The Russian Navy ensign, also known as St. Andrew's flag (; Russian Pre-reform: Андреевскій флагъ), was the ensign of the Navy of the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

(from 1712 to 1918), and is the naval ensign of the

Russian Federation Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

since 1992, and the banner of the Navy of the Russian Federation since 2000. The flag has a white background with two

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

diagonal bands, forming a

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a Heraldry, heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross. The word comes from the Middle French , Medieval Latin ("stirrup"). From its use as field sign, the saltire cam ...

, called St. Andrew's Cross. The ratio of the flag's width to its length is 1 / 1.5, the width of the blue band is 1 / 10 the length of the flag. The Guard Ribbon and image of order awarded to the ship can be added to the flag. Russian_navy_ensign_of_the_order_of_Nakhimov_on_the_battlecruiser_Moskva

Russian_navy_ensign_of_the_order_of_Nakhimov_on_the_battlecruiser_Moskva

History

In 1698 Peter I the Great established the first Russian medal, the Order of St. Andrew, which is to be awarded for military exploits and public service. When he became

tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...

, he started to devise a flag for the Russian Navy. The symbolism of the flag is a tribute to his father, Alexei Mikhailovich Romanov, who established a special flag for the first Russian naval ship, the three-masted frigate . In 1699 on the draft of the tsar's instruction to Yemelyan Ukraintsev concerning protocol issues of the Russian

embassy A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a Sovereign state, state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase ...

to the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire (), also called the Turkish Empire, was an empire, imperial realm that controlled much of Southeast Europe, West Asia, and North Africa from the 14th to early 20th centuries; it also controlled parts of southeastern Centr ...

there is a white-blue-red three-striped flag crossed by a diagonal blue

St. Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( ; ; ; ) was an apostle of Jesus. According to the New Testament, he was a fisherman and one of the Apostles in the New Testament, Twelve Apostles chosen by Jesus. The title First-Called () used by the Eastern Orthodox Chu ...

's cross. In 1700 the flags of

admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

(white),

vice admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

(blue) and counter admiral (red) were introduced; in the canton (the shaft's upper corner) placed the image of St. Andrew's flag on a three-striped background. Officially, the right of Russian warships to fly St. Andrew's flag was announced after the occupation of

Kotlin Island Kotlin (; ) is a Russian island, located near the head of the Gulf of Finland, west of Saint Petersburg in the Baltic Sea. Kotlin separates the Neva Bay from the rest of the gulf. The fortified city of Kronstadt is located on the island and form ...

in 1703. Since then, the flag with St. Andrew's cross has been used as a symbol of Russia's access to the four seas — the

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, Baltic, Azov and Caspian. In 1705 a drawing of a three-striped St. Andrew's flag was placed in a book by , published in

Holland Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...

. Since 1709 St. Andrew's cross on a white field was placed in the cantons of naval flags. In 1712, the final version of the ensign for the fleet's main forces (the middle part of the squadron) and ships in solo voyage — St. Andrew's flag of white colour with a blue (cyan) cross reaching to the cloth's corners was adopted. From 1692 to 1712 Peter I personally drew eight proposed flags that have consistently been taken into the

Navy A navy, naval force, military maritime fleet, war navy, or maritime force is the military branch, branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral z ...

. Description of the flag's final version by Peter I: Original Text (

Orthography An orthography is a set of convention (norm), conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, punctuation, Word#Word boundaries, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and Emphasis (typography), emphasis. Most national ...

and font (ru) are also original): Modern Russian: Blue and red flags with St. Andrew's flag in the cantons were abolished in 1732–43, 1764–97 (finally abolished in 1865). In 1819 St. George's ensign was established as a reward flag — St. Andrew's flag with the image of St. George placed on a red shield in the centre. It was awarded to the line ship '' Azov'' (1827) and the brig '' Mercurii'' (1829). In 1837 St. George's flag was introduced for naval crews. St. Andrew's flag was cancelled by the decree of the All-Russian Congress of the Navy of 18 November (1 December) 1917. During the

Russian Civil War The Russian Civil War () was a multi-party civil war in the former Russian Empire sparked by the 1917 overthrowing of the Russian Provisional Government in the October Revolution, as many factions vied to determine Russia's political future. I ...

St. Andrew's flag was hoisted on the ships. After the

Russian Revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

, the Russian Navy Ensign was changed, but it was used by the White Army up to 1924. The flag of St Andrew was reintroduced in the Russian Navy in 1992 by the decree of

Boris Yeltsin Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin (1 February 1931 – 23 April 2007) was a Soviet and Russian politician and statesman who served as President of Russia from 1991 to 1999. He was a member of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union (CPSU) from 1961 to ...

from 21 July, and is still used today.

History

Notes

References

General

See also