The national flag of Russia consist of three horizontal stripes of red on the bottom, blue in the middle and white on the top. Those colours are considered to be Pan-Slavic. Russian government has never assigned any official meaning to the colors of the national flag. It was adopted in the middle of 17th century.
The Origins of the Flag of Russia
According to one theory, the colors of the flag came from the Grand Duchy of Moscow and depict Saint George in a silver armor, on a white horse, wearing a blue cap on a red field. Another theory states that white color is a symbol of God, blue of Tsar and red of peasants. Another theory states that white stands for a bright future, blue for clouded present and red for the bloody past. The 22nd of August is officially a Flag Day in Russia.
Peter the Great chose such flag for Russia because he was very fond of Holland. Nevertheless, it first appeared during the reign of the first tsar of the Romanov dynasty, Mikhail Fedorovich. In 1634, the court of Mikhail Fedorovich embassy arrived from Holstein Friedrich III. In addition to diplomatic issues, the embassy has also decided the question of the construction of ten ships to travel to Persia. The first ship, «Frederick», was launched in 1636. His term of shipboard life was short-lived, but he went under the Holstein flag suspiciously like our current tricolor. Alexis chose this flag for the first Russian frigate As the team consisted entirely of frigates of the Dutch, so without hesitation, it was decided to put a flag identical to the Dutch.
Former Russian Flags
At the times of Ivan the Terrible the traditional flag was red with the image of Christ. In 1552, Russian troops marched under it on the victorious assault on Kazan. The flag of Tsar Alexiei Michilovich was deeply symbolic. Musketeer banners inspired it. It is based on the Cross.Thus, this flag indicates the mission of Russia in the universe, as the last speaker on the true faith — Orthodoxy.
The flag of the Romanov dynasty had three colours – black, yellow and white). It was introduced in the Decree of Alexander II of June 11, 1858.The developer of the flag was probably B.Kene. Black-yellow-white flag is based on the Russian heraldic tradition. Its black color stands for two-headed eagle, yellow for gold fields and white is the color of communication.
The first person who used the tricolor in the USSR was Garry Kasparov. During the world championship match with Anatoly Karpov (who played under the Soviet flag), Kasparov made a red, white and blue flag. Everything was changing and Garry obviously felt how and where the wind was blowing. Kasparov, by the way, won that match. A year later new flag established.
