A green flag with a blue cross on the diagonal. What is the history of the appearance of the Andreevsky flag

Many mistakenly believe that the Andreevsky flag is the naval flag of the Russian Federation. This is a wrong opinion. St. Andrew's flag is any flag, among the elements of which is the St. Andrew's Cross. Such a misconception arises due to the fact that exactly the version of its image that is used on the naval flag is considered the classic St. Andrew's flag. The recognizable flag of Great Britain, the flag of Scotland and many other flags, including the guis of the Russian Navy, also have this cross as the basis for the entire design. But in this context, we will focus on the naval flag of the Russian Federation.

The history of the Andreevsky flag as the basis for the naval flag of the Russian Federation.

The classic St. Andrew's flag is a standard rectangular canvas, from the center to the corners is the St. Andrew's Cross. The background color of the cloth, as a rule, is blue, and the cross itself, as already mentioned, is diagonal, white. Color inversion is possible (this option is used on the flag of Scotland). The St. Andrew's Cross is an independent symbol that refers to the crucifixion of St. Andrew the First-Called. As the New Testament says, the Apostle Andrew was crucified on two boards crossed and obliquely located in relation to the ground, which explains the fact that the design of the cross on the flags is also diagonal. What is interesting and noticeable by which organizations use the St. Andrew's Cross on their flags, all of them in one way or another are related to the sea and water in general. This is the fleet of the Russian Empire and the Russian Federation, these are countries whose fleet has always been very powerful, and whose borders are guarded by the sea - Jamaica, Great Britain. This feature is explained by the fact that Andrew the First-Called is considered the patron of maritime activities.

The first organization that began to use this symbol on its attributes was Scotland. At the time of the adoption of such symbols, Scotland was still a separate kingdom (832). Of course, this year is very approximate, since it is problematic to accurately verify this fact due to the lack of accurate documentary evidence. According to legend, during the war with the Angles, the Scottish king, in despair, swore that if the Scots won, he would declare Andrew the First-Called patron of his kingdom. At the same moment, the outlines of the St. Andrew's Cross clearly appeared in the sky. In that battle, the Scots, however, won and fulfilled their promise, including by approving such a flag. But perhaps the most famous use of the cross in symbolism is the British flag. The way everyone knows him, he also owes the flag of the Scottish kingdom. In the 17th century, a king, a Scot by birth, ascended the English throne. In honor of the unification of England and Scotland, a new flag was established. Later, as you know, other lands joined this union, in the end, the flag acquired a modern look.

In Russia, flags with the St. Andrew's Cross existed during the time of the Russian Empire after their establishment by Peter the Great. These were guises, fortress flags. The ruler adopted the cross from the symbols of the Dutch fleet during his visit to Europe. During Soviet times, the appearance of the flag completely changed, the St. Andrew's Cross was abandoned in favor of Soviet symbols. In 1992, after the collapse of the USSR and the creation of the Navy of the Russian Federation, the element of the cross was returned to use again. Currently, the St. Andrew's Cross is depicted by the guis of the Russian Navy, the fortress flag, the flag of the Coast Guard of the Border Troops of the Russian Federation, the naval flag of the Russian Federation. On these flags, except for the last one, the cross is not used in its classical form, which manifests itself in other colors and proportions.

St. Andrew's flag as the naval ensign of the Russian Federation.

The very first Russian naval flag was not even the Andreevsky flag at all. It was the flag of the ship "Eagle". The exact drawing of this flag is not known. Many assumptions are put forward, most of which ultimately boil down to the fact that the flag most likely contained white, red and blue (or blue) colors, its design was based on stripes. The location of the stripes relative to each other, their proportions are not exactly known. Until 1699, there were several more versions of the naval flag, the appearance of some is not thoroughly known. In that year, Peter the Great, by his decree, established the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called, which already used the element of the St. Andrew's Cross. After that, the ruler decided to introduce it into another official symbolism - the guis and the naval flag. An interesting fact: the naval flag was not always called as such. During the time of Peter the Great, for example, it was called the First Admiral's Flag.

The Russian Empire ceased to exist during the civil war at the beginning of the 20th century. From 1918 to 1924, the St. Andrew's Cross was still present on the naval flag, sometimes with other elements (for example, with a white deer in the center of the cross). In 1924, flags with the element of the cross finally ceased to exist due to the recognition of Soviet Russia by foreign states.

In 1992, the Russian Federation again introduced elements of the St. Andrew's Cross into its symbolism. The stern ensign of the ships of the imperial fleet was taken as a sample. However, the color of the cross was changed from deep blue to cyan. In this form, the flag lasted until 2001, in which the color was changed again, this time to the original blue. The background of the flag is white. The Guards naval flag has also been preserved since the Great Patriotic War. It was worn by those ships and their formations that were awarded the title of Guards. The flag was supplemented with a St. George ribbon, located just below the center of the flag from the outer edge of one strip of the cross to the outer edge of the second along the entire length. There are also the Order Naval Flag and the Guards Order Naval Flag. This symbolism is worn by those ships that were awarded the Order of the Russian Federation. In the upper left corner of the usual naval flag is the image of the order itself. The Guards Order flag also has a St. George ribbon.

Of course, anyone who served in the Navy of the Russian Federation is proud of this. And for any Russian person, in principle, the symbolism of the St. Andrew's Cross is to some extent sacred. Peter the Great successfully combined the fleet and this symbol, which even modern legislators recognized, allowing the St. Andrew's flag to return as a naval one almost 80 years after its abolition.

In the navy, flags are used to indicate the belonging of ships to a particular state. Currently, the following types of flags are used in our fleet.

Stern naval ensign

The naval ensign, also called the stern naval ensign, is a sign that a ship (warship) belongs to the armed forces of a state. The flag is usually rectangular in shape. The naval flag may differ from the state flag in color, and may repeat it. The date of the first hoisting of the flag is also the birthday of the ship, and is celebrated annually by the crew.

In the parking lot, the flag is raised at 8 am (on holidays and weekends at 9 am) and lowered at sunset, and in the polar seas - by special order of the fleet commander. If the ship is on the march, the flag is not lowered. In Russia, the official naval ensign is St. Andrew's flag, introduced by Peter the Great.

Jack

In addition to the stern flag, the ship also carries a guis. Guys is an exclusive property of military courts. Guys is also raised on naval fortresses and other coastal military facilities, which is why it is also called the “fortress flag”. Guys (translated from Dutch - flag), usually located on the bow of a military vessel. In the Navy of the Russian Federation, the guis is hoisted on the bow of ships of the 1st and 2nd ranks (including submarines) on a special guis-stock daily and simultaneously with the stern flag, but only during anchorage.

Pennant

In addition to the guis, ships carry a pennant - a narrow and long flag forked at the end. The pennant is raised on the mast of a warship during the voyage, indicating the nationality of the warship.

Braid Pennant

Also used in the fleet are flags and braided pennants of officials. Braid-pennant is a flag of reduced size with a conical panel and braids of various colors (or a wide and short pennant). It is raised on the main mast by the commanders of formations, divisions and commanders of ship detachments.

History of the St. Andrew's flag

On the territory of Russia, flags on ships appeared long before the actual centralized state. Old Russian boats usually carried two flags: one large rectangular, the second with a cut corner on the outer side - pigtails.

The first national flag was raised on the ship "Eagle", built on the orders of Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich by the Dutch engineer Botman. It consisted of three stripes: white, blue and red, a double-headed eagle was sewn over the stripes. This flag owes its origin to the coat of arms of the Moscow state.

St. Andrew's flag originates from the First-Called Apostle Andrew. According to legend, the Apostle visited the territory of the future Russia and is its patron. The Apostle Andrew was also the heavenly patron of Constantinople and Byzantium, the Second Rome. The patronage of Russia by the Apostle Andrew in the minds of the people provided a historical connection with Byzantium, the acceptance of its spiritual and imperial values ​​(the concept of Russia as the Third Rome).

The Apostle Andrew was crucified in Greece on an oblique cross. For the first time, the image of a blue oblique cross appears in 1698 on the Order of St. Andrew the First-Called established by Peter I. This is the highest award in the Russian Empire until 1917. In the center of the star on the order, a double-headed eagle was depicted, on the chest of which there was an oblique blue cross. Especially for the fleet, Peter developed eight versions of the flag, one of the options consisted of three stripes: white, blue and red (the base is the flag of Alexei Mikhailovich), and on top of them - an oblique blue cross.

Sketches of the flag, personally drawn by Peter the Great

There is a legend that Peter I, thinking about the sketch of the flag, dozed off a little and when he woke up, he saw how the rays of the sun passing through the mica window drew an oblique blue cross on a sheet of paper. On a later sketch of the flag, an inscription made by Peter I was preserved: "Zane St. Apostle Andrew the First-Called enlighten the Russian land with the light of Christ's teachings."

St. Andrew's flag from 1712 to 1917 - the naval flag of the Russian Empire

All versions of the flag, developed by Peter I, are accepted by the navy until the final version of the flag is established in 1712 in the form of a white panel and an oblique blue cross to the borders of the panel. Its original name was the First Admiral's Flag, then from 1797 - the Flag of the Senior Admiral, from 1865 - the stern flag of military ships. Now it is a naval ensign. There were Andreevsky flags of admirals, there was the Andreevsky flag of the Admiral General, the Minister of the Navy, the Admiralty, and the commander of the fleet. Each warship carried a pennant - a long white, gradually fading flag with the image of the St. Andrew's flag. The pennant served as an external sign that the ship was ready for service.

Russian guis and fortress flag from 1701 to 1924

St. Andrew's flag in the form of a white field with a blue oblique cross existed officially until October 1917, when the new revolutionary government abolished all the symbols of tsarist Russia. But still, the ship of the former Russian Empire lowered the last St. Andrew's flag in Tunisia only in December 1924. The official guis of the Empire was used in the RSFSR until 1924, after which they only added a red circle with the image of a hammer and sickle to the center, and the guis existed in this form until 1932.

The attitude to the flag was special, sailors selflessly fought and died for their Motherland in numerous naval battles under it. Under this flag, the glory of Russia was obtained, round-the-world travels and numerous discoveries were made, this flag is a symbol of the disinterested help of Russian sailors to different peoples. Lowering the flag meant surrender, it was unthinkable, sometimes during the battles the ships went under water, continuing to proudly carry their flag. In the Petrovsky Charter it was written: "All Russian ships should not lower the flag in front of anyone." The last parting words of the commanders of Russian ships to their crews before the battle were: "God and St. Andrew's flag are with us!"

The return of the Andreevsky flag as the official Naval flag took place in 1992 by a decree of the Government of the Russian Federation. The first St. Andrew's flag was consecrated in the same year, 1992, in St. Petersburg in the Nikolo-Bogoyavlensky (naval) Cathedral. The consecrated flag of the Leningrad Naval Base was presented to the commander of the base, V.E. Selivanov. At the same time, by decree of the President of the Russian Federation, it was ordered "to raise the historical Russian St. Andrew's flag and pennants on the ships and vessels of the Black Sea Fleet."

St. Andrew's flag is proudly carried by ships of the Navy of the Russian Federation

Yachtsmen should not raise the St. Andrew's flag on a yacht even out of a high sense of patriotism - this is the naval flag of Russia, and the authorities of any state are simply forced to treat your yacht as a Russian military vessel with all the ensuing consequences. Do not put yourself and foreign military in a foolish position.

Scottish godbrothers

St. Andrew's flag, which became a symbol of the victories of the Russian Navy, like many other innovations, appeared in Russia during the time of Peter I.

The first ever state flag with the so-called St. Andrew's cross appeared in Scotland.

Apostle Andrew the First-Called was martyred on an oblique cross. According to legend, in 832, King Angus II, who led the army of Picts and Scots, before the battle with the Angles, led by Æthelstan, on the night before the battle, prayed to God for granting victory on the battlefield and made a vow that in case of victory he would announce the holy apostle Andrew the First-Called patron saint of Scotland. In the morning, clouds over the battlefield formed the letter “X” in the blue sky, repeating the shape of the cross on which the Apostle Andrew was crucified. Inspired by the Scots and Picts, they defeated the enemy, after which Andrew the First-Called was proclaimed the patron saint of Scotland. The country's flag is a white oblique cross on a blue background.

After the personal union of England and Scotland in 1606, the Scottish oblique cross became part of the common flag of the United Kingdom and is present in it to this day.

The fleet acquired a flag in honor of the heavenly patron of Russia

When at the turn of the 17th-18th centuries Peter I thought about the new state symbols, the oblique cross was among the most preferred symbols.

According to legend, the Apostle Andrew visited the lands of future Russia, therefore, starting from the 11th century, he was a particularly revered saint in Russian lands - the heavenly patron of Russia.

In 1698, Peter I established the first order in Russia, which was the highest award of the Russian Empire - the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. There is nothing surprising that among the projects of flags that the tsar himself drew, there was also a flag with an oblique cross.

On December 11, 1699, Peter I approved the flag with a blue oblique cross on a white background as one of the flags adopted for use in the Russian fleet. In fact, the refinement of the flag and status was carried out by the tsar for another two decades, and only the Ship Charter of 1720 established: "The flag is white, across this there is a blue St. Andrew's cross, with which he christened Russia."

"God and St. Andrew's flag are with us!"

From that moment until 1917, the St. Andrew's flag became the main and only one in the Russian Navy. In 1819, it was supplemented by the St. George admiral's flag, which was the St. Andrew's flag, in the center of which was placed a red heraldic shield with a canonical image St. George the Victorious. A similar flag was awarded to a ship whose crew showed exceptional courage and courage in achieving victory or in defending the honor of the naval flag.

Initially, the length of the Andreevsky flag reached four meters. The gigantic dimensions were needed so that the banner fluttering in the wind created a terrifying roar - it was a kind of psychic attack.

The veneration of the St. Andrew's flag in the fleet was extremely great. The commanders of Russian ships, entering into battle, invariably repeated the same phrase: "God and St. Andrew's flag are with us."

The ship that lowered the flag was burned, the captain was forbidden to marry

The ship charter of Peter I, which prescribed to protect the St. Andrew's flag to the last drop of blood, was observed sacredly. In the entire history of the Russian fleet, the flag was voluntarily lowered only twice.

On May 11, 1829, the commander of the Russian frigate Raphael, Captain 2nd Rank Semyon Stroynikov, lowered the flag in front of the Turkish squadron of 15 ships, trying to save the life of the crew.

By personal decree of Emperor Nicholas I, a frigate that disgraced itself was ordered to be burned if it fell into the hands of the Russians. This happened only 24 years later, in the battle of Sinop, but the will of the emperor was carried out - the Raphael, which was in the Turkish fleet, was burned, and this name was never used for Russian ships again.

As for Captain Stroynikov, upon returning from captivity, he was deprived of all awards and titles, and also demoted to ordinary sailors. Moreover, Stroynikov was forbidden to marry, "so as not to have in Russia the offspring of a coward and a traitor." The paradox, however, was that the disgraced captain already had two sons by that time, and both of them later became rear admirals of the Russian fleet.

The second time the flags on Russian ships were lowered in 1905, at the end of the Battle of Tsushima, on the orders of Rear Admiral Nebogatov, who sought to save the lives of the remaining sailors and officers.

In August 1905, for this act, he was deprived of his ranks, and then put on trial, which in December 1906 sentenced Rear Admiral to death, commuted to 10 years in a fortress. Nebogatov served 25 months, after which he was pardoned.

Return

The Andreevsky flag ceased to be the flag of the Russian Navy in 1917. The last St. Andrew's flags on Russian ships were lowered in 1924 in the port of Bizerte in North Africa, where the ships of the White Army squadron were concentrated.

The darkest page in the history of the St. Andrew's flag was its use as a symbol by collaborators from the Russian Liberation Army (ROA), General Vlasov, who fought on the side of the Nazis.

In January 1992, the government of the Russian Federation decided to return the Andreevsky flag to the Russian Navy instead of the flag of the USSR Navy.

On July 26, 1992, on the Day of the Navy, the flags of the USSR Navy were hoisted on all warships for the last time, after which, to the sound of the USSR anthem, they were
lowered. Instead, St. Andrew's flags were raised to the anthem of the Russian Federation.

The only ship where the St. Andrew's flag has not been raised to this day is the Soviet submarine S-56, which has become a war memorial. As a tribute to the feat of Soviet sailors during the Great Patriotic War, the C-56 hosts a daily ceremony of raising and lowering the flag of the USSR Navy, and Russian symbols are not used

“God and St. Andrew's flag are with us” - these are the words the captains of Russian warships uttered when they addressed the sailors before the battle. For sailors of tsarist times, the St. Andrew's flag in the form of a white cloth, crossed diagonally by two crossed blue stripes, was considered a shrine and a symbol of their military glory. The flag has only been lowered voluntarily twice in history. However, why did this banner become a symbol of the Russian fleet?

Saint Andrew and Russia

Before the apostolate, Andrew and his brother Peter were simple fishermen. According to legend, after Jesus was crucified, the disciples of Christ cast lots, which was supposed to indicate the place of their future preaching activity. Andrei got Scythia, which later became Russia, and then the Russian Empire. By order of Vladimir Monomakh, the legend of the journey of Andrew the First-Called in Russia was included in the Tale of Bygone Years.

For many centuries, Andrei was considered the patron saint of Russia and its first baptist. At the end of his life, the apostle was crucified on an X-shaped cross, which became one of the Christian symbols often used in European heraldry.

Patron saint of Peter

The first emperor of Russia, Peter I, also considered Andrei his patron. Just as Andrei pulled Russia out of pagan savagery, so Peter brought Russia out of feudal stagnation, turning it into a strong European state. In 1698, Peter established the first order in the history of Russia, which was called the Order of the Holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called. The award was given for military and public service.

For his favorite brainchild - the navy - the emperor chose a banner with an X-shaped St. Andrew's cross. Thus, Peter not only sought the patronage of the saint, but also paid tribute to the memory and respect of his father - Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, under whom the first flag with an oblique St. Andrew's Cross was approved - especially for the three-masted galleon "Eagle".

Peter I himself made sketches of the future flag, the drawings are still kept in the archive. On December 11, 1699, the cross was officially included in the symbols of the Russian fleet. In 1720, the banner acquired a modern look. The ship's charter of that era stated: "The flag is white, across this there is a blue St. Andrew's cross, with which he christened Russia."

After the 1917 revolution, the St. Andrew's flag disappeared from the life of the Soviet fleet. In 1924, the last ships that defended the White movement launched it in the ports of North Africa. In 1992, the St. Andrew's oblique cross was returned to the symbols of the Navy of the Russian Federation.

Associated with the construction in 1669 of the first Russian warship "Eagle". According to the surviving evidence for the "Eagle" in 1668, a flag was made, consisting of white, blue and red colors (and for the manufacture of the flag it took an equal amount of fabric of each color), the exact location of the colors is not known, it was ordered to "write" Russian on the flag National emblem. There are several reconstructions of this flag. According to one of the reconstructions (author P.I. Belavenets), the flag of the "Eagle" was divided by a blue cross into 2 red and 2 white fields according to the archery pattern (similar flags are depicted on the engraving by Adrian Shkhonebek "The Siege of Azov in 1696" (c. 1700). A similar flag, along with other options, is depicted in one of the first books about flags by the Dutchman Karl Allard (1695).The date of publication of Allard's book (1695) should not confuse the reader, at that time the books were printed for a very long time, and corrections and additions were made during the printing process In reality, this version of the flag could appear in the book no earlier than 1698.

Other historians believed that a flag of three horizontal stripes had already appeared on the "Eagle": white, blue and red. Probably the first to express this idea was the historian of the fleet F.F. Veselago

Peter I, carried away by the idea of ​​​​creating a Russian fleet, studied maritime affairs himself, he went on a boat on Lake Pereyaslavsky, Millet Pond in Izmailovo. Now the small boat of Peter I is kept in the Museum of the Navy. On the surviving engravings, the boat is depicted with the imperial standard on the mast and the flag of the Admiral General at the stern.

According to the historian P.I.Belavenets, on August 6, 1693, in Arkhangelsk, on the armed yacht "Saint Peter", Peter I used a striped white-blue-red "flag of the Tsar of Moscow" with a golden double-headed eagle on the middle lane. In the book of flags by Carlus Alyard, this flag was described as follows:

"The flag of His Royal Majesty of Moscow is divided into three, the upper stripe is white, the middle blue, and the lower red. On the blue stripe, gold with royal karuna, a double-headed eagle is crowned, having a red brand in its heart, with a silver St. George without a serpent."

Now this flag is kept in the Maritime Museum of St. Petersburg. He got there from Arkhangelsk, where he stayed for many years, having been presented by Peter I to Archbishop Athanasius of Arkhangelsk.

Some historians tend to believe that the white-blue-red flag was borrowed by Peter from Holland (the Dutch flag is almost the same, only the order of the stripes is different). Maybe it is so. But, as we can see, the use of white, blue and red colors on the flag was recorded even under Tsar Alexei Mikhailovich, Peter's father, long before the Western European voyage of Peter Alekseevich. The "Dutch" version is also associated with the head of the construction of the "Eagle" Dutch captain O. Butler. He is credited with the idea to make the flag of a Russian ship modeled on the flags of his homeland.

In 1695, Peter I started a war with Turkey. This served as a powerful impetus for the creation of a navy. Many warships were built. Russian sailors entered the Black and then the Baltic Sea.

In 1697, Peter I established a new model of the naval flag of Russia, which consisted of horizontal white, blue, and red stripes. In October-November 1699, the first versions of the St. Andrew's flag appeared. In 1699, when the ship "Fortress" set off for Constantinople, Peter I, instructed by the Russian envoy Yemelyan Ukraintsev, drew a three-paneled flag with an oblique cross crossing it.

Especially Peter I emphasized that the Andreevsky flag was chosen by him in honor of St. Andrew the First-Called "for the sake of the fact that Russia received holy baptism from this apostle." Additionally, the Andreevsky flag, according to Peter I, showed that Russia had access to four seas. It is very likely that the choice of Peter was influenced by the flag of Scotland he saw in Europe (blue with a white St. Andrew's cross). Saint Andrew was considered the patron saint of Scotland long before the introduction of his cult in Russia. The Scottish Order of Saint Andrew is known. Peter copied the order and possibly decided to transfer the St. Andrew's flag to Russian soil, only changing its colors.

On engravings with images of ships of that time you can see various transitional types of naval flags(some of them may be true, some are most likely an erroneous reconstruction of the engraver). For example, on the engraving depicting the ship "Prestination" flags of 9 horizontal stripes are depicted on the bow, on the topmast and on the stern; white, blue and red (a similar practice was widespread in Holland). The frigate "Dumkart" is depicted with a "hybrid" flag - the St. Andrew's cross is framed above and below with stripes of national colors.

On the engraving depicting "Poltava", a white flag with an St. Andrew's cross, not reaching the corners of the flag, flies at the stern of the ship, and the imperial standard is on the topmast. However, the engraving of "Poltava" causes certain criticism. The fact is that a red flag with an St. Andrew's cross in the canton is depicted on the bow of the ship, and a flag with an St. Andrew's cross in full cloth is depicted on the stern. This practice is highly questionable. In the Russian fleet, the guis (fore flag) at first repeated the stern flag, and then a single guis was introduced. If there is a "color" flag on the bow, then it must also be like that on the stern. Apparently the author of the engraving somewhat "approximated" the information he had.