The Presidential Library marking the Day of the State Flag of Russia

In June 2023, in St. Petersburg, the flags of the Russian Empire, the Soviet Union and the state flag of the Russian Federation were raised on three flagpoles, each almost 180 meters high, over the waters of the Gulf of Finland. What do we know about the national flag of Russia? What is its history? The Day of the State Flag of Russia, celebrated on August 22, is a good reason to find answers to these questions on the Presidential Library’s portal.

“At the time of the historical development of peoples, when they begin to feel and realize their identity, thoughts are born in them to express their peculiarity with an external sign - a symbol of folk thought and taste or folk history”, - we read in the book of Evstafiy Voronets What colors are established by history and Russian laws for the distinctively Russian all-class and state flag? (1892).

The question of the state colors of ancient Russia in his book of the same name, published in 1910, is addressed by Russian archaeologist, historian Dmitry Samokvasov. The author asks about the existence of state colors on royal and imperial regalia, also says that “in the pagan era, the Slavs adored their banners and thought that in wartime they were holier than all idols. The idea of the holiness of the military banner passed into the Christian era. Pagan symbols on Christian banners are replaced by images of the Cross, the Savior, George the Victorious and others”.

The executive secretary of the Heraldic Council under the President of the Russian Federation, Gleb Kalashnikov, in the video lecture The State Flag of Russia, notes that the concepts of “banner” and “flag” are different.

The Russian state flag begins its history with maritime navigation. In this regard, Peter the Great is immediately recalled, however, in the preface to the Naval Charter, written by him with his own hand, the tsar emphasizes that he is not the founder of the Russian fleet, but only continues the work of his father Alexei Mikhailovich, under whom the first regular ships were built.

During his first long campaign along the Northern Dvina and the White Sea in 1693, Tsar Peter used a white-blue-red flag with a golden double-headed eagle in the center. Pyotr Belavenets tells about this in his book Colors of the Russian State National Flag (1910).

Under Peter the Great, the white-blue-red flag was embodied in a variety of forms. For example, tricolor scarves were used by officers of the Life Guards of the Preobrazhensky Regiment as distinctive signs.

Since 1700, the tricolor was changed to the St. Andrew's flag in the navy. In the maritime charter of 1720, Peter finally prescribed that the white-blue-red flag is used on merchant and commercial ships.

In the 1850s, with the support of Emperor Alexander II, the colors in the heraldry of Russia changed to black-yellow-white. “This happened after Baron Boris Köhne began to manage Russian heraldry”, - says Gleb Kalashnikov in his video lecture. - Köhne believed that the state heraldry should look uniform. The Russian emblem depicts an eagle in black-yellow-white colors, and the flag is white-blue-red. Therefore, Köhne proposed to make the flag also black-yellow-white”.

However, white-blue-red remained the trade, commercial flag of Russia. Two flags were used depending on the events: when decorating the streets for official holidays - black-yellow-white, and for mass festivities - white-blue-red.

Emperor Alexander III put an end to the "dispute" between the two panels. At his command in 1883, during the coronation, all decorations were only white-blue-red. Nicholas II was also a supporter of these colors.

After the revolution, the white-blue-red flag was replaced by a red flag. Our country lived under it until August 22, 1991. The white-blue-red flag as the state flag of Russia "returned" on August 22, 1991 by decision of the Supreme Council of the RSFSR.

In addition to the mentioned electronic copies of rare books and documentaries on the Presidential Library’s portal, the materials of the section Symbols of State Power of the basic collection of the Presidential Library State Authority will illustrate the history of the state flag.