Flag and Coat of Arms (1/2): The Russian Flag

The current Russian flag easily reminds you of the Dutch one. And if so, you’re on the right track about the origin of the Russian tricolor: the white-blue-red of the Russian Federation directly stems from the red-white-blue of the Netherlands.

Meaning of the White-Blue-Red

There are several interpretations regarding the reasoning behind this tricolor. One says white stands for God, blue for the tsar or king, and red for the land and people. More commonly, the colors are linked to noble qualities: white for purity, blue for loyalty, red for courage, and more.

Summary: ‘Although there are different theories (…), none is accepted as the correct one. Russian law does not assign any official meanings to the colors.’

See Flag/ Fan Friday Russia (Geography Now, 2020, 15 mins) and Symbolism of Russian flag and coat of arms (Geografie 28, 2018, 1 min).

See/read:

• Flag of Russia – Colors, Meaning, History (Edarabia)
• What does the Russian flag mean (Young Pioneer Tours)

Russia Explained Russia’s Flag Explained: Meaning of the White-Blue-Red
(General Knowledge, 2018, 8 mins)

History and Evolution of the Russian flag

• Flag of Russia: Historical Evolution (Redouane Guelailia, 2020, 1 min)
• История флага российского (Максим Кац, 2020, 12 mins)
• Краткая история российского флага (Краткая История, 2019, 8 mins)
• Russian Flag History. Timeline of Russian Flags with European Map (1700-2018) (World Heraldry, 2018, 6 mins)
• Fun With Flags #13 – Russian Flag (General Knowledge, 2018, 8 mins)
• The True History Behind The Russian Flag (FTD Facts, 2017, 6 mins)

What Happened to the Old Russian Flag?
(History With Hilbert, 2020, 10 mins)

 

Colors and color codes

Blue and red come in many shades. What the exactly correct ones are, is not set by law. However, it is required by law that the blue be dark (unlike the 1991 to 1993 version). This may also be because the Russian light blue – голубой – is a slang word to refer to gay men (more on Moscas de Colores, Urban Dictionary, Wiktionary).

Hex codes: #0033A0 for blue and #DA291C for red (Scheme Color), or #0039A6 and #D52B1E (Apple Colors). White is always #FFFFFF.

More Russian flags

For flags of regions or oblasts, see Flags of the federal subjects of Russia by date of adopted (Geografie 28, 2018, 9 mins) and Federal subjects of Russia (idem, 11 mins). Flags of former Soviet countries in New national flags of Post-Soviet states (idem, 2 mins).

Russian Flag Day (August 22)

Not that many flags have their own special holiday. Obviously, the Russian one does. August 22 is National Flag Day in Russia.

Watch

• Day of the Russian Flag | Tricolor the size of a football field unfurled in the sky over Moscow region (RT, 2020, 1.5 min)
• Russia: Tens of thousands mark National Flag Day with huge flash mob in Moscow (Ruptly, 2019, 3 mins)
• White, Blue and Red: Russia celebrates its national flag day (RT, 2019, 1.5 min)

Check/read

• National Flag Day in Moscow (Mos.ru, 2018)
• Russia celebrates State Flag Day (Russia Beyond, 2017)
• The day of the National Flag of the Russian Federation (Presidential Library, 2000)

22 August Russia National Flag Day
(Russian Friendship House, 2023, 2 m)

More on the Russian flag

Watch

• Русский флаг: каким он должен быть (Роман Юнеман, 2020, 10 mins)
• Why Russia’s flag is banned from sports (J.J. McCullough, 2020, 5 mins)
• Не ври / Российский флаг – это Власовский флаг? (Mr. Lurk, 2020, 7 mins)
• Интересные факты о Флаге России, СССР, Российской империи (Mikita Monaco, 2019, 6 mins)

Check/read

• Everything you ever wanted to know about the Russian tricolor (Enjoy Russian, 2020)
• Историк рассказал, как родился российский триколор (Ria.ru, 2019)
• От триколора к триколору: как и когда менялся национальный флаг России (Oblgazeta.ru, 2019)
• Был ли русский флаг черным и как голландцы придумали его современную версию (Реальное Время, 2019)
• Britannica
• Russia Flag (World Population Review)
• Wikipedia EN, RU

Downloads available at Countryflags, Flagpedia, and PNGtree.
Images at WallpaperCave and WallpaperAccess.

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Last updated April 02, 2026