37 Russian Flag Facts: A Tricolour Flag To Admire!

The first Russian president of the newly independent state of Russia was Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin.

He was a Soviet politician and a Russian elected, representing 57.30% of those who voted. The existing two-year ban imposed by the World Anti-Doping Agency in 2019 was based on its state-sponsored doping program charges.

The country's athletes are banned until December 17, 2022, from representing Russia in the Olympics, World Championships, or Paralympics. Due to the ban imposed on December 12, 2020, the Russian flag cannot be flown at the Winter Olympics.

The History of The Russian Flag

Peter the Great was inspired by the Dutch flag consisting of red, white, and blue tricolor and wanted something similar for Russia.

He adopted a similar flag for the merchant's Russian navy, changing the color format to a white, blue, and red tricolor flag.

The first quartered tricolor flag with white on the top, followed by middle blue and lower red, was used on a Russian warship known as Oryol in 1667.

From 1700-1858, there were two Russian flags in use; the unofficial flag of Russia and the official Imperial Standard of the Tsar.

The first modern unofficial flag was taken from Peter the Great, consisting of a white, blue, and red tricolor.

The Imperial Standard of the Tsar was the official flag being used. 

From 1858-1917, the imperial standard of the Tsar was modified and used before the first World War. The flag was integrated using a golden yellow canton which included the imperial arms.

From 1914-1917, the unofficial flag of the Russian Empire consisted of a blend of the unofficial modern flag with the imperial standard of the Tsar appearing on the left-hand side of the top corner.

A tricolor introduced in 1858 became the first official state flag of the Russian Empire which consisted of black, yellow, and white by a decree of Alexander II.

In 1918 few Soviet artists and the Council of People's Commissars of the Russian SFSR worked on the flag.

Finally, Vasilievich Chekhonin, the most virtuous and talented Russian graphics, found the final composition of the flag of Russia.

Vasilievich Chekhonin finalized the flag consisting of a red rectangular panel that mentioned the Slavic letters of RSFSR in gold. It was inscribed at the corner of the flag in a gold box that remained the RSFSR flag until 1937.

The first communist party flag representing the hammer (workers) and sickle (peasants) representing the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was adopted officially in December 1922, known to be the first version.

The first flag of the soviet union was introduced after its formation in 1923. It featured the court of arms in the center of a red field.

In the same year, the flag was changed, and the official soviet flag included the gold hammer and sickle, and on the left-hand side upper hoist corner appeared a red golden star which remained the same until 1955.

1955 resulted in modifying only the hammer's handle length and a change in the shape of the sickle.

From 1954 until 1991, the new RSFSR flag was established, including a light blue strip near the pole of the flag, which remained the flag of the soviet empire until its end.

A new flag of the Russian Federation was adopted after the 1991 August Coup that dissolved the Soviet Union, and this tricolor flag consisting of white, light blue, and red was in use until 1993

The supreme soviet union of Russia adopted a new flag in 1993, almost identical to the pre-revolutionary tricolor, which was used as an unofficial flag of Russia during 1700-1858.

What does the Russian flag look like today?

The flag of the Russian Federation consists of three equal horizontal tricolor fields, showing white on the top, blue in the middle, and at the bottom, you have the color red.

What does the Russian flag symbolize?

The golden two-headed eagle with a red background and the three crowns above the head symbolizes the sovereignty of the Russian Federation and its Regions. The orb and the scepter held by the eagle express the unified state and its power.

The symbol of the golden eagle depicts unity at times and absolute monarchy featuring the Russian imperial and Coronation regalia.

The Russian flag has varying interpretations of its meaning.

The most popular is white color symbolizes frankness and nobility; blue represents impeccability, purity, honesty, and faithfulness; red symbolizes love, generosity, and courage.

The hammer represents the workers and the sickle of the peasants. It glorifies the revolutionary alliance, first adopted in 1922.

Fun Facts About The Russian Flag

The flag of the Soviet Union was first adopted in December 1922, and the last version of this flag was used on August 19, 1955.

The Russian navy flag consists of a blue St Andrews cross on a white background designed by Peter the Great.

 In 1918 the Russian Civil War broke out and was mainly fought between the White Russians, a coalition of anti-Bolsheviks, and the Red Bolsheviks. The red Russian army won, thus the red color background on the USSR flag. 

The Victory banner is the official flag symbol of the Soviet Union state during the Second World War over Nazi Germany and remains a critical national treasure of Russia.

 The Belarussian state (1920 - 1922) became the 15th constituent republic of the USSR, its first flag consisted of plain white color, also known as 'White Russia.'

1917 was the end of monarchy and the rise of the Soviet regime, which dominated the features of the red flag. 

The flag was redesigned to include a red horizontal stripe and the national ornamentation to the flag design. The colors used were derived from Belarus's traditional coat of arms during the Lithuanian rule, which had a red shield and a white knight, and a white horse ride wrapped in a blue coat and carrying a blue sign.

Once the national flag of the USSR was adopted, all the other states included the symbol of the national flag into their flag to promote the spirit of national identity.

The Russian national flag featured a golden sickle and hammer and a red five-pointed star, and the states included the national ornaments and the new colors.

The creator of the hammer and sickle symbol was a Russian, artist-decorator, and photographer named Yevgeny Ivanovich Kamzolkin.

Annually on August 22, the Russian streets are covered with the national new Russian flag, a grand celebration of their country.