August 22 – Day of the State Flag of the Russian Federation. If no one is aware. I’m sure most of them don’t. A holiday was established as a result of the country’s “restart” after the 1991 coup, but over time this “restart” itself almost overshadowed the new ideological narrative. A few years ago, VTsIOM conducted a survey among Russians on information about the Russian state flag. It turns out that half of them couldn’t describe it properly. About a third remembered the colors of the three colors, but were unable to position them correctly. It should be assumed that after flag-raising ceremonies are held in schools from this school year, many will grow up to recognize which flag we live under.
As for the origin of the three colors in their current form, there is still no complete clarity among historians. There is no unity in terms of the interpretation of what their colors mean exactly. At the end of the 19th century, when the white-blue-red tricolor was adopted as the national flag (before the coronation of Nicholas II), the interpretation looked something like this: red meant sovereignty, blue – the color of the Mother. God, white under the cover of Russia, is the color of freedom and independence. The same colors were designed to denote the White, Lesser and Greater Russia community. In principle, and now most probably such an explanation would be appropriate.
However, historically, this color combination has competed with another black-yellow-white for centuries. Such a tricolor was created by World War II in 1858. It was approved as the state flag of the Russian Empire by decree of Alexander. At the same time, this color combination is even more deeply rooted in history. For example, in 1472 Grand Duke III. When Ivan Vasilievich married Sofia, the niece of the last Byzantine emperor, he adopted the symbol of the imperial family of Palaiologos and the Byzantine Empire – a black double-headed eagle on a gold background. to him the already established symbol of the Moscow principality – St. George’s rider.
It was this color combination that survived until Peter the Great. And after that, it is also preserved in different combinations on different stripes, cockades and other near-state ammunition. The black-yellow-white combination, for example, was officially approved by Alexander the First for a cockade for the army. Nicholas I ordered all officers to have one.
But as far as is known, Peter went to his two-year Ambassadorship in 1697, still under the white-blue-red tricolor. Why? Why? Background is important here. The first Russian ship – “Eagle” – was built under Alexei Mikhailovich. Dutch masters helped. At that time, there was no import substitution in this sector. The first captain of the first Russian ship was also a Dutchman – David Butler. When the question arose which flag to hoist on, another Dutchman, the merchant Johan van Sweden, who was “under a government contract” for the purchase, asked for the material, which consisted only of the colors red, white and blue. It is not known exactly how these colors were placed on the ship’s flag at that time. However, suppose the combination is close to Dutch. As for the “Eagle”, it eventually rotted away.
In 1693, Peter approved the combination of white-blue-red for the “Tsar’s flag of Moscow”, that is, for the ship “Saint Peter”, which was already built in Arkhangelsk. So the colors are “Dutch” but the sequence is different. However, modern historians like to deny that the “French” origin of the Russian tricolor is “Dutch”. But I think they do it for political reasons – they say they are not patriotic. Although there seems to be no other explanation for the decision of Peter, who is a big fan of the idea of learning everything from the Dutch.
And in general, heraldic borrowings in Europe were a perfectly ordinary and mundane affair. Moreover, Peter himself, as is known, was the last purely Russian tsar by origin. Then came “half-breeds” (literally) and simply “Germans”.
The first Russian emperor did not leave any interpretation of these colors of his own. In 1705, such a tricolor was approved by Peter’s merchant fleet decree. Andreevsky flag was approved for the military fleet. But before that, a white-blue-red tricolor briefly fluctuated in the navy (for example, under it, Russian ships went on the Kerch campaign in 1700). The Apostle Andrew was considered the patron saint of Russia since ancient times, he is also the patron saint of fishermen and sailors. But after all, Peter is the St. Andrew’s cross, too. And soon after returning from the Netherlands, St. Andrew’s Sect. Also, it was borrowed.
It is worth remembering why the status of the black and yellow combination in Peter’s time was slightly higher in the ranking of the state standard. Yes, because these were the colors of the Holy Roman Empire (German)
Like the image of a black double-headed eagle on a gold background. In this way, too, Peter emphasized his route towards Westernization. In its final form, the black-yellow-white tricolor, as mentioned above, was approved in 1858.
But! After the signing of the Peace of Paris, which was humiliating for Russia, after the defeat in the Crimean War, and during the celebration of the arrival of peace, the Russian embassy in Paris is still in the white-blue-red tricolor (officially, the merchant fleet). Why? Why? It is not known for certain. However, such a tricolor was widely used in the second half of the 19th century for houses, etc. It is known that it is often used specially for decoration.
Why was such a tricolor recognized as the state flag in 1896? And even earlier, in 1883, Alexander III ordered that instead of black-yellow-white, a white-blue-red flag be used as the flag of the Russian Empire to decorate buildings. But even before that, for example, in 1880, during the solemn crowded ceremony of the opening of the monument to Pushkin in Moscow, the white-blue-red tricolor was used (testimony has been preserved). By that time it was already the “national flag”.
But getting into mass moods, Alexander the Third also took into account new geopolitical realities, as they would now say. After all, a quarrel had begun with Germany and Austria-Hungary (their state flags were very similar to the official Russian flag at that time), a rapprochement with France had begun. Actually, that’s the whole explanation. Again, not without the “influence of foreign countries”.
In addition, it was the white-blue-red flags that until then were actively used by the “Slavic brothers” in the fight against the Ottoman Empire and for independence, and this factor was significant in the Russian context at that time. foreign policy. Why was it used? Yes, because it was the Balkan peoples who often appeared on Russian ships in the Mediterranean. At the beginning of the 19th century, the white-blue-red tricolor appeared among the Serbs and Montenegrins, in the 1840s – among the Croats. Then Slovenes and Czechs. In the 1870s, the tricolor was adopted by the Bulgarians, although they replaced the red color with green. And in general, they are not always “totally loyal” to some degree.
Where did the Bolsheviks, at the suggestion of Yakov Sverdlov, get the red color for their national flag? You will laugh, but also from abroad. They were known as great admirers of the French Revolution, where the main idols of the Jacobins used the red Phrygian hat as the emblem of the republic and the red flag as a symbol of the blood of the martyrs of the revolution.
In the 19th century, the red flag finally established itself as a revolutionary symbol. in Europe. We were inseparable historically and culturally at some point.
The author expresses his personal opinion, which may not coincide with the editors’ position.