RUSSIAN NAVY 1700-1917

RUSSIAN EMPIRE

NAVAL ENSIGNS, FLAGS & PENNANTS

1700-1917

Notes

The naval ensign of the Russian Empire, the famous "Andrew Flag," was personally designed by Peter the Great. On a white field it displayed the diagonal blue Cross of St. Andrew, Russia's patron saint. (A similar flag with the colors reversed—blue field, white cross—is the national flag of Scotland.) In the original design the arms of the cross did not reach the edges of the flag, but in 1712 a new version was introduced with the cross throughout the field. To complement the ensign, a jack was also introduced; it bore a marked resemblance, possibly intentional, the the British Union Flag. This jack also served as the flag for naval fortresses. Both the ensign in its 1712 version and the jack remained as Russia's principal naval flags until the fall of the tsarist regime in 1917.

The St. George Naval Ensign was permitted to be flown by ships that had particularly distinguished themselves in action. (The Cross of St. George was tsarist Russia's highest military decoration for valor.) During World War II, the Soviet Union introduced a similar honorary flag, the Guards Ensign.

Peter's reign witnessed the creation, virtually from scratch, of a powerful Russian Navy. As the fleet expanded, additional ensigns and flags were introduced for squadrons, flag officers, etc. For the most part they were based on the ensign and jack, but the two admiralty flags displayed anchors. The rank flag for full admirals was the same as the ensign; blue and red stripes were added for vice-admirals and rear-admirals respectively. From 1899 to 1917, the Commander-in-Chief of the fleet flew an Andrew Flag with the jack as a canton.

All these ensigns and flags were abolished in 1917-18, but in 1992 the Andrew Flag and the naval jack were officially readopted by the Russian Navy.

Flag Proportions: Naval ensigns and flags of the Russian Empire were generally made in 2:3 proportions, as illustrated.

Credits: Many of my drawings are based on images posted to the FOTW Mailing List by Zeljko Heimer (Croatia). Information was also taken from the Russian Navy's official website, and from Whitney Smith's Flags Through the Ages and Across the World (1975).