RUSSIAN EMPIRE

COLORS OF INFANTRY REGIMENTS  •  REGULATIONS OF 1803

In 1803 Tsar Alexander I decreed flags of a new pattern for the line infantry and an increase in the number of Inspections from five to thirteen. As previously, each regiment received one white flag and five colored flags. The white flags were now all white, the cross being almost indistinguishable. The colored flags had white corners and colored crosses, each Inspection being assigned a distinguishing color. Exceptions to this standard pattern were the colored flag for the St. Petersburg Inspection, which had red corners, and the flags for the Smolensk Inspection, which were all white. Regiments within each Inspection continued to be identified by the color of the staff. The new flags were the same size as those of the 1797 and 1800 patterns. Compared with the 1800 flags, the crosses were narrower, the scroll above the eagle's head was deleted, and the crowned cypher was changed from that of Paul I to that of Alexander I. Guards infantry regiments received colors of a similar pattern, except that their white flags had colored corners. The 1803 pattern flag came to be the most common type of Russian military color during the Napoleonic Wars, though no wholesale replacement of earlier flags was ever carried out. In 1807 the Inspections were abolished and a divisional system was substituted, but all existing flags continued in service. The 1803 pattern survived the demise of the Inspections, being used for replacement flags and flags of newly raised guards and line infantry regiments up to 1813. In 1806, "Colors of St. George," based on the 1803 pattern flag, began to be awarded to regiments for exceptionally brave deeds or distinguished conduct in battle. These flags bore inscriptions describing the action for which the regiment had been cited, and were carried on special staffs with a finial in the form of the Cross of St. George, and an orange and black cravat—the colors of the ribbon of the medal. The Cross of St. George was Tsarist Russia's highest decoration for valor. Credit: These drawings are based on images and information from Napflags, the outstanding Napoleonic flags site of Alan Pendlebury, and from Ian Croxall's excellent Warflag site. Images Added October 2006 Litov Guards Regiment  •  Smolensk & Ukrainian Inspections  •  Sveaborg Musketeer Regiment