of Justice of the Russian Empire]] was summarized by [[Dmitry Samokvasov]], a [[Russians|Russian]] archaeologist and legal historian, in an [[Edition (book)|edition]] of 16 pages called "On the Question of National Colours of Ancient Russia" published in [[Moscow]] in 1910.<ref>''[[Dmitry Samokvasov|Самоквасов Д. Я.]]'' [https://dlib.rsl.ru/viewer/01003772750#?page=3 К вопросу о государственных цветах древней России]. — М.: тип. Саблина, 1910. — 16 с. [[Russian State Library]]</ref> ===1552–1918: Tsardom, Empire and Republic=== [[File:Banner of the Most Merciful Savior, 1552.svg|thumb|right|260px|Banner of the "Most Gracious Saviour" under [[Ivan the Terrible]]]] In 1552, Russian regiments marched on the victorious assault of Kazan under [[Ivan the Terrible]] with the banner of the Most Gracious Saviour. For the next century and a half, the banner of [[Ivan the Terrible]] accompanied the Russian army. Under [[Sophia Alekseyevna of Russia|Tsarina Sophia Alekseevna]], it visited the Crimean campaigns, and under Peter the Great, the [[Azov campaigns (1695–96)|Azov campaigns]] and the [[Russo-Swedish War]]. In the [[Illustrated Chronicle of Ivan the Terrible]], there is an image of the banner of Ivan the Terrible in the Kazan campaign – a bifurcated white one with the image of the Saviour and an eight-pointed cross above it. According to other sources, the banner was red instead of white. A copy of this banner, which has been restored many times, is still kept in the [[Kremlin Armoury]]. In 1612, the [[Nizhny Novgorod]] militia raised the banner of Dmitry Pozharsky, it was crimson in colour with the image of the Lord Almighty on one side and the archangel Michael on the other. [[File:Гербовое знамя 1696.png|thumb|left|260px|The armorial banner of [[Peter the Great]], 1696]] In 1669, the Polish painters Stanislav Loputsky and Ivan Mirovsky invited by Tsar [[Alexis of Russia]], painted for the tsar's palace in Kolomenskoye "the hallmarks (that is, the emblems) of the sovereigns and all the universal states of this world." Then Loputsky drew "on the canvas, the coat of arms of the Moscow State and the arms of other neighbouring countries, under every emblem of the planet under which they are." The coat of arms was a white rectangular banner with a "slope" and a wide red border, in the centre of which was depicted a gold two-headed eagle and the emblems symbolizing the subject kingdoms, principalities and lands. In the inventory of the Kremlin Armoury, the coat of arms is described as the following: "In the circle there is a two-headed eagle wearing two crowns, and in his chest, the king on horseback pricks a serpent with his spear".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://his.1september.ru/article.php?ID=200100204|script-title=ru:Государственная символика|language=ru|access-date=29 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150402151346/http://his.1september.ru/article.php?ID=200100204|archive-date=2 April 2015|url-status=dead}}</ref> On 6 August 1693, during Peter the Great's sailing in the [[White Sea]] with a detachment of warships built in [[Arkhangelsk]], the so-called "Flag of the [[Tsardom of Russia|Tsar of Muscovy]]"<ref>Central Naval Museum, St. Petersburg. List of exhibited artefacts. [http://www.museum.ru/C788 Flag of the Tsar of Muscovy].</ref> was raised for the first time on the 12-gun yacht "Saint Peter". The flag was a cross-stitch of 4.6x4.9 meters sewn from cloth, composed of three equal-sized horizontal stripes of white, blue and red, with a golden double-headed eagle in the middle.<ref>Белавенец П. И. Флаг Царя Московского, хранившийся в кафедральном соборе города Архангельска с 1693 года / Бюллетень Управления геральдики Государственной архивной службы Российской Федерации. Вып. No. 1, октябрь 1993 г., — С. 3</ref> The original of this oldest surviving Russian flag is located in the [[Central Naval Museum]] in [[Saint Petersburg]]. A 1695 flag book<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/ned-kbn-all-00007555-001/page/n10 |title = Nieuwe Hollandse scheeps-bouw, waar in vertoond word een volmaakt schip, met alle des zelfs uitterlyke deelen ... Benevens de afbeeldingen van alle de voornaamste vlaggen ... Carel Allard|publisher = Allard, Carel|year = 1695}}</ref> by Carel Allard describes three flags used by the [[Tsardom of Russia|tsar of Muscovy]]: the tricolour<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/ned-kbn-all-00007555-001/page/n230 |title = Nieuwe Hollandse scheeps-bouw, waar in vertoond word een volmaakt schip, met alle des zelfs uitterlyke deelen ... Benevens de afbeeldingen van alle de voornaamste vlaggen ... Carel Allard|publisher = Allard, Carel|year = 1695}}</ref> with the [[double-headed eagle]] bearing a shield on its breast and wearing a golden crown over both of its heads, the same tricolour<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/ned-kbn-all-00007555-001/page/n232 |title = Nieuwe Hollandse scheeps-bouw, waar in vertoond word een volmaakt schip, met alle des zelfs uitterlyke deelen ... Benevens de afbeeldingen van alle de voornaamste vlaggen ... Carel Allard|publisher = Allard, Carel|year = 1695}}</ref> with a blue [[saltire]] over it, and a cross flag<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://archive.org/details/ned-kbn-all-00007555-001/page/n234 |title = Nieuwe Hollandse scheeps-bouw, waar in vertoond word een volmaakt schip, met alle des zelfs uitterlyke deelen ... Benevens de afbeeldingen van alle de voornaamste vlaggen ... Carel Allard|publisher = Allard, Carel|year = 1695}}</ref> showing red and white quartering with a blue cross over all.<ref>{{FOTW|id=ru|title=Russian flags}}</ref> The [[:File:Flag of Russia 1668.png|cross flag]] is depicted upon the Construction of Kronschloss Medal,<ref>{{cite web|title= Construction of Kronschloss Medal, 1704| url=http://www.coins-and-medals.ru/medals/db/russia/peter_1/building_of_kronschloss/33_13524.shtml?en|website= [[Pushkin Museum|Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts]], Coins and Medals Department }}</ref> which commemorates the construction of Fort Kronschlot (Kronschloss) in [[Kronstadt]] by [[Peter the Great]] in 1704, the colours of the flag being determined according to the [[hatching (heraldry)|hatchings]] engraved. The armorial banner of [[Peter the Great]] was created in 1696. Made from red taffeta with a white border, the flag depicted a golden eagle hovering over the sea. On the chest of the eagle in the circle is the Saviour, next to the Holy Spirit and the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul. The banner was likely made for the second Azov campaign.<ref>{{cite book |author=Н. А. Соболева, В. А. Артамонов |date=1993 |script-title=ru:Символы России |publisher=Панорама |page=208 |isbn=5-85220-155-3 |language=ru}}</ref> [[File:Capture of Azov.jpg|200px|right|thumb|''Taking the fortress of Azov. 1696'' by Adrian Shkhonebek]] In 1693, Franz Timmerman received the order to build merchant ships in Arkhangelsk and trade with Europe. He was told to display the two-headed eagle spread with wings, with three crowns over it. On the chest of the eagle, a warrior on horseback was to be displayed with a spear, in a military harness. The same eagle was also to hold a sceptre with the right leg and an apple with a crest with the left. The same instructions were given to other traders.<ref>Елагин С. Наши флаги. / Морской сборник, т. LXVIII, 1863, No. 10 – С. 231</ref> [[File:Practice fight of the Dutch Fleet in the honour of Tzar Peter the Great, 1 Sept 1697 by Abrakham Storck (fragment 1).JPG|260px|left|thumb|Russian flag (lower right) on the ''Practice battle on the river IJ in honour of Peter I, September 1697''. Painting by Abraham Storck, 1700]] According to Dutch newspapers, in June 1694, a 44-gun frigate bought by Russia and built in Rotterdam stood in the Amsterdam roadstead under the white-blue-red flag.<ref>Басов А. Н. История военно-морских флагов. — М.: Аст, СПб.: Полигон, 2004, {{ISBN|5-17-022747-7}}, С.46</ref> In 1696, at the mouth of the river Don, a Russian flotilla of armed rowboats blocked the supply of the Ottoman fortress of Azov. On the 1700 engraving by Adrian Shkhonebek, ''Taking the fortress of Azov. 1696'', depicts the ships carrying rectangular panels on the flagpoles, the heraldic shading of which shows that some of the flags are blue with a straight red cross, and the rest are white with a straight red cross. A number of researchers doubt the accuracy of Shkonebek's engraving because he was not a witness to the events.<ref>Оленин Р. М., Карманов В. В. От первого корабля до первого Устава. История морских флагов России (1669–1725 гг.). — СПб.: «Шатон», 2006. — С. 54</ref> Images of various white-blue-red Russian flags are present in the three later paintings of [[Abraham Storck]]'s workshop dedicated to the arrival in Amsterdam of Peter I. Peter I took part in a practice battle on the river [[IJ (Amsterdam)|IJ]] while on board the yacht of the [[Dutch East India Company]].<ref>Uiterst links een jacht met de Russische vlag en tsaar Peter de Grote aan boord, gekleed in het rood (Слева – яхта под флагом России с царём Петром I на борту, одетым в красное). [http://collectie.amsterdammuseum.nl/dispatcher.aspx?action=search&database=ChoiceCollect&search=priref=38888 Het Spiegelgevecht op het IJ ter ere van het Moskovisch gezantschap (1 September 1697), 1697–1700]</ref> In the paintings of Abraham Stork depicting the show fight, this yacht sails under the white-blue-red flag with a double-headed eagle, or under a white-red-blue pennant and a white-red-blue aft flag with a double-headed eagle. In October 1699, Peter I, on the back of the sheet with instructions sent to the Russian envoy [[Yemelyan Ukraintsev]] in [[Istanbul]], drew a sketch of a three-band white-blue-red flag.<ref>Устрялов Н. Г. История царствования Петра Великого. Т. IV. — СПб., 1863. Карты, планы и схемы. — С. 15 (копия листа с приложения No. 14)</ref> In December 1699, the Austrian ambassador Anton Paleyer gave a list of weapons and flags seen on the vessels of the [[Azov Flotilla]] in a letter. He described seeing three small flags of white-red-blue colours and two regimental colours of red and white mixed in with other colours.<ref>''Елагин С. И.'' История русского флота. Период Азовский. Приложения. Ч. 1. — СПб., 1864 – С. 428–429</ref> In April 1700, Peter I ordered the Kremlin Armoury to build white-red-violet sea banners.<ref>{{cite book| author = Яковлев Л.П. | title = Древности Российскаго государства, изданныя по высочайшему повелению. Доп. к 3 отд-нию: Русския старинныя знамена |location= М. |year= 1865 | pages = 110}}</ref> The design and dimensions of these banners correspond to the figure and the size of the regimental banner kept among the other 352 trophy Russian banners in the burial vault of Swedish kings – the [[Riddarholm Church]] in [[Stockholm]].<ref>П. И. Белавенец. Краткая записка о старых русских знамёнах. — СПб, 1911. С.33</ref> The three-band white-blue-red flag, as well as the flag with a red [[Jerusalem cross]], were also used on warships up to 1720 as signals.<ref>Оленин Р. М., Карманов В. В. От первого корабля до первого Устава. История морских флагов России (1669–1725 гг.). — СПб.: «Шатон», 2006. — С. 207</ref> {{gallery |align=center |noborder=yes |File:SA 22993-Het Spiegelgevecht op het IJ ter ere van het Moskovisch gezantschap (1 september 1697)-Spiegelgevecht op het IJ op 1 september 1697 ter ere van het bezoek van Tsaar Peter de Grote.jpg|''Practice battle on the river IJ in honor of Peter I'', Abraham Storck, [[Amsterdam Museum]]<ref>[http://collectie.amsterdammuseum.nl/dispatcher.aspx?action=search&database=ChoiceCollect&search=priref=38888 Het Spiegelgevecht op het IJ ter ere van het Moskovisch gezantschap (1 September 1697), 1697–1700]</ref> |File:Jerusalem cross flag of Russia 1693.jpg|Flag with a Jerusalem Cross, 1693 |File:Штандарт Петра I.JPG|White-red-violet banners ordered by Peter I and captured by Swedes during the [[Battle of Narva (1700)|Battle of Narva]] in 1700 |File:CronSchloss.jpg|Philipp Heinrich Müller, ''Construction of Kronschloss'' Medal, 1704 |File:View of New Archangel, 1837.tif|The [[Russian-American Company]]'s capital at Novo Arkhangelsk (present-day [[Sitka, Alaska]]) in 1837 |File:Триколор в Морском Уставе РИ 1885 года.jpg|Black-and-white sketch of the flag, 1885 |File:Alexander's II Order(Ukase) 11 june 1858 - flag.jpg|Order by Tsar Alexander II on the official flag of the Russian Empire }} [[File:Flag of the Russian Empire (black-yellow-white).svg|thumb|200x200px|{{FIAV|historical}} [[Alexander II of Russia|Tsar Alexander II's]] Flag of the Russian Empire (1858–1896)]] [[File:Russian flag 1914.gif|thumb|200px|right|Russian flag during [[World War I|WWI]] on a postcard (1914–1917){{Efn|Introduced in 1914 as a flag ''"for private use"'' to support patriotism during the war. Plans to formally adopt this design after the war were abolished after the fall of the monarchy.}}]] The Russian tricolour flag was adopted as a [[merchant flag]] at rivers in 1705. These colours of the flag of Russia would later inspire the choice of the "[[Pan-Slavic colours]]" by the [[Prague Slavic Congress, 1848]]. Two other Slavic countries, [[Slovakia]] and [[Slovenia]], have flags similar to the Russian one, but with added coats-of-arms for differentiation. On 7 May 1883, the Russian flag was authorized to be used on land, and it became an official ''National flag'' before the coronation of Tsar [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] in 1896. The flag continued to be used by the [[Russian Provisional Government]] after [[Tsar]] [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] abdicated during the [[February Revolution]] and was not replaced until the October Revolution which established the [[Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic]]. ===1918–1991: Civil War and Soviet Union (USSR)=== {{main|Flag of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic}} {{seealso|Flag of the Soviet Union}} [[File:Flag of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1918–1937).svg|200px|thumb|{{FIAV|historical}} Flag of the Russian SFSR (1918–1937)]] [[File:Flag of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (1937–1954).svg|200px|thumb|{{FIAV|historical}} Flag of the Russian SFSR (1937–1954)]] [[File:Flag of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic.svg|200px|thumb|{{FIAV|historical}} Flag of the Russian SFSR (1954–1991)]] On 8 April 1918, the flag of the [[Russian Soviet Socialist Federative Republic|Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic]] was discussed at a meeting of the [[Council of People's Commissars]] of the RSFSR. The Council proposed that the [[All-Russian Central Executive Committee]] create a red flag with the abbreviation for the phrase ''[[Workers of the world, unite!]]'' However, the proposal was not adopted. On 13 April 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee established the RSFSR flag to be a red banner with the inscription ''Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic''. The text of the decree did not contain any clarification regarding the colour, size and location of the inscription, or the width and length ratio of the cloth. On 17 June 1918, the All-Russian Central Executive Committee approved a sample image of the flag of the RSFSR, developed on behalf of the [[People's Commissariat for Foreign Affairs of the Russian SFSR]] by the graphic artist [[Sergey Chekhonin]]. The flag was a red rectangular panel, in the upper corner of which was placed the inscription ''RSFSR'' in gold letters stylized as Slavic. This inscription was separated from the rest of the cloth on both sides by gold stripes forming a rectangle. On 30 December 1922, the RSFSR combined with the [[Ukrainian SSR]], [[Byelorussian SSR]], and [[Transcaucasian SFSR]] to form the [[Soviet Union]]. The national flag of the USSR was established on 18 April 1924, described in the Constitution of the USSR as a red or scarlet rectangular cloth with a 1:2 width to length ratio, with a gold sickle and hammer in the top corner next to the flagpole and a red five-pointed star framed with a golden border. This flag was carried by all ships of the USSR and diplomatic representations of the USSR. The 1:2 [[red flag (politics)|red flag]] was used, until replaced in 1954 with the universal design of the [[Flag of the Soviet Union|Soviet flag]] with a blue stripe along the mast. Contrary to the belief that the USSR state flag outranked the flag of the RSFSR, the actual use of the USSR flag was limited. The USSR flag in Russia flew only over two buildings, that of the Central Executive Committee of the Soviet Union and the Council of People's Commissars. That decision was adopted on 23 March 1925, also establishing that the flag of the RSFSR had to be raised constantly not only on the buildings of the Central Executive Committee and the Council of People's Commissars but also on the buildings of all local soviets, including village soviets and district soviets in cities. On holidays, the RSFSR flag had to be raised on many public buildings (such as schools, hospitals, and government offices).<ref>Собрание узаконений и распоряжений правительства РСФСР.&nbsp;— 1925, No.&nbsp;20, цит. по: Вексиллологический справочник по флагам Российской Империи и СССР, Т.1/сост. Соколов В. А.&nbsp;— М.: МГИУ, 2002, {{ISBN|5-276-00240-1}}, СС.487–488</ref> [[File:First Russian National Army - 2.svg|175px|thumb|left|Patch of the [[First Russian National Army]], one of the German-collaborationist militias which fought the Red Army during [[Eastern Front (World War II)|World War II]]]] During the [[Second World War]], the white-blue-red tricolour was used by [[Collaboration in German-occupied Soviet Union|German collaborators]], most of whom were from groups targeted by the repressions of the Stalin era, including [[Anti-communism|anti-communist]] Christians and the remnants of the [[Kulak]]s, who generally regarded the German invasion as a liberation of Russia from communism.<ref>Lilia Shevtsova: ''Putin's Russia.'' Carnegie Endowment, 2010. p. 114</ref><ref>Kathleen E. Smith: ''Mythmaking in the New Russia: Politics and Memory During the Yeltsin Era.'' Cornell University Press, 2002. p. 160</ref> The [[Russian Liberation Army]] under the leadership of [[Andrey Vlasov]] used the tricolour during a military flag.<ref>{{cite book |author=Johannes Due Enstad |title=Soviet Russians under Nazi Occupation: Fragile Loyalties in World War II |publisher =[[Cambridge University Press]] | location=Cambridge |year=2018 |isbn= 978-1-108-42126-3 |page= 206 |url= https://books.google.com/books?id=3JheDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA206 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | author=Kathleen E. Smith |title=Mythmaking in the New Russia: Politics and Memory in the Yeltsin Era| publisher= [[Cornell University Press]] |location=Ithaca |year=2002 |isbn= 0-8014-3963-9 |page= 160 | url= https://books.google.com/books?id=grdcDwAAQBAJ&pg=PA160 }}</ref> On 20 January 1947, the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet of the USSR found it necessary to amend the national flags of the allied republics so that the flags reflected the idea of a Soviet Union state as well as the unique national identities of the republics. On each of the flags was placed the emblem of the USSR, a sickle and a hammer with a red five-pointed star, with the inclusion of national ornaments and new colours.<ref>Центральный Государственный архив Киргизской ССР, ф.1445, оп.3, д.29, л.2, цит. по: Вексиллологический справочник по флагам Российской Империи и СССР, Т.1/сост. Соколов В. А.&nbsp;— М.: МГИУ, 2002, {{ISBN|5-276-00240-1}}, СС.399–400</ref> The new RSFSR flag was established in January 1954: a red rectangular panel with a light blue strip near the pole running the full width of the flag. In the upper left corner of the red canvas were depicted a golden sickle and a hammer and above them a red five-pointed star framed with a golden border. By the Law of the RSFSR of 2 June 1954, this flag was approved and the description of the flag was included in Article 149 of the Constitution of the RSFSR.<ref>[[s:Закон РСФСР от 2 June 1954 О Государственном флаге РСФСР|Закон РСФСР от 2 июня 1954&nbsp;г. «О Государственном флаге РСФСР»]]</ref> ===1991–present: Russian Federation=== [[File:Flag of Russia (1991–1993).svg|200px|thumb|{{FIAV|historical}} [[Dissolution of the Soviet Union|Post-Soviet]] Russian flag<br>(1991–1993)]] During the [[dissolution of the Soviet Union]], after the [[1991 August Coup]], the Russian SFSR adopted a new flag design similar to the pre-revolutionary tricolour that had been abolished in 1917. The ratio of the new flag was 1:2, and the flag colours consisted of [[white]] on the top, [[blue]] in the middle, and [[red]] on the bottom. The flag design remained the same until 1993, when the original Russian tricolour was fully restored as the current flag after the [[1993 Russian constitutional crisis]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2022}} Following the [[1991 Soviet coup d'etat attempt|events of the attempted coup in Moscow]], the supreme soviet of the Russian SFSR declared, by resolution dated 22 August 1991,<ref>per [http://pravo.gov.ru/proxy/ips/?docbody=&nd=102012339 Resolution No. 1627/1-I of the Supreme Soviet of the RSFSR of 22 August 1991]</ref> that the old imperial tricolour flag serve as the national flag of the state. The constitution was subsequently amended by Law No. 1827-1 1 November 1991.<ref>per [http://pravo.gov.ru/proxy/ips/?docbody=&nd=102012917 Law No. 1827-1 of the RSFSR of 1 November 1991]</ref> At the disintegration of the USSR on 25 December 1991, the Soviet flag was lowered from Kremlin and then replaced by the tricolour flag. The modern era flag underwent a proportion change from 1:2 to 2:3 in 1993 and has been most recently provided for by a 2000 law.<ref>per [http://pravo.gov.ru/proxy/ips/?docbody=&nd=102027590 Decree No. 2126 of 11 December 1993]</ref> On 11 December 1993, President of the Russian Federation [[Boris Yeltsin]] signed Decree No. 2126 "On the State Flag of the Russian Federation".<ref name="Указ1993годаОФлагеРФ">[http://pravo.gov.ru/proxy/ips/?docbody=&nd=102027590&rdk=0 О Государственном флаге Российской Федерации] : Указ Президента РФ от 11 December 1993 No.&nbsp;2126 // Собрание актов Президента и Правительства Российской Федерации. 1993. No.&nbsp;51. Ст. 4928.</ref> In Article 1 of the decree, the flag was described as a "rectangular panel of three equal horizontal stripes: the top – white, middle – blue, and bottom – red, with a width to length ratio of 2:3." The National Flag Day is an official holiday in Russia, established in 1994. It is celebrated on 22 August, the day of the [[1991 Soviet coup d'état attempt|victory over putschists in 1991]], but employees remain at work. == Symbolism == At the times of [[Alexander III of Russia]] the official interpretation was as follows: the white color symbolizes nobility and frankness; the blue for faithfulness, honesty, impeccability, and chastity; and the red for courage, generosity, and love. A common unofficial interpretation was: Red: [[Great Russia]], White: [[White Ruthenia|White Russia]], Blue: [[Little Russia]].<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20111103115513/http://pkc.ru//index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=97&Itemid=85 Государственный флаг России. Статья на сайте Политического консультативного центра]</ref> == Regulations == When the Russian flag and the flags of the [[Federal subjects of Russia|Russian federal subjects]] are flown at the same time, the national flag should be: * on the left if two flags are raised * in the middle if the number of flags is odd * and to the left of the centre if the number is even The flag cannot be smaller, or lower than a regional flag.<ref>{{Cite web |title=State Insignia |url=http://en.flag.kremlin.ru/flag/ |access-date=2022-09-06 |website=State Insignia |language=en}}</ref> == Colour specifications == [[File:Flag of Russia (construction sheet).svg|thumb|Specifications for the flag of Russia]] Federal constitutional law of the Russian Federation only says that the colours of the flag are "white", "blue" (синий, or dark blue, as Russian has two colours that are called "blue" in English), and "red". The Federal Constitutional Law on the State Flag of the Russian Federation does not actually specify which shades the colours should be. Russian government agencies when ordering the manufacture of cloth for the flag indicate the following Pantone colours: white, blue (Pantone 286C), and red (Pantone 485C).<ref>{{cite web |author=Федеральная служба охраны |date=2011-12-14 |title=Запрос котировочной цены. Характеристика поставляемых товаров |url=http://zakupki.gov.ru/pgz/documentdownload?documentId=51761304 |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/69y1mXXqa?url=http://zakupki.gov.ru/pgz/documentdownload?documentId=51761304 |archivedate=2012-08-16 |accessdate=2012-08-08 |publisher= |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Управление делами Президента России |date= |title=Госзаказ на изготовление и поставку штандартов Президента. Технические требования |url=http://www.udprf.ru/sites/default/files/Z_K_Shtandart_Prezidenta_2-1..doc |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/69y1nXl19?url=http://www.udprf.ru/sites/default/files/Z_K_Shtandart_Prezidenta_2-1..doc |archivedate=2012-08-16 |accessdate=2012-08-08 |publisher= |url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Министерство обороны Российской Федерации |date= |title=Приложение № 2 к тендеру от 12 марта 2010 года. Техническое задание на изготовление Комплекта флагов, копий исторических знамён и штандартов фронтов, а также элементов знамённого (флажного) комплекса для проведения парада, посвящённого празднованию 65-летия Победы в Великой Отечественной войне 1941—1945 гг. |url=http://doc.gostorgi.ru/91/2010-03-13/2743/8.doc |archiveurl=https://www.webcitation.org/69y1ooo2n?url=http://doc2.gostorgi.ru/91/2010-03-13/2743/8.doc |archivedate=2012-08-16 |accessdate=2012-08-08 |publisher= |url-status=live}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" |- ! width=150|Scheme ! style="background-color:white;width:150px"|White ! style="background-color:#0032A0; color:white; width:150px"|Blue ! style="background-color:#DA291C; color:white; width:150px"|Red |- align=center | [[RAL color standard|RAL]] | 9016 | 5005 | 3028 |- align=center | [[Pantone]] | White | 286 C | 485 C |- align=center | [[RGB]] || 255–255–255 || 0–50–160<ref name=":0">[https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/286-C Pantone 286 C]</ref>|| 218–41–28<ref name=":1">[https://www.pantone.com/color-finder/485-C Pantone 485 C]</ref> |- align=center | [[CMYK]] || 0–0–0–0 || 100–80–0–12<ref name=":0" />||0–95–100–00<ref name=":1" /> |- align=center | [[Web color|HTML]] || #FFFFFF || #0036A7 || #D62718 |} The album of national flags, published by the Hydrographic and Oceanographic Service of the Navy (France), gives the following shades of colours of the flag of Russia in [[Pantone]]:<ref>{{cite book| author=Service Hydrographique et Oceanographique de la Marine |url=http://www.librairie-maritime.com/article.cfm?art=8186 |title=Альбом национальных флагов |orig-year=Album des pavillons : pavillons et marques distinctives |edition=Edition 2000 - Correction n°5 - 2010 |location=Marselle, France |date=2010 |publisher=Librairie Maritime Outremer |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120421024618/http://www.librairie-maritime.com/article.cfm?art=8186 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-04-21}}</ref> {| class="wikitable" ! width="150" |Scheme ! style="background-color:white;width:150px" |White ! style="background-color:#0051BA;width:150px" |<span style="color:#ffffff;">Blue</span> ! style="background-color:#D52B1E;width:150px" |<span style="color:#ffffff;">Red</span> |- align="center" |[[Pantone]] |White |293C |485C |} ==Variant versions== {{multiple image | height = 123 | width = 123 | direction = vertical | align = left | image1 = Russian flag 1914.gif | caption1 = {{FIAV|historical}} Russian flag during [[World War I|WWI]] on a postcard (1914–1917){{Efn|Introduced in 1914 as a flag ''"for private use"'' to support patriotism during the war. Plans to formally adopt this design after the war were abolished after the fall of the monarchy.}} | image2 = Flag of Tzar of Muscovia.svg | caption2 = {{FIAV|historical}} Flag of the Tsar, {{Circa|17th century}} | image3 = Standard of the President of the Russian Federation Fixed.svg | caption3 = {{FIAV|normal}} Presidential standard | footer = }} A variant of the flag was authorized [[Civil flag|for private use]] by Tsar [[Nicholas II of Russia|Nicholas II]] before [[World War I]], adding the large state eagle on a yellow field (imperial standard) in the [[canton (flag)|canton]]. It has never been used as the official state flag. Likewise, today some Russian people may use another variant of the flag defaced with the coat of arms (in this case the double-headed eagle is depicted without the shield) in the middle and the golden word РОССИЯ at the bottom.<ref>[https://www.fotw.info/flags/ru!2.html Unofficial flag of Russia] at [[Flags of the World (website)|Flags of the World]]</ref> After the [[October Revolution]] of 1917, the tricolour design was banned, and a definitive new flag of the [[Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|Russian SFSR]] was introduced in 1954 (see [[Flag of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic|flag of the Russian SFSR]]), and this remained the republic's flag until the collapse of the [[Soviet Union]] in 1991. All of the Soviet republics' flags were created by introducing a small but noticeable change to the [[flag of the Soviet Union]]. For Russia, the change was an introduction of the left-hand blue band. The previous Soviet design was different, a plain red flag with different variants of the "RSFSR" abbreviation in the canton. Today, the Soviet flag is used by the supporters and members of the [[Communist Party of the Russian Federation]]. The tricolour was used by the anticommunist forces during the Civil War called the [[White movement]]. It was continued to be used by [[White émigrés]] in various countries as the Russian flag. The tricolour was associated both in Soviet Russia as well as the Russian White emigre communities as symbolizing a traditional tsarist Orthodox Russia. This flag can be seen inside a few Orthodox churches in the West established by the Russian communities. In the Soviet Union, the tricolour was used in films set in the pre-revolutionary period and was seen as a historical flag, especially after the 1940s. It, rather than the black-yellow-white colour combination, was readopted by Russia on 22 August 1991. That date is celebrated yearly as the national flag day.{{Citation needed|date=July 2013}} The [[President of Russia]] uses a Presidential Standard ({{lang-ru|Штандарт Президента|link=no}}), which was introduced via Presidential Decree No.319 on 15 February 1994, it is officially defined as the square tricolour with the coat of arms (in this case the double-headed eagle is depicted without the shield) in the middle.<ref>per [http://kremlin.ru/acts/bank/5502 Decree No. 319 of 15 February 1994]</ref><ref>[https://www.fotw.info/flags/ru_pres.html Flag of the president of Russia] at Flags of the World</ref> ==Unicode== The flag of Russia is represented as the [[Unicode]] [[emoji]] sequence {{unichar|1F1F7|REGIONAL INDICATOR SYMBOL LETTER R}} and {{unichar|1F1FA|REGIONAL INDICATOR SYMBOL LETTER U}}, making "🇷🇺".<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://emojipedia.org/flag-for-russia/|title=🇷🇺 Flag for Russia Emoji|access-date=2 January 2018|language=en}}</ref> ==See also== {{Portal|Russia|Heraldry}} * [[Coat of arms of Moscow]] * [[Coat of arms of Russia]] * [[Flags of the federal subjects of Russia]] * [[List of Russian flags]] * [[Flag of the Russian-American Company]] * [[Pan-Slavic colours]] * [[Flag of Bulgaria]] (developed from the Russian flag since 1877, but the blue stripe is replaced by light green one) * [[Flag of Dagestan]] (nearly identical design, green stripe instead of white) * [[Flags used in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine#Donetsk_People's_Republic|Flag of the Donetsk People's Republic]] (nearly identical design, black stripe instead of white) * [[Flag of Colombia]] (nearly identical design, yellow stripe instead of white) * [[Flags used in Russian-controlled areas of Ukraine#Luhansk_People's_Republic|Flag of the Luhansk People's Republic]] (nearly identical design, turquoise stripe instead of white) * [[Flag of Serbia]] (developed from the Russian flag since 1835, but the white and red colours are inverted upside down) * [[Flag of Slovakia]] (nearly identical design, defaced with the coat of arms at the hoist side) * [[Flag of Slovenia]] (nearly identical design, defaced with the coat of arms at the hoist side) * [[Flag of Transnistria]] * [[White-blue-white flag]] (variant used by anti-war protesters against the invasion of Ukraine) ==Notes== {{notelist}} ==References== {{Reflist}} ==External links== {{Commons category|National flag of Russia}} * [https://web.archive.org/web/20080620063912/http://www.kremlin.ru/articles/state_insignia_01_2.shtml Official image of the Russian flag, on the official site of the Russian President] * [http://pravo.gov.ru/proxy/ips/?docbody=&nd=102068960 Federal Constitutional Law of 25 December 2000 No. 1-FKZ "On the State Flag of the Russian Federation" (including amendments)]. pravo.gov.ru {{in lang|ru}} * [http://www.rbvex.it/russia.html Timeline Russian National Flag] {{in lang|it}} * [http://www.hrono.ru/heraldicum/flagi/home.htm Flag of Russia – old link] {{in lang|ru}} * [http://www.vexillographia.ru/russia/index.htm Flag of Russia – Vexillographia] {{in lang|ru}} * [http://33tura.ru/russia-flag Flag of Russia] {{in lang|ru}} * [http://flot.com/symbols/anflag.htm National Flag and Naval Ensign in Russia Navy] {{in lang|ru}} {{Russia topics}} {{Asia topic|Flag of|title=[[Flags of Asia]]}} {{Flag of Europe}} {{nationalflags}} {{Moscow Victory Parade}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Flag of Russia}} [[Category:Flags of Russia| ]] [[Category:National flags|Russia]] [[Category:National symbols of Russia]]'