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

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War ...

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

Russian Federation Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...

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

saltire A saltire, also called Saint Andrew's Cross or the crux decussata, is a heraldic symbol in the form of a diagonal cross, like the shape of the letter X in Roman type. The word comes from the Middle French ''sautoir'', Medieval Latin ''saltatori ...

, called

St Andrew Andrew the Apostle ( grc-koi, Ἀνδρέᾱς, Andréās ; la, Andrēās ; , syc, ܐܰܢܕ݁ܪܶܐܘܳܣ, ʾAnd’reʾwās), also called Saint Andrew, was an apostle of Jesus according to the New Testament. He is the brother of Simon Pete ...

'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 The Order of St. Andrew the Apostle the First-Called (russian: Орден Святого апостола Андрея Первозванного, translit=Orden Svyatogo apostola Andreya Pervozvannogo) is the highest order conferred by both the ...

, which is to be awarded for military exploits and public service. When he became

tsar Tsar ( or ), also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar'', is a title used by East and South Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word ''caesar'', which was intended to mean "emperor" in the European medieval sense of the ter ...

, he started to devise a flag for the Russian Navy. The symbolism of the flag is a tribute to his father, Alexey Mikhaylovich Romanov, who established a special flag for the first Russian

naval ship A naval ship is a military ship (or sometimes boat, depending on classification) used by a navy. Naval ships are differentiated from civilian ships by construction and purpose. Generally, naval ships are Damage control, damage resilient a ...

, the three-masted

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied somewhat. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed an ...

. From 1692 to 1712 Peter I personally drew eight proposed flags that have consistently been taken into the

Navy A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It in ...

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

Orthography An orthography is a set of conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, hyphenation, capitalization, word breaks, emphasis, and punctuation. Most transnational languages in the modern period have a writing system, and ...

and font (ru) are also original): Modern Russian: {, style="font-family:Academy Old; font-size:1.0em; border-color:#000000; border-width:1px; border-style:solid; border-collapse:collapse; background-color:#F8F8EF; text-align:left" , - , , - , Флаг белый, поперек этого имеется синий Андреевский крест, коим Россию окрестил он. After the

Russian revolution The Russian Revolution was a period of political and social revolution that took place in the former Russian Empire which began during the First World War. This period saw Russia abolish its monarchy and adopt a socialist form of government ...

, the Russian Navy Ensign was changed, but it was used by the

White Army The White Army (russian: Белая армия, Belaya armiya) or White Guard (russian: Бѣлая гвардія/Белая гвардия, Belaya gvardiya, label=none), also referred to as the Whites or White Guardsmen (russian: Бѣлогв� ...

up to 1924. The flag of St Andrew was reintroduced in the Russian Navy in 1992, and is still used today.

History

References

See also