RUSSIAN EMPIRE

NAVAL RANK FLAGS & PENNANTS  •  1700-1917

During the eighteenth century, Russian flag officers flew the squadron/division naval ensigns as flags of rank: from the mainmast for an admiral, from the foremast for a vice-admiral and from the mizzenmast for a rear-admiral. Later a range of rank flags was introduced for use as boat flags. The division flags depicted below were in use up to 1865 with both the Baltic and Black Sea fleets. During periods when the fleets were organized into only two divisions, the red ensign and flags were not employed. Finally, with the demise of the sailing navy and the 1865 abolition of the division ensigns, the white First Division rank flags were specified for all admirals. From 1727 to 1870 the General Admiral (senior flag officer) of the Navy used the jack, flown at the main, as his flag of rank. In 1797 a decree of the Emperor Paul I changed the rank flags of the Second and Third Divisions; until his assassination in 1801 they bore the jack in the canton instead of the ensign. The senior officer pennants were not changed. The Tsar's standard for use at sea bore the imperial arms on a yellow field. When the General Admiral of the Navy was the heir to the throne, his flag was the jack defaced with the imperial arms. Over the years the appearance of the arms changed; the version depicted below was current in the first half of the nineteenth century. 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 VEXILLOGRAPHIA, the outstanding website devoted to the historical and current flags of Russia and related countries, from the Russian Navy's official website, and from Whitney Smith's Flags Through the Ages and Across the World (1975). Image Added October 2017 Broad Pennant, Captain Commanding a Separate Detachment

TSAR'S STANDARD
GENERAL ADMIRAL OF THE NAVY 1727-1870	HEIR TO THE THRONE AS GENERAL ADMIRAL OF THE NAVY
FIRST DIVISION
ADMIRAL
VICE-ADMIRAL	REAR-ADMIRAL
SENIOR OFFICER
SECOND DIVISION
ADMIRAL
VICE-ADMIRAL	REAR-ADMIRAL
ADMIRAL  •  1797-1801
VICE-ADMIRAL  •  1797-1801	REAR-ADMIRAL  •  1797-1801
SENIOR OFFICER
THIRD DIVISION
ADMIRAL
VICE-ADMIRAL	REAR-ADMIRAL
ADMIRAL  •  1797-1801
VICE-ADMIRAL  •  1797-1801	REAR-ADMIRAL  •  1797-1801
SENIOR OFFICER
CAPTAIN COMMANDING A SEPARATE DETACHMENT

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