The Flag

A flag is a cloth of certain color or several colors attached to a staff or a cord and often with an emblem. An official symbol of the goverment which personifies sovereignty of state. Flag description is set in the constitution as a rule.

The first mention about russian flag appeared in 1668 in the time of Aleksey Michailovich reign, the futher of Peter I, when the trade with foreign countries begun a rapid development. King Aleksey Michailovich gave an order to build ships for trade caravans defencing. Workmans from the nearest villages were gathered in the small one Dedinovo which placed on the Oka river and the ship "Eagle" would be built soon. Butler was appointed as a capitan. Butler, according to many historical documents, distinguished by pedantical and stern temper. He first of all asked king about a flag the ship would put out. Butler did not to fail to notice that the ship flag is the same as the national one. But there was no national flag that time.

King decided on the white-blue-red flag, thoroughly learnt colors of flags in other countries. And that flag begun untwisting on the Volgo-Kaspiskaya flotillia. But Peter I changed status of the flag in January 20, 1705. The sovereign ordered to use a banner which had been designed by himself. Peter I with his own hand designed a model and determined an order of horizontal lines on the flag. Historian suppose that the Dutch flag which consists of three horizantal lines the same color was a model of the one designed by Peter I. Dutch flag presented as the one of the first liberation flag in Europe. The fight for the independence of the Netherlands was carried on that banner.

The new Andreyevskiy flag flied up on naval ships in 1712. The flag was white with an azure cross as the honour of holy apostle Andrey Pervozvanniy.

Every russian king counted as his debt to make changes in russian symbolics. Thus, king Aleksander II set third black-yellow-white flag for goverment and administration institutes in 1858. Its colors symbolized earth-gold-silver. The so-called "monarchical" flag had been existed till 1883 year.

The cross was on the paternal flags since the time of christening of Russia. That's why they found the meaning of a sanctuary. The cross protects the state against various disasters. If we ever look at flags of european countries today, we will notice that the countries with a cross pictured on the flag have happy fate, but the others with pictures of horizontal lines have a lot of heavy. The fatal period started for our country after acceptance of the flag with horizontal lines. It was the time of conter-reform of Aleksander III, Hodinka, Blade Sunday, defeat in Russian-Japan war, hard losses in the time of First World War, three revolutions and civil war.

It is difficult to not agree with an opinion of the famous russian scientific, the author of the Explanatory Dictionary of Vladimir Dal. He noted that all nations in Europe know they own national colors, but we don't know and often raise multicolor flags inopportunely. And only in 1896 the day before Nikolay II crowning the white-blue-red color was proved. The red color was meaning powerness, azure - the color of Mother of God by which russia was covering that time and white was meaning the color of freedom and independence. Anybody begun recognizing the power russian state by this flag everywhere.

The fate of white-blue-flag was dramatical. After 24 years in April 1918 the red flag was established by suggestion of Jakov Sveridov. It was be probably taked over europian socialists last age. Thought to tragic and enought long period in the life of our country, people withstanded the country against fascists just under this flag.

And once in 1990 the necessity of democratic changes became obvious. There was no thing renewing the red flag removed from the building of Supreme Soviet. And then the white-blue-red flag was rised over the known buiding on Krasnopresnenskaya quay. It was in Augest 22, 1991.