August 22 marks the Day of the State Flag of the Russian Federation. Many people may not know this, and the public awareness is uneven. The holiday was established as part of the country’s post-1991 restart, yet over time that restart itself sometimes overshadowed the new ideological narrative. A survey by VTsIOM a few years ago showed that half of Russians could not describe the flag properly. About a third could name the colors of the three stripes but could not place them correctly. With flag-raising ceremonies now part of school life, more young people may grow up recognizing which flag their country uses.
The origin of the three colors in their present form remains partly debated among historians. There is no single, universal interpretation of what the colors signify. In the late 19th century, when the white-blue-red tricolor was adopted as the national flag before the coronation of Nicholas II, common explanations linked the colors to sovereignty, the Motherland, and freedom. The colors were also seen as representing the unity of White Russia, Little Russia, and Great Russia. While modern readers may find such symbolism plausible, the interpretation is not universally agreed upon according to historical sources.
Historically, this color combination competed for centuries with the black-yellow-white tricolor. That arrangement emerged in the mid-19th century, around 1858, and was approved as the state flag of the Russian Empire by decree of Alexander I. The black-yellow-white palette rests on deeper historical roots; for instance, in 1472 Grand Duke III adopted the symbol of the imperial family of Palaiologos and the Byzantine influence, aligning it with the Moscow principality’s emblem of Saint George on horseback. This mix of symbols contributed to the evolution of imperial and state insignia in Russia.
The black-yellow-white colors appeared prominently in Peter the Great’s era and continued to appear in various state symbols, including army cockades and naval insignia. Peter’s adoption of the color scheme in official uses paralleled his broader Westernizing drive. When Peter returned from the Netherlands after his ambassadorship, influence from Dutch and European heraldry left a mark on Russian emblems, even as the official navy sometimes used the white-blue-red tricolor for ships and ceremonial purposes. The origin story of the flag thus intertwines practical needs, maritime symbolism, and international influences rather than a single, neat lineage.
During the period of the early imperial navy, the white-blue-red tricolor sometimes served as the ship flag or building adornment, reflecting shifting political signals and practical considerations. The Saint Andrew’s cross, associated with the patron saint of fishermen and sailors, also appeared in various forms of symbolism after the Dutch connections during the early modern era. The cross and the tricolor shared space in the broader tapestry of Russian heraldry as the state navigated alliances and regional identity.
The status of the black-yellow-white combination in Peter’s era carried weight because it echoed the Holy Roman Empire’s heraldic imagery, notably the black double-headed eagle on a gold field. This parallel underscored a broader Western orientation in Peter’s policy. The final form of the black-yellow-white flag was officially adopted in 1858, marking a distinct episode in the diversification of Russia’s state symbols.
After the Peace of Paris and the Crimean War, Russia faced significant geopolitical shifts. The Russian embassy in Paris reportedly continued to favor the white-blue-red tricolor for certain official uses, while a broader pattern emerged in the second half of the 19th century where the white-blue-red palette appeared in various decorative contexts. In 1883, Alexander III ordered the white-blue-red flag to be used as the flag of the Russian Empire for building decoration, signaling a shift toward a national symbol that could be recognized domestically and abroad. Earlier, in 1880, the flag had already been used during the crowded ceremony marking the opening of Pushkin’s monument in Moscow, a moment captured in surviving records as evidence of its status as a national symbol.
Alexander III’s tenure also reflected geopolitical realities, including tensions with Germany and Austria-Hungary and a move toward closer ties with France. The broader political climate helped shape the choice of symbols and heightened the need for a flag that could be seen as distinctly Russian while acknowledging international dynamics. The white-blue-red tricolor served repeatedly as a banner associated with the Slavic peoples striving for independence and self-determination, with Serbs, Montenegrins, Croats, Slovenes, and Czechs adopting similar colors at various times. This regional symbolism reinforced the flag’s legitimacy within a broader European context.
As for the Bolshevik era, the red color was chosen to symbolize revolution, drawing inspiration from contemporaries abroad and the influence of revolutionary iconography from the French Revolution and other movements. The red flag solidified its status as a revolutionary symbol in Europe, a development that remained intertwined with Russia’s own political evolution. In the long arc of the 19th and early 20th centuries, the white-blue-red tricolor and the red flag coexisted in different spheres of state life before the modern consolidation of national symbols. Historical sources consistently note that the evolution of Russia’s flag reflects a blend of maritime utility, imperial symbolism, and geopolitical strategy rather than a simple, unilateral choice.