Flag of Russia
From Freepedia
Image:Romanovflag.gifThe flag of Russia is a tricolour of three equal horizontal fields, white on the top, blue in the middle and red on the bottom. The flag of Russia is the source of the Pan-Slavic colors.
Tradition
Popular myth traces the origin of the Russian flag to Tsar Peter the Great's visit to the Netherlands in 1699. The tsar, who went there to learn about shipbuilding, realised the need for Russia to have a flag for its navy too. He based Russia's flag on the flag of the Netherlands, making it a tricolour with three equal horizontal fields, but he chose Russian colors for it (the flag of the Netherlands at that time was orange, white and blue, with no red).
This story, while widely circulated, is certainly a myth, as a German flag book of 1695 (predating Peter's trip to Western Europe) already describes flags of a similar design belonging to the Tsar of Muscovy. While the Russian tricolour is allegedly based on the Dutch civil ensign, it was used earlier than is commonly presumed (in fact, it was already flown by the Oriol, the first boat of the Russian Navy, in 1667).
Three colours came from the coat of arms of the Duchy of Moscow, which depict Saint George wearing white (silver) armour, riding a white horse, wearing a blue cape and holding a blue shield, on red field. According to another version, these three colours were associated with the robes of the Virgin Mary, the holy protectress of Russia.
Variant versions
This flag was thus in use as naval ensign since the 1600s, and was adopted as a merchant flag in 1705. On May 7, 1883 it was authorised to be used on land, thus becoming the official national flag.
Tsar Nicholas II changed the flag in 1914, adding the Romanov eagle on a yellow field in a canton in the top left-hand corner.
When the Bolsheviks took power in 1917, they changed the flag of the Russian Republic (one of the constituent republics of the Soviet Union) to the one on the right (see flag of Russian SFSR), and this remained the republic's flag throughout the Soviet era. The flag of the Soviet Union did not have the left-hand blue band.
The original flag was re-adopted by Russia on August 22, 1991.
See also
| National flags |
|---|
| List of national flags | List of national coats of arms |
