REVOLUTIONARY & SOVIET RUSSIA

FAR EASTERN REPUBLIC  •  NAVAL ENSIGNS & FLAGS  •  1920-22

The short-lived Far Eastern Republic was founded in April 1920, toward the end of the Russian Civil War. It encompassed four provinces of the former Russian empire: Trans-Baikal, Amur, the Maritime Province and the northern half of Sakhalin Island. During the Civil War local authorities had controlled the towns and cities of the Russian Far East, mostly in cooperation with Admiral Alexander Kolchak, later with the Japanese Army that invaded and occupied the region after the collapse of Kolchak's White Siberian government. The FER government was dominated by moderate socialists and the Bolshevik regime in Moscow gave it tacit support, viewing it as a buffer state between Soviet Russia and the Japanese. The FER's existence was turbulent as well as brief. There was much unrest, culminating in a right-wing coup in May 1921. The new government was recognized by the Japanese but when the latter withdrew from Siberiain late 1922 it collapsed and the FER was absorbed by Soviet Russia. Thus ended the Civil War. The national flag of the FER was red with a blue canton bearing the initials of the state. Its naval forces were inherited from the defunct Pacific Fleet and Amur Military Flotilla of the Imperial Russian Navy. The FER naval ensign, jack and commissioning pennant were based on those of the Imperial Russian Navy, colored red and blue. Two versions of the ensign are known to have existed: with and without the initials of the state in white. The command flags and pennants were original designs. Flag Proportions: FER naval ensigns and flags were made in 2:3 proportions. The national flag, however, was apparently made in both 2:3 and 1:2 proportions The division pennants were made in 1:2 proportions. Credit: 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.