RUSSIAN EMPIRE

CAVALRY LANCE PENNONS  •  1801-1917

Up to the nineteenth century, the Russian Army's light cavalry was provided mainly by the Cossack hosts. There were also a few non-Cossack units, such as the Tartar and Polish light horse regiments. These latter were armed with the lance and in 1801 they were each given distinctive pennons. At this time the lancer, a light cavalry type long associated with Poland, was coming into vogue, and along with other European armies the Russians began to raise lancer regiments. As in Germany and Austria they were uniformed in the Polish style and given the Polish title uhlan. Uhlan regiments were formed with two squadrons and usually each one was given a distinctive pennon. Some of these early pennons were of a design that later became standard: two wide outer stripes and two narrow inner stripes in two colors. By 1812 there was a considerable number of uhlan regiments on the Russian Army establishment, most of which had territorial titles and two pennons. Around 1820 the uhlans were grouped by fours into divisions, each regiment receiving a distinctive two-color pennon. In all cases the bottom stripe was white and the top stripe was the same color as the uniform facings. The 1st Ukrainian Uhlan Regiment was raised as such, but the 2nd was converted from the 2nd Ukrainian Cossack Regiment in 1816. Until its disbandment in 1856 this regiment used four different pennons, the last of which was of the two-color, four-stripe pattern that became standard around 1830 and was used until the the Russian Empire's demise in 1917. In all cases, the broad white stripe was uppermost and two or three regiments shared the same distinctive color, which matched their facings. Credit: My drawings on this page are based on information from VEXILLOGRAPHIA, the outstanding website devoted to the historical and current flags of Russia and related countries.

LIGHT CAVALRY & UHLAN REGIMENTS 1801-10
Tartar Regiment of Horse Both Squadrons	Polish Regiment of Horse Both Squadrons
Tsarevich Ulan Regiment
1st Squadron	1st Squadron
UHLAN REGIMENTS CIRCA 1812
Life Guard Ulan Regiment Both Squadrons	Yamburg Uhlan Regiment Both Squadrons
Taganrog Ulan Regiment Both Squadrons	Vladimir Uhlan Regiment Both Squadrons
Tartar Uhlan Regiment	Volyn Uhlan Regiment

1st Squadron	2nd Squadron	1st Squadron	2nd Squadron
Chuguev Uhlan Regiment.		Polish Uhlan Regiment.
1st Squadron	1st Squadron	1st Squadron	1st Squadron
1st UHLAN DIVISION  •  CIRCA 1820
Vladimir Uhlan Regiment	Siberian Uhlan Regiment	Orenburg Uhlan Regiment	Yamburg Uhlan Regiment
2nd UKRAINIAN UHLAN REGIMENT  •  1816-56

1816-18	1818-18	1819-28	1828-56
UHLAN REGIMENTS CIRCA 1830
Ascension, St. Petersburg & Borisogleb Uhlan Regiments		Courland, Olviopolis & Volyny Uhlan Regiments
Belgorod & 1st Ukranian Uhlan Regiments		Bug, Orenburg & Smolensk Uhlan Regiments