REVOLUTIONARY & SOVIET RUSSIA

NAVAL ENSIGNS & FLAGS  •  1917-23

The red flag was bequeathed to modern communism by the Paris Commune of 1870-71, and the first, mostly unofficial, flags of Soviet Russia were plain red. In 1917 the sailors of the Baltic Fleet hoisted the red flag, which can thus be considered the first ensign of the Soviet Navy, though it was never formally adopted. The first official ensigns of the Russian Federated Soviet Socialist Republic were variants of the national flag adopted in 1918: red with the golden yellow Cyrillic initials for RFSSR in the hoist. Between 1918 and 1920, various command flags and pennants were introduced. These displayed the red star of communism with the state's initials around it. In 1920 the Soviet Russian government adopted a distinctive naval ensign: swallow-tailed with red star, blue anchor and the state's initials in white. Similar flags with a vertical blue or white stripe at the hoist designated fleet commanders and squadron commanders respectively. A new senior officer's pennant was also intorduced at this time. In 1923, with the formal establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, these purely Russian flags were replaced by those of the 1923-35 pattern. Flag Proportions: Soviet naval ensigns and flags of the 1917-23 period (except pennants) were made in 1:2 proportions. Very likely there were numerous exceptions to the regulations and many unofficial variants of the flags depicted on this page. Credits: Many of these drawings are based on images and information from VEXILLOGRAPHIA, the outstanding website devoted to the historical and current flags of Russia and related countries. Images Added March 2007 Commissioning Pennant and Senior Officer Pennant of the RFSSR (1920-23)