Russia flag is the national flag of Russia, the world’s largest country in land area. The flag has three horizontal stripes of equal width. The top stripe is white, the middle stripe blue, and the bottom stripe red. A flag with three stripes of different colors is called a tricolor.
Russia’s flag originated in the 1600’s. The Russian czar (emperor) Peter I, also known as Peter the Great, allowed the use of the design by Russian merchant ships in the 1690’s. Peter’s choice may have been influenced by the flag of the Netherlands, which at that time was a leading sea power. The Dutch flag was a horizontal tricolor with red at the top, white in the middle, and blue at the bottom.
Russians began to use their white, blue, and red tricolor on land during the early 1800’s. From 1922 to 1991, Russia was the largest and most important republic in the Soviet Union. The Soviet flag featured a gold hammer and sickle and a gold star on a red background. The hammer and sickle represented workers and peasants. The star represented the Communist Party.
In 1991, the Soviet Communist Party lost power, and the Soviet Union broke apart. On Aug. 21, 1991, Russia adopted the historic white, blue, and red tricolor as the flag of its republic. The tricolor remained Russia’s national flag after the Soviet Union ceased to exist that December.
