State flag of the Russian Federation

The white-blue-red flag with three equal horizontal stripes was approved by Peter the Great, who on January 20, 1705 ordered to hoist it on all Russian trade vessels sailing on the Moskva, Volga and Dvina rivers.

The arrangement of the stripes has several interpretations. The white, blue and red, regarded from top to bottom, represented the three cardinal virtues of Faith, Hope and Love. At the same time, according to the Russian tradition, white colour meant nobility, blue – honesty, red – courage and love.

From the middle of the XIX century the three-colour flag gradually acquired the functions of the national symbol. Thus, in 1856, during the Paris Congress, while the peace treaty to end the Crimea war was being negotiated, the white-blue-red banner was used as the national flag of the Russian Empire. At that time the tricolor was meant to symbolize the unity of the three East Slavonic nations — Russian, Ukrainian and Belorussian.

However, on June 11, 1858 Alexander II issued an order proclaiming a black-yellow-white banner to be the Russian national flag.

The matter was reconsidered by Alexander III, who in 1883 ordered, that “exclusively the Russian flag is to be used on ceremonial occasions”. And in 1896, on the eve of the coronation of the last Russian Emperor Nikolai II the white-blue-red banner gained an official status of the state flag. The white stripe was meant to symbolize freedom and independence, sky-blue was the colour of Holy Mother that protected Russia, and the red colour was thought to be a symbol of power and sovereignty.

After the October Revolution of 1917 the Soviet Red Banner replaced the Russian flag. The Russian Federation, as part of the USSR, had its own flag, similar to the Soviet flag – red with a thin blue vertical stripe, and a gold star, hammer and sickle in the upper left corner.

76 years later the old three-colour flag returned as the national flag of the Russian Federation. At first it was adopted by the Presidential Decree of December 11, 1993. Later the national flag was officially approved by the Federal Law of December 25, 2000.