Since 1991, Russia has celebrated National Flag Day on August 22, honoring one of the country's main symbols. This holiday was established by a Presidential Decree "On the Day of the State Flag of the Russian Federation" "to instill in present and future generations of Russian citizens a respectful attitude towards state symbols."
The tricolor flag was first raised in May 1669 over the deck of Russia's first military ship, the "Oryol" (Eagle), built by state order.
The Central Naval Museum in St. Petersburg houses a tricolor flag raised by Peter the Great on the yacht "Svyatoy Pyotr" (Saint Peter) in 1693, under which the young Tsar embarked on his first sea voyage from Arkhangelsk.
In 1858, Alexander II approved a state flag with the "heraldic colors of the Empire": "The arrangement of these colors is horizontal, the top stripe is black, the middle is yellow (or gold), and the bottom is white (or silver)." Nevertheless, the white-blue-red flag was also positioned as a national flag. It was used to surround the monument to A.S. Pushkin, unveiled on his birthday in 1880, the monument to the grenadiers who fell at Plevna, and was used during the Russo-Japanese War, among other occasions.
On the eve of the coronation of Alexander III, a Supreme Order on flags was issued, which permitted the use of "exclusively the Russian flag": "on those solemn occasions when it is deemed possible to allow the decoration of buildings with flags, exclusively the Russian flag was to be used, consisting of three stripes: the top – white, the middle – blue, and the bottom – red…".
In 1896, Nicholas II declared the tricolor the national flag. At that time, attempts were made to explain the symbolism of its colors through church imagery and moral categories. Art historian A.I. Uspensky provided the following description: white denotes imperishable perfection, peace, purity, truth, nobility, perfection, innocence; red symbolizes courage, war, defense of the faith and the poor, heroism, magnanimity, blood, self-sacrifice, fire, mortal combat; blue denotes the sky, chastity, fidelity, spirituality, faith.
In 1918, by a special decree, the Red Banner with the inscription: "Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic" was designated as the flag of the Russian Republic. During the Soviet period, the banner included an image of a gold hammer and sickle and above it a red five-pointed star.
After the dissolution of the USSR, Peter's flag was restored "in connection with the reinstatement on August 22, 1991, of the historical Russian tricolor state flag, shrouded in the glory of many generations of Russians…".