Flag top red bottom white. St. Andrew's flag

This page uses materials from the book by A.N. Basov "History of Naval Flags", the book by V.A. Sokolov "Vexillological Reference for the Flags of the Russian Empire and the USSR", as well as letters by A.N. Basov.

Actually the navy appeared in Russia only under Peter I. Naval flags apparently appeared on the Peter I training fleet on Pereyaslav lake. As it is known, Peter's passion for navigation began with the old English bot found by him in N. Baraman's barn. The repaired bot was tested by the tsar on Yauza and the Prosyanom pond of the village of Izmaylova, but they seemed too close to him. After that, Peter transported the boat to Lake Pereyaslavskoe, where, under the guidance of the master Karsten Brant and other foreign craftsmen, several "small" frigates and yachts were also made. The construction of the Pereyavlav Flotilla was completed in 1692.

However, no objective information about the flags on the boat of Peter and on the ships of the Pereyaslav flotilla has been preserved. We can only guess about their appearance (and even about the very existence of such flags) ...

In 1693, Peter I, with several ships, undertook sailing along the Northern Dvina and the White Sea. Already at that time, Peter’s yacht was a white-blue-red striped flag with an eagle.

The next milestone in the history of the navy was the Azov fleet which began to be built in the 1690s. In The History of the Russian Fleet, describing the campaign of the galleys of the Azov fleet of Peter I (1696), S. Elagin wrote about the flags the following: "The colors are white, blue and red ....... it was very likely used in the Pereyaslav flotilla, fluttering on The ships of the Azov fleet. Actually the name of the flag, although occasionally found in descriptive books, was not yet adopted. "The banner that is needed to the sea route: white, blue, red", and "obykloe banner" - this is a characteristic of the flag left described books and documents of the time. In the course of the flag was worn on the top of the grotto-ray; at anchor, or in the case of cleaning the masts ... it probably went up on the aft flagpole. The expression "raising the flag" did not exist: the "flag", whether it was the stern flag or the signal flag, was "set" and "lowered". It is not known whether there was a difference for the flagships; from the descriptive books one can only see that there was a gold-headed flag with an eagle on the gallery of Lefort. On the vice admiral's gallery on the foremast a banner, on the main mast a badge, on the main grotto a pennant, on the forehead another pennant. "

A quote on "The History of the Russian Fleet" S.Elagina, St. Petersburg, 1864, ch. 1. with. 40

The appearance of the first naval flag of Russia is associated with the construction in 1669 of the first Russian warship "Orel". According to the remaining testimony for the "Eagle" in 1668, a flag was made consisting of white, blue and red colors (and for making the flag it took an equal amount of fabric of each color), the exact arrangement of colors is not known, the flag was told to "write" Russian state emblem (decree of Alexei Mikhailovich dated April 24, 1669).

I - Cross Flag. Version P. Belavenets

There are several reconstructions of this flag. According to one of the reconstructions (by P.I.Belavenets), the flag of the "Eagle" was divided by a blue cross into 2 red and 2 white fields according to an arrow pattern.

Godfathers scottish

St. Andrew’s flag, which became a symbol of the victories of the Russian Navy, like many other innovations, appeared in Russia in the time of Peter I.

First in history state flag   with the so-called Andrew's Cross appeared in Scotland.

On the oblique cross, the apostle Andrew the First-Called martyred. According to legend, in 832, King Angus II, who led the army of the Picts and Scots, before the battle with the Angles, who were led by Etelstan, on the night before the battle, prayed to God for a victory on the battlefield and made a vow that in case of victory, he would declare the holy Apostle Andrew the First Called patron saint of scotland. In the morning, clouds above the battlefield formed the letter “X” in the blue sky, repeating the shape of the cross on which Apostle Andrew was crucified. Inspired by the Scots and the Picts, they crushed the enemy, after which Andrew the First-Called was proclaimed patron of Scotland. The flag of the country has become a white oblique cross on blue background.

After the emergence of the personal union of England and Scotland in 1606, the Scottish Oblique Cross became part of the common flag of the United Kingdom and is present in it to this day.

The fleet gained a flag in honor of the patron saint of Russia

When at the turn of the XVII – XVIII centuries, Peter I thought about the new state symbols, the oblique cross was among the most preferred symbols.

According to legend, the Apostle Andrew visited the lands of the future Russia, therefore, since the XI century in the Russian lands he was a particularly revered saint - the heavenly patron of Russia.

In 1698, Peter I established the first order in Russia, which was the highest award of the Russian Empire, the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called. It is not surprising that among the flag designs that the king himself drew, there was also a flag with a slanting cross.

On December 11, 1699, Peter I approved the flag with a blue oblique cross on a white background with one of the flags adopted for use in the Russian fleet. In fact, the completion of the flag and status was conducted by the tsar for over two decades, and only the Ship charter of 1720 stated: “The flag is white, and across it there is a blue St. Andrew’s cross, which he christened Russia”.

“God is with us and St. Andrew’s flag!”

From that moment until 1917, the St. Andrew’s flag became the main and only flag in the Russian Navy. In 1819, it was supplemented by the St. George's Admiral's flag, representing the St. Andrew's flag, in the center of which a red heraldic shield with a canonical image was placed. st. George the Victorious. A similar flag was given to a ship whose crew showed exceptional courage and bravery in achieving victory or in defending the honor of a naval flag.

Initially, the length of the flag of St. Andrew reached four meters. The gigantic dimensions were necessary in order for the banner flying in the wind to create a terrifying roar - this was a kind of psychic attack.

The veneration of the flag of St. Andrew in the fleet was extremely great. The commanders of the Russian ships, engaging in battle, invariably repeated the same phrase: “God is with us and St. Andrew’s flag”.

The flagged ship was burned, the captain was forbidden to marry

The ship charter of Peter the Great, prescribing to protect the St. Andrew’s flag to the last drop of blood, was faithfully observed. In the entire history of the Russian fleet, the flag was voluntarily lowered only twice.

On May 11, 1829, the commander of the Russian frigate Raphael, Captain 2nd Rank Semyon Stroynikov, lowered the flag in front of a Turkish squadron of 15 ships, trying to save the life of the crew.

By decree of Emperor Nicholas I, a disgraced frigate was ordered to be burned when it fell into Russian hands. It happened only 24 years later, in the Battle of Sinop, however, the emperor’s will was executed - “Raphael”, who was in the Turkish fleet, was burned, and this name was never used for Russian ships.

As for Captain Stroynikov, he was deprived of all awards and titles on returning from captivity, and also demoted to simple sailors. Moreover, Stroynikov was forbidden to marry, "so as not to have in Russia the offspring of a coward and a traitor." The paradox, however, was that the disgraced captain already had two sons by that time, and both of them later became rear admirals of the Russian fleet.

The second time the flags on the Russian ships were lowered in 1905, at the end of the Tsushima battle, by order of Rear Admiral Nebogatov, who sought to save the lives of the remaining sailors and officers.

In August 1905, he was deprived of his rank for this act, and then put on trial, who in December 1906 sentenced the rear admiral to death, commuted to 10 years in a fortress. Nebogatov served 25 months, after which he was pardoned.

Return

The flag of the Russian Navy. The St. Andrew’s flag ceased to be in 1917. The last St. Andrew’s flags on Russian ships were lowered in 1924 in the port of Bizerte in northern Africa, where the squadron ships of the White Army were concentrated.

The darkest page in the history of the flag of St. Andrew was its use as symbolism by collaborationists from the Russian Liberation Army (ROA), General Vlasov, who fought on the side of the Nazis.

In January 1992, the Russian government decided to return the Russian Navy Andrew flag instead of the flag of the Soviet Navy.

On July 26, 1992, on the Day of the Navy, on all warships, the flags of the Soviet Navy were raised for the last time, after which, to the sound of the USSR hymn, they were

down Instead, a hymn Russian Federation   Andrew's flags were raised.

The only ship where the St. Andrew’s flag does not rise to this day is the Soviet submarine C-56, which has become a war memorial. In tribute to the feat of the Soviet seamen in the years of the Great Patriotic war   On the C-56 the ceremony of raising and lowering the flag of the Navy of the USSR takes place daily, and Russian symbols are not used.

Associated with the construction in 1669 of the first Russian warship "Eagle". According to the remaining testimony for the "Eagle" in 1668, a flag was made consisting of white, blue and red colors (and for making the flag it took an equal amount of fabric of each color), the exact arrangement of colors is not known, the flag was told to "write" Russian National emblem. There are several reconstructions of this flag. According to one of the reconstructions (by P.I.Belavenets), the flag of the "Eagle" was divided by a blue cross into 2 red and 2 white fields according to an arrow pattern (similar flags are depicted on the engraving of Adrian Shhonebek "Siege of Azov in 1696" (ca. 1700). A similar flag along with other variants is depicted in one of the first books about the flags of the Dutchman Karl Alarde (1695). The publication date of the book by Alard (1695) should not confuse the reader, while the books were printed for a very long time, and in the process of printing corrections and additions were made In fact, this version of the flag could appear in the book earlier than 1698.

Other historians believed that already on the "Eagle" appeared a flag of three horizontal bands: white, blue and red. Probably, this idea was first expressed by fleet historian FF Veselago

Peter I, fascinated by the idea of ​​creating the Russian fleet, he himself studied marine business, he went on a boat on Lake Pereyaslav, Prosyannoy pond in Izmailovo. Now the little boat of Peter I is kept in the fleet museum. On the remaining engravings, the small boat is depicted with an imperial standard on the mast and the flag of the general-admiral at the stern.

According to the historian P.I.Belavenets on August 6, 1693 in Arkhangelsk on the armed yacht "Saint Peter" Peter I used the striped white-blue-red "flag of the Tsar of Moscow" with a golden two-headed eagle in the middle lane. In the book of flags of Carlos Alard, this flag was described as:

"The flag of his Tsarist Majesty of Moscow is divided into three, the upper band is white, middle blue, and lower red. On the blue gold band there is a double-headed eagle with a silver Saint George without a serpent crowned with a gold royal carouin."

Now this flag is kept in the Maritime Museum of St. Petersburg. He got there from Arkhangelsk, where he stayed for many years, being donated by Peter I to Archbishop Athanasius of Archangel.

Some historians are inclined to believe that the white-blue-red flag was borrowed by Peter from Holland (the Dutch flag is almost the same, only the order of the stripes is different). Maybe it is so. But, as we can see, the use of white, blue and red colors on the flag was recorded under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, father of Peter, long before the West European voyage of Peter Alekseevich. The "Dutch" version is also associated with the head of the construction of the "Eagle" by the Dutch captain O. Butler. He was credited with the idea of ​​making the flag of a Russian ship modeled on the flags of his homeland.

In 1695, Peter I began the war with Turkey. This served as a powerful impetus to the creation of the navy. It was built many warships. Russian sailors entered the Black Sea, and then into the Baltic Sea.

In 1697, Peter I established a new model of the naval flag of Russia, which consisted of horizontal white, blue, and red stripes. In October-November 1699, the first versions of the Andreev flag appeared. In 1699, when the ship "Fortress" went to Constantinople, Peter I, in the instructions to the Russian envoy Emelyan Ukraintsev, drew a three-band flag with an oblique cross that crossed it.

Particularly Peter I emphasized that the St. Andrew's flag was chosen by him in honor of St. Andrew the First-Called "in order that from this apostle Russia took holy baptism." Additionally, the St. Andrew’s flag, according to Peter I, showed that Russia has access to the four seas. It is very likely that the flag of Scotland (blue with a white St. Andrew’s Cross) influenced Peter’s choice. Saint Andrew was considered the patron saint of Scotland long before the introduction of his cult in Russia. The famous Scottish Order of St. Andrew. Peter copied the order and perhaps decided to transfer to the Russian land and St. Andrew’s flag, only changing its colors.

  On the engravings with images of ships of the time can be seen various options for transitional types of naval flags (some of them are probably true, part of them is most likely an erroneous reconstruction of the engraver). For example, on an engraving depicting the ship “Pre-Destination” on the bow, on the stand and on the stern there are flags from 9 horizontal stripes; white, blue and red (this practice was widespread in Holland). The frigate "Dumkart" is depicted with a "hybrid" flag - the Andreevsky cross is framed above and below by stripes of national colors.

  On engraving with the image of "Poltava" on the stern of the ship flies white flag   with Andrew's cross, not reaching the ends of the corners of the flag, on the sténge - the imperial standard. However, engraving "Poltava" causes certain complaints. The fact is that on the nose of the ship there is a red flag with Andrew's cross in the canton, and on the stern there is a flag with Andrew's cross in the whole cloth. This practice is highly questionable. In the Russian navy, the guis (bow flag) first repeated the stern, and then the uniform guys was introduced. If there is a “colored” flag on the nose, then it should also be like this at the stern. Apparently the author of the engraving somewhat "approximated" his information.

July 28th, 2014

Hello dear!
We continue our theme of oblique cross in various banners and banners. In previous installments, you and I have mentioned countries and regions: , today it's time to talk about cities.
It is not ironic, but the very Kosovo-Freshest country will be .... no, not Scotland, but Malta! Already 5 (!) Cities have banners with an oblique cross.
But I propose to begin not with them, but with one very beloved city, the famous domestic literary character. The place where everything is “all white in white pants” :-)) Yes, yes - I mean Rio. The “January River,” as Rio de Janeiro literally translates as that, is based on the constraint that pleases the eye of any Russian sailor. That kind Andreevsky :-)

Flag of rio

In the middle of the flag is the modernized (different colors) city emblem - a sphere with 3 arrows and a Phrygian cap with a municipal crown and 2 dolphins as shield bearers. Sphere - connection with Portugal; The 3 arrows are the symbol of the patron saint of the city of St. Sebastian, and the cap is a famous symbol of freedom. The blue and white flag colors are the vintage colors of Portugal. The first Portuguese county had a straight flag blue cross   on a white cloth.



Ostap's dream :-)

Arkhangelsk has never been twinned with Rio, but if you look at the flag ..... Although in reality this flag is identical to the banner of the entire region, but I decided to recall it here, and not in the previous part. Andreev's oblique cross, symbolizing the most important role that Arkhangelsk played and plays for the formation and development of the Russian fleet, in the center is the coat of arms of Arkhangelsk. As you understand the city received its name in honor of one of the Archangel (more information about the heavenly army can be read here :), and specifically - the Archangel Michael.



The coat of arms of the Arkhangelsk region and the de facto city of Arkhangelsk

This one is depicted on the coat of arms, trampling the devil with a flaming blade in his hand. Everything is beautiful and noble, if only not one BUT. The fact is that there is some conflict of interest. St. Michael has his cross. It is either equilateral red on a white background, or golden straight or even in the form of a blade on a blue background. But not a scythe. Therefore, some disharmony in the beautiful flag of Arkhangelsk and the Arkhangelsk region is present.

He is:-)

Similar to the flag of 2 previous cities can also be found in Brazil. This is a large millionaire called Fortaleza - the capital of the state of Ceara. In the center of the cross of St. Andrew’s is the city’s coat of arms, the golden tower among the waters. This is an allusion to the fort of Fortaleza de Nossa Señor de Assunsau, from which the city originated. In general, Fortaleza, translated from Portuguese, is the “fortress”.

Banner of Fortaleza

3 cities in the state of Florida have an oblique cross in their banners. However, the red cross (like the flag of the state) only one - from Panama City. In the center of the cross - the medallion with the seal (coat of arms) of the city.

Flag of Panama City

The remaining 2 cross other colors. In Hollywood (Florida, not California, it’s important not to confuse) the cross is green.

Hollywood, but not that :-)

At the state capital - Tallahassee - the flag repeats the Scottish flag with a medal and a seal in the middle.

And at the town of Coral Springs, the cross is tricolor at all - green-white-blue.

Tricolor cross

In Spain, too, there are 2 townships, where we can observe an oblique cross on the municipal flags. It is the wine capital of the country town of Logrono in the province of La Rioja. This town is also known to football fans. In the now defunct Deportivo Logrones, Oleg Salenko played for 2 years.

Salenko in Logronies

The red cross in the center is crowned with the coat of arms of the city. The red cross is an allusion to the Burgundian, and in the coat of arms we can see the bridge. At the place of crossing the affluent Ebro River, when this city appeared very long time ago.

Flag of Logrono

But in Castro-Urdiales, in the province of Canabria, the flag is slightly different. They have a white cross on a green background. This color is not accidental, since this region is often called “Green Spain” - here is the coldest climate in the country, but the richest vegetation. In the center of the flag is the complex emblem of the city,which displays its rich history. The basis is the emblem of Castile and Leon, the kingdom, under whose control the city was once located (for more details, see here:).

Flag...
At the bottom is the port and fishing boats - 2 branches that have always fed the city. Between them, apparently depicts the Biscay whale - a subspecies of the southern whale of the family of smooth whales, which theoretically can be seen in those latitudes. And on one shield you can see 2 Iberian wolves under one of the oldest symbols of the region - the Oak Guernica, covered with a cross.

And the emblem of Castro-Urdiales

In the Netherlands, the theme of oblique cross in municipal flags also has a place to be. The community of Katwijk (the birthplace of Dirk Kuyt, by the way), which will soon become one city in the province of South Holland, has an Andreevsky flag with a red and yellow triangle. These are the colors of the coat of arms, which are displayed in the flag.

Banner Katwijk

In the middle of the 20th century, one of the most Dutch cities of Breda in South Brabant developed a new banner in which we can observe 3 small oblique crosses on a red field. The banner is made on the basis of the coat of arms of the city. And in the coat of arms, crosses appeared because of one of the branches of the princes of Nassau, which owned the code of Brad. Although in general 3 oblique crosses the theme in Dutch heraldry is very popular - I found about 35 coats of arms at one time with a similar one.



Flag of breda

Well, the most famous flag of the Netherlands, which uses oblique crosses, has become, of course, the capital. In the middle of the red flag on the black stripe, which denotes the Amstel River, we can see 3 oblique Andreevsky crosses, not the letters XXX, as an indicator of entertainment for adults, as many people think :-)

Amsterdam

According to one version, the three crosses mean “valor, firmness and mercy,” according to another, they must protect the city from major calamities that it has repeatedly encountered throughout its history - floods, fires and plague.

The capital of the Netherlands

The flag of the South African town of Potchefstroom, the first capital of the Republic of South Africa, is a blue cloth with a white and red oblique cross superimposed on it.

Here is such a :-)

Well, at the end of our narrative on municipal vexilology, Malta is worth mentioning. On this wonderful island everything is tiny, including the cities. But 4 of them have flags with oblique crosses. Luka, where the international airport is located, has a red cross on a silver background.

Flag of Luke

The largest town in the north-east of Marshalschalk, completely repeats the Russian naval flag.

Marshaloka flag

Zabbar has a white Andrew cross on a red background.

Zabbar

And 2 cities have very bright flags. One of the so-called 3 cities in the metropolitan area Senglea has yellow flag   with a black oblique cross and 5 white shells on it. This city is named after the 48 Grand Master of the Hospitaller Claude de la Sengla. And the banner of the city displays the generic coat of arms of this French nobleman.

Flag of Senlea

The emblem of the town of Shveka is simply delightful (from the positive point of view of this term) charming. The yellow-red zigzag is a hint of the fields and valleys, and the white-blue is the waves of the sea.

Sweden flag

To be continued...
Enjoy your day!