In recent years, the black-yellow-white imperial flag, or white-yellow-black, has become popular. What is the meaning of the imperial flag? What is his story? Why is he forgotten? For many decades, disputes about which flag is imperial have not subsided. And each side finds irrefutable evidence of its innocence. But after that the following question arises: is it worth returning to the imperial flag?
Flag history
In 1453, Constantinople fell, holding back the siege of the Ottomans for two months. This was the last hope of the Byzantine Empire. During the siege, Emperor Constantine XI Paleologue was killed.
After some time, the Vatican began to look for allies, intending to organize a crusade against the Turks. The Moscow state, which was then ruled by Ivan III, could become a strong ally. Therefore, the Pope marries Ivan III Sophia Palaeologus - the niece of Emperor Constantine XI. The pope hoped that this marriage would bear fruit: the conquest of the former possessions of Byzantium. In addition, the Vatican wanted Muscovy to accept the Union of Florence and submit to Rome. But Ivan III had other plans: strengthening power in Moscow.
Having married Sofya Paleolog, Ivan III became king and defender of Orthodoxy. And Moscow became the heiress of Constantinople and Rome. Therefore, the emblem of the Moscow state has changed. The Byzantine coat of arms connected with the Moscow one - a yellow field and a two-headed black eagle and a white horseman on a horse, striking a snake.
Alexei Mikhailovich introduced this coat of arms. And other rulers followed this tradition of such an image of the coat of arms.
The Senate issued a decree in 1731, according to which each infantry and dragoon regiment should have scarves and hats that have the color of a coat of arms. The Russian army was supposed to use gold and black silk for sewing clothes. In addition, they now had white bows.
Peter I introduces new colors
Imperial flags as such did not exist at that time. The tricolor (white-blue-red) flag appeared in Russia, according to most historians, during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. The military ship "Eagle" had a banner, for the manufacture of which worm, white and azure matter was used, that is, red, white and blue. This detail that is not noticed by everyone destroys the main argument of the tricolor critics, since the majority believes that Peter I "brought" this flag to our country. Peter the Great drew another flag: the white cloth was divided by a blue straight cross into four equal parts, called roofs. The first and fourth are white, the second and third are red. Towards the end of the 17th century, the flag firmly held onto the masts of Russian ships.
After a trip to Holland, the young king decided to build ships, so he immediately went to Arkhangelsk. On his way to the capital, he went to Vologda, where he presented Archbishop Athanasius with three flags from his ship. The largest was the "flag of the Tsar of Moscow." It consisted of three horizontal stripes: white, blue and red (top to bottom). Also, a double-headed eagle was sewn on the cloth, holding a scepter and a power. The chest of the eagle was decorated with a red shield with St. George.
There is a version that he created the flags already in Arkhangelsk. Some sources claim that the Russian flag was conceived as a Dutch tricolor, but with a different order of colors. But the mistake is that Peter I already created this flag before traveling to Holland.
After the appearance of the flag of the Tsar of Moscow, the white-blue-red imperial flag with the emblem sewn remained the tsar’s ship standard. In 1697, Peter introduced a new three-color flag, already without a sewn eagle.
Under Peter I, the tricolor was the combat banner of Russia, the ground and naval forces. But during the Northern War, the army and navy began to use the St. Andrew flag. In 1705, on January 20, Peter I ordered the use of the white-blue-red flag only in the merchant navy.
In the post-Petrine time, the German environment of the reigning persons had the greatest influence. Therefore, the national colors were almost lost.
Imperial standard
Imperial flags were also complemented by the imperial standard. It was approved by Peter I: on the yellow panel depicts a double-headed black eagle holding sea charts with the White, Azov and Caspian Sea. Quite quickly, the fourth nautical chart was added. Partially, the Baltic Sea coast joined in 1703.
Prior to this, in 1696, the emperor created a stamp of arms, which was based on the one used during the reign of Alexei Mikhailovich. The banner was red with a white border, in the center was a golden eagle that soared above the sea. In the circle on his chest they depicted the Savior, next to him - the Holy Spirit and the holy apostles Paul and Peter.
In 1742, the coronation of Elizabeth Petrovna took place. Before this event, the new State banner of the empire was created: on the yellow panel is a black two-headed eagle surrounded by 31 oval guards with coats of arms. Then, on the wings of an eagle, territorial coats of arms were not yet depicted.
Baron Bergard Karl Köne created the second national banner. He was prepared for the coronation of Alexander II (1856, August 26). In addition to the national banner, Bernhard Köhne also created the large, medium and small coat of arms of the Russian Empire. After he created the coat of arms of the Romanov dynasty and generally carried out the heraldic reform of the Russian territorial emblems. The main idea of Köhne was to establish colors that reflect the colors of the coat of arms on flags and banners. Festive draperies and military uniforms also had these shades. So it was accepted in the Kingdom of Prussia and the Austrian Empire. But the coat of arms were approved under Anna Ivanovna (1731, August 17).
Since the state emblem had a golden shield, a double-headed black eagle, silver crowns, a scepter and an orb, Bergard Karl Köne judged that the official colors of heraldry are black, gold and silver.
In 1883, the third state banner was created for the coronation of Alexander III. It was painted by the artist Belashev. But instead of a gold eyelet, silk fabric was used, which has the color of old gold.
By the coronation of Nicholas II, which took place in 1896, the fourth state flag was completed. It was made of gold fabric with embroidery, and not with painting.
Strengthening the unity of the nation
The Patriotic War with Napoleon ended, and the white-yellow-black flag began to be hung out only on holidays. The existence of the flag in this form continued only until its official adoption. Nicholas I ordered the use of the colors of the future imperial flag on the badges of civil servants.
Nicholas I generally sought to accept state symbols and attributes. He was convinced that the unity of the nation could be strengthened in this way. That is why the emperor approved the patriotic hymn "God Save the Tsar" as a state.
Inverted flag
Alexander II wanted to restore order in state symbols, since it should have been brought to pan-European heraldic standards. Therefore, in 1857, the emperor appointed Baron Bergard-Karl Köhne as head of the coat of arms.
The year 1858 serves as the starting point for the history of the imperial flag as a state. In 1858, on June 11, Alexander II signed a decree approving the new sovereign flag. Only now he was upside down: black-yellow-white. He had to hang on all government offices, government buildings. At the same time, private individuals had the right to use only the flag of the merchant fleet with the old tricolor: white, blue, red.
The author of the draft imperial flag was Bernhard-Karl Köhne. It was he who owned the idea of making a black-yellow-white imperial flag. What do the colors on the canvas mean? Why did the baron flip the flag? In general, in heraldry, an inverted banner denotes mourning. At sea, it is a distress signal. About this could not know the beautiful heraldist Köhne. Symbolically or not, but after that the fate of the country began to change dramatically for the worse.
The artworks “fixed” the arrangement of colors in the following order: white, yellow and black.
The meaning of colors
The colors of the imperial flag of Russia have a deep meaning that makes you think about the past, present and future of the country. We will consider the first version of the imperial flag.
The lower layer - black - is the personification of the sovereign coat of arms of the empire. Here the stability and prosperity of the whole country, with inviolable and strong borders and the unity of the nation, is concentrated.
The middle layer - yellow - moral development, high spirituality of the Russian people. Also, this color is interpreted as a reference to the times of the Byzantine Empire - as the progenitor of Russia in the Orthodox world.
The top layer is white - a prayer and an appeal to George the Victorious, who for many centuries has been the patron saint of Russian lands. In addition, this color is a symbol of the sacrifice of the people of Russia. He is ready to shake the world in an impulse to give everything for his country, if only to preserve its greatness and his own honor.
There is another version regarding what the color of the imperial flag means. The White Strip is Orthodoxy, which is the foundation and foundation of life. The yellow bar is autocracy, which is affirmed in Orthodoxy, as it is the only form of power given by God. The Black Stripe is a people based on Orthodoxy and autocracy. Black - because it is the color of the earth, Russia must live a noble work on earth.
Disputes
The white-yellow-black flag as a state banner in the next 15-20 years was perceived unambiguously and not disputed. But closer to the 70s of the XIX century, the opposition from liberal circles, opposing the monarchist system, strengthened in the empire. Its representatives wanted the country to start following the Western development model. As a result, they had a craving for European symbolism. The flag approved by Peter I relates to some extent to European symbolism.
Monarchists advocated the preservation of the imperial flag. Their motives are understandable: one nation is a single Empire, and therefore, one imperial flag. What does it mean together - the country is invincible and strong.
Imperial flags: two of them?
1881 is the year of the death of Alexander II. His death came at a very difficult and important moment for the state. Alexander III pretty soon (in 1883, April 28) gave the white-blue-red flag the status of a sovereign, although he was offered to make it only a trade flag. The situation was complicated by the fact that the imperial flag was not canceled.
In 1887, an order was issued by the military department, which approved the black-yellow-white imperial flags as national.
The situation was very ambivalent, something had to be decided immediately. In April 1896, representatives of the Academy of Sciences and Ministries decided that the new sovereign banner could be national. And the imperial flag does not have any heraldic traditions.
Nicholas II ordered for his coronation to prepare a new coronation banner, the prototype of which were the similar banners of his predecessors.
In March 1896, before the coronation, Nicholas II gathered representatives from the Academy of Sciences and foreign and various ministries. At the meeting it was decided that the tricolor should be called national, Russian. Its colors are called state (red, blue and white).
The interpretation of the new tricolor
The new colors of the flag - white, blue and red - became national and received an official interpretation. So, the new imperial flag. What does each lane mean?
The most popular decryption is as follows:
- white - a symbol of nobility and frankness;
- blue - a symbol of honesty, chastity, fidelity and impeccability;
- red is a symbol of courage, love, courage and generosity.
Red - sovereignty. Blue - Our Lady, covering Russia. White - freedom and independence. Also, these colors spoke of the commonwealth of White, Small and Great Russia. Despite the complex history of this flag, in fact, there is no historical and heraldic meaning behind its colors.
Interestingly, the Provisional Government continued to use the new tricolor as a state one. The Soviet Union did not immediately abandon the tricolor. Only in 1918, Ya. M. Sverdlov put forward for approval a combat red flag, which became state for 70 years.
Before the revolution
But the debate continued. In May 10, May 10, a special meeting was established, chaired by Minister of Justice A. N. Verevkin. The purpose of this meeting was to clarify the question of what colors are state, national. The largest heraldry scientists worked on this problem. Despite the long work, they could not find clear heraldic justifications for any of the flags. But most scientists believed that state colors are black, yellow and white. The Russian imperial flag should wear these colors. Another flag could only be used by merchant ships in inland waters.
In addition, the monarchists wanted to return the “correct” flag on the occasion of the approaching 300th anniversary of the Romanov dynasty.
A meeting was held on July 27, 1912, during which they decided to get another opinion from the point of view of expediency and practical acceptability. This should have been dealt with by a special commission at the Ministry of the Sea.
The commission held two meetings. As a result, the majority of the votes decided that the Special Conference at the Ministry of Justice proposed an inconvenient reform.
The Council of Ministers on September 10, 1914 decided to transfer the resolution of issues on flags to the Navy Ministry. But since 1914, the government and society could no longer deal with heraldic disputes. Managed to create a "symbiosis" of both flags. The white-blue-red banner in the "roof" now had a yellow square with a two-headed black eagle. In World War I, this demonstrated the unity of the nation and monarchical power.
70 years later
On November 5, 1990, the government of the RSFSR decided to create projects for the State Emblem and the flag of the country. For this purpose, a Government Commission was established. In the course of the work, the idea arose to revive the white-blue-red flag. Everyone supported her unanimously. And on November 1, 1991, at the Congress of People's Deputies of Russia, an amendment to the Constitution was adopted. In addition, the article that described the State Flag was changed.
Imperial flag today
Recently, the issue of returning to the imperial flag has been raised more than once. But there are many inaccuracies in this matter. Starting from the fact that the exact and correct arrangement of the colors is unknown. In addition, it is the flag of the imperial family. In a sense, now returning the flag of Russia - the imperial flag - is inappropriate.
Unfortunately, many people do not understand what the imperial flag means. He is often mistaken for the Nazi flag, confusing them with nationalists.
There is an interesting modern version of the banner - Kolovrat. The imperial flag wears symbols that are understandable to the initiates and relatives. The center of the banner is the ancient symbol of the Slavic peoples - Kolovrat, or thunderbolt. When our ancestors painted this solar symbol, they called for the help of the gods. They counted on their help in the military business. They asked for a rich harvest, they wanted to receive sacred knowledge, which practically did not reach our time. Now little is understood what the imperial flag of Russia means. But for some people, he still personifies the greatness and victories of the Russian Empire.