The nation of Russia has designed and used various flags throughout history. Listed in this article are flags — federal, administrative, military, etc. — used between the time of the Tsardom of Russia (1547–1721), Russian Empire (1721–1917) and today's Russian Federation (1991–present day). Also included are flags from the USSR (1922–1991), a country that existed as a federal union of 15 distinct national republics, including the Russian SFSR (1917–1991).
State flag
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Flag | Date | Use | Description |
| 1991–1993 | State flag | Flag of the Russian Federation from 12 December 1991 to 11 December 1993. Still included in the State Heraldic Register. |
| 1993–present | Proportion changed from 1:2 to 2:3. First, the Decree of the President of the Russian Federation "On the State Flag of the Russian Federation", adopted on December 11, 1993, then Constitutional law "On the State Flag of the Russian Federation" adopted on 25 December 2000. |
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Presidential flags
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Standard | Date | Use | Description |
| 1994–present | Presidential Standard | Current Presidential Standard of the Russian Federation. |
| 1994–present | Flag of the President as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces | |
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Military flags
Following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, for a brief time, many Soviet era flags were still in use until new designs replaced them in the early 2000s. The new flags of the Russian Armed Forces are heavily inspired by the regimental banners and flags of the late Imperial Russian Army and Navy.
Flags of service branches
Flags of the Ground Forces
Flags of the arms of the Ground Forces of the Russian Federation
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Flags of the Aerospace Forces
The Aerospace Forces are a branch of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation, it has three arms, the Russian Air Force, the Air Defense Forces, and the Russian Space Forces. The Air Defense Forces does not have a flag.
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Flag | Date | Use | Description |
| 2004– | Flag of the Air Force | |
| 2015– | Flag of the Space Forces | Light blue field with the Russian Space Forces emblem (Space Forces Circumflex). |
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Flags of the Rear of the Armed Forces
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Military district flags
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Banners of the Armed Forces
Each branch of the Armed Forces has a representative banner, one for the Ground Forces, the Aerospace Forces, the Navy, and one to represent the entire Armed Forces as a whole.
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Obverse (Front) | Reverse (Back) | Date | Use | Description |
| | 2000–2003 | Banner of the Armed Forces | The first banner of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation was introduced on 8 December 2000, later confirmed by Federation Council on 20 December and signed by Vladimir Putin on 29 December. It was a plain red field, it symbolized the traditional red color of the Armed Forces of the Soviet Union. |
| | 2003– | The present banner of the Armed Forces of Russian Federation is introduced under a resolution by State Duma in June 2003. This banner consists of two double-headed eagles, on the obverse side is the coat of arms of the Russian Federation, and on the reverse side is the middle emblem of the armed forces of the Russian Federation. The banner follows the principles and format of historically older Russian military flags that were last used prior to the Russian Revolution in 1917. It also contains four stars in each corner of the banner to symbolize the heritage of the Soviet Armed Forces. The reverse side also contains two pieces of text written in old style Slavic typeface, the top side of the banner contains the inscription "Fatherland" ("Отечество") and on the bottom side the inscription reads "Duty [and] Honor" ("Долг Честь").[1] |
| | 2002– | Banner of the Ground Forces | The banner of the Russian Ground Forces was introduced by decree No. 141 on February 4, 2002, by Vladimir Putin. It is similar to the above banner, but doesn't have stars and inscriptions, on the reverse side is the middle emblem of the Russian Ground Forces. |
| | 2002– | Banner of the Air Force/Aerospace Forces | The banner of the Russian Air Forces was introduced by decree No. 141 on February 4, 2002, by Vladimir Putin.[2] It became the banner of the newly created Aerospace Forces branch, which saw the merger between the Russian Air Forces and the Air Defence Forces on August 1, 2015. |
| | 2000– | Banner of the Navy | The ensign of the Russian Navy is used as the banner of the Russian Navy. On December 29, 2000, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a federal law making the naval ensign of the Russian navy the official banner of the Russian Navy.[3] |
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Victory Banner
The Victory Banner was a historical banner raised atop of the Reichstag building in Berlin, by the Red Army, on May 1, 1945. It signified the victory over Nazi Germany, and served as the main symbol of victory of the Soviet people. It was amended in Russian law in 1996, but with a new design to distance the new Russian state from any usage of Communist iconography. In 2007, following pressure from Red Army veterans, the original Victory Banner design replaced the 1996 variant, and has since then served its usage in virtually every single Victory Day parade held across Russia.
Command Standards
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Paramilitary flags
This section covers flags of the various government paramilitary organizations which are not part of the Russian military, but are structured similarly by ranking system, uniforms, and are equipped with both light and heavy arms.
Flags of non-military security forces
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Flags of special services
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Pennants
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Civil ensign and national flag
Prior to the creation of the first official flag of Russia in 1858, several merchant flags were used to represent Russia, the most notable being the White, Blue, and Red tricolor devised by Tsar Peter the Great. The historical State Flags of Russia were signed by decree to officially represent the country as a whole. The Black, Yellow, and White tricolor became the first official flag of Russia in 1858, with previous flags being de facto unofficial flags of Russia.
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Flag | Date | Use | Description |
| 1668–1693 | Civil ensign of the Tsardom of Russia | Ensign of the Oryol ship. |
| 1696–1721 | Peter the Great's tricolour was the merchant flag of the Russian Empire. However, the flags used by the Russian Army were regimental flags with the Double-Headed Eagle, the official Imperial symbol, in the centre. The Imperial Standard was the black Double-Headed Eagle displayed on a golden banner, which represented the Empire and the Emperor, the absolute ruler of Russia.[4] When the black-yellow-white flag was in use between 1858 and 1896, the white-blue-red flag was still used as a merchant ensign.[4] |
1721–1896 | Civil ensign of the Russian Empire |
| 1858–1896 | State flag of the Russian Empire | On 11 June 1858, by decree of Alexander II, the heraldic colors of the empire were approved for flags, banners and other items (draperies, rosettes, etc.). It became the first State flag of Russia in 1865. The white-blue-red flag was reintroduced in 1883 but the black-yellow-white remained in use until it was fully replaced in all circumstances in 1896.[5][6][7][8][9] |
| 1896–1917 | On 28 April 1883, Alexander III amended the 1858 decree "on flags for decorating buildings on solemn occasions" to be replaced exclusively with the white-blue-red colours. This meant that the white-blue-red flag was now to be used on land in addition to at seas. It fully replaced the black-yellow-white flag when it became the only official National flag in time for the coronation of Nicholas II in 1896. |
1917–1918 | National flag of the Russian Republic | The Russian Provisional Government and the Russian Republic kept using the same flag after the monarchy was overthrown in the February Revolution. During the Russian Civil War, it was also used by the Russian State in 1918–1920 and the White Guards overall until their defeat in 1923. |
1918–1920 | National flag of the Russian State |
| 1918–1937 | State flag of the Russian SFSR | The first flag of the RSFSR was established by decree on 13 April 1918. However the law never provided an official drawing or depiction. Instead, a simple red flag was commonly used. The description of the decree stated that the "flag of the Russian Republic is set on a red banner with the inscription: Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic (Russian: Российская Советская Федеративная Социалистическая Республика)." The decree however did not specify the exact shade of red used on the flag, nor the exact placement and size of the inscription, the ratio of the flag itself and the colour and font of the words. There is no evidence to suggest such a flag was ever produced and used. Later that year, on 17 June 1918, a decree was established on the new state flag of the RSFSR. This time, the law provided an official image for the flag. The ratio of the flag was 1:2, located in the upper left corner, the letters "R.S.F.S.R" appeared in old Slavonic font and were surrounded by a golden border. |
| 1937–1954 | Red banner with stylized "RSFSR" abbreviation in gold Cyrillic letters in the honour canton. |
| 1954–1991 | The flag of the Soviet Union with a blue band at the hoist. |
| 1991 | Used by protesters during the August Coup and proclaimed national flag on 22 August 1991, then formally adopted as the state flag on 1 November. |
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Personal flags
Other Royal flags
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Flag of the Supreme Ruler
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Presidential standard
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Standard | Date | Use | Description |
| 1991 | Presidential standard of the Russian SFSR | Unofficial standard of the president of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, used during the inauguration of Boris Yeltsin on 10 July 1991.[13][14] A law establishing the official standard for the President of Russia was not created until 1994, at the time of Yeltsin's first inauguration, an impromptu standard was created solely for the event, but without any official decree or design. |
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Proposed flags
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Flag | Submitted | Planned use | Description |
| 1914 | National flag of the Russian Empire | A tricolour of horizontal stripes, white, blue and red, with a yellow canton with the coat of arms. Introduced as a flag for private use on the outbreak of World War I on 8 September 1914 with introduction as a national flag planned for after the war, hence never officially adopted.[15] |
| 1948, 1949 | State flag of the Russian SFSR | A proposal for the state flag of the RSFSR was created by artist Alexey Kokorekin [ru]. It added white and blue horizontal stripes at the bottom, both two stripes took 1⁄6 of the flag's height. |
| c. 1949 | State flag of the Russian SFSR | Another proposal with the traditional Russian tricolour at the bottom. |
| c. 1950 | State flag of the Russian SFSR | Another proposal for the state flag of the RSFSR was created by Mikhail Rodionov. It consisted of a traditional tricolour flag and a hammer and a sickle in the middle of the flag. Because of his proposal, he was accused of anti-Sovietism in 1950, at the Leningrad affair case.[16] |
| 1994; 1997 | State flag of the Russian Federation | Project flags of Russia after the dissolution of the USSR with communist symbols slightly modified, submitted multiple times in the State Duma by Communist and Agrarian deputies.[17][18][19] |
| 2007 | Symbol of Victory Banner | As described in a bill from 2007 vetoed by Vladimir Putin's presidential decree.[20] The flag was used on public display during celebrations of the Victory Day and other events related to past wars during the first decade of the 2000s, along with the state flag. |
| 2011 | State flag of the Russian Federation | On April 18, Vladimir Zhirinovsky with the LDPR party proposed to the State Duma the adoption of the Russian Imperial (Romanov's) flag as the official flag of Russia.[21] |
| 2022 | State flag of the Russian Federation | On April 19, the CPRF proposed to the State Duma the adoption of the Soviet flag as the official flag of Russia.[22] |
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Bonnell, Victoria E. Russia at the barricades: eyewitness accounts of the August 1991 coup. M.E. Sharpe, 1994, p92
Condee, Nancy. Soviet hieroglyphics: visual culture in late twentieth-century Russia. Indiana University Press, 1995, p49
Saunders, Nicholas J. Matters of conflict: material culture, memory and the First World War. Routledge, 2004, p129
National Museum of Science and Technology (Canada). Material history review. Canada Science and Technology Museum, 2000, p46
Bill 97700653-2 «On the State Flag of the Russian Federation», submitted by the CPRF deputy Oleg Shinkarev on 11 February 1997 stated that «the State Flag of the Russian Federation is a rectangular red colored sheet. In the left upper corner of it are golden hammer and sickle. Flag's ratio is 1:2» (article 1).