Last modified: 2025-02-15 by rob raeside
Keywords: rsfsr | merchant | coat of arms | error | cross: letters | ĉeqomin (s. v.) | kolĉanovskiĭ (n. p.) | serebrân (v. n.) |
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These are the flags of (post-revolutionary) Russia, used from 1918 to 1954.
Naturally, once the Soviet Union was formed, in 1922, these flags stand for a
part of it, not for an independent Russia. (But of course the federal
character of the Soviet Union was largely fictional: That’s another
story but the flags, even so, reflected this.)
The name RSFSR did not change both before and
after the set up of the Soviet Union.
António Martins, 15 January 2000
The red flag became the most popular symbol
from the first moments of the 1917 revolution, being widely used even by
non-Communist elements. People often ripped the white and blue stripes from
the tri-colour Russian flags to make very
narrow, unraveled red flags that were shown everywhere.
José Manuel Erbez, 12 June 2001
image by Mark Sensen, 25 May 1996
Cyrillic letters in one row in canton
(I saw it on posters). This variant was recommended by Order No 320
in April, 1918 as national and war flag.
Victor Lomantsov, 31 October 2000
image by António Martins, 28 June 2002
Red with in the upper hoist yellow Cyrillic
initials (RsFsR). Yellow border around the canton.
Mark Sensen, 24 April 1996
“Ancient Cyrillic” letters in different sizes (big letters — R, F, R; small letters — S, S). This flag existed in 1918-1937: It was approved by Foreign Ministry (“People’s Commissariat”) on May, 20, 1918 (before the adoption of the Constitution) instead of the modern script variant.
Ratio of the flag = 1:2In 1920 the Central Executive Committee readopted this flag as War Flag (Navy flag and Merchant flag became other). The description of the flag in the Constitution was not changed until 1954. But really in 1937-1954 the flag was other.
Height of the canton = 1/2 of the height of the flag
Length of the canton = 2/5 of the length of the flag
The War Flag (called the State Flag after 1925) was red with the initials
in a decorative slavonic script in the canton, bordered on the lower and fly
sides by a gold fimbriation. This flag continued in use until 1954.
There’s a photo of one of these in Wilson’s Flags at Sea
[wil99].
New forms were worked out pursuant to a decree of the All-Russian Central
Executive Committee of the Soviet of Workers’, Soldiers’,
Peasants’, and Cossaks’ Deputies dated 29 September 1920,
created by the artists S. V. Chekhonin, N. P. Kolchanovskii and
V. N. Serebryan.
Dave Martucci, 17 January 2000
State flag of RSFSR [Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic] (1918-1920);
The first flag of the Navy of the Republic
(1918-1920); and Flag of auxilliary vessels
of RKKF (until 1924) [RKKF stands for Workers and Peasants Red Fleet]
Željko Heimer, 11 April 1999, quoting from
Flag-znamya korablya,
07 March 1999
Proposed by S. V. Chekhomin, this flag is described by W.E.B.
(name?) in [smi72] as «regarded by some
as “pseudo-Slavic” and by others as an unnecessary and inappropriate
manifestation of Russian chauvinism».
António Martins, 15 January 2000
This flag shows in an old photograph,
taken March 1919, of the 3rd International Congress of Communists. The canton
is red and the letters and border are (I will assume) yellow. The letters are
RSFSR (Russian Soviet Federal Socialist Republic).
Steve Stringfellow, 18 August 1999
The march 1919 photo of the III
International shows the border all around the letters, on all four
sides, while [wil99] shows the border only
on the lower and fly sides. Which version was correct?
António Martins, 22 November 2002
This flag image in Internationaal Seinboek, c. 1920 has the
canton-height perhaps even slightly larger than half flag-height. That
agrees with Smith’s FTAAATW p. 177.
[smi81d]
This flag was in use from 1920-1954, according to
[smi81d];
the Flag-Encyclopedia [zna99], has
1918-1937 [which is the correct period].
Jarig Bakker, 17 August 2000
This flag was never made or used. Constitution of 1918 did not say that
letters stand in cross. The flag adopted 17 Jun 1918 continued in use. Letters
in cross were shown in enclosure to publication of constitution.
Janis
Lasmanis via Ben Cahoon, 8 December 2020
Constitution (august 1918) adopted the flag of RSFSR:
As you see, the details of the design were not regulated. We know about flags with full inscription, and flags with with abbreviation looked like cross.Article XVII, §90.
… the commercial, naval, and war flag of the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic consists of a scarlet cloth, in the left-hand corner of which, near the staff, are placed the gold letters «RSFSR» or the inscription «Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic».
The first published edition of the constitution is accompanied by
a drawing of the flag — with the initials in a cross
pattern.
Dave Martucci, 17 January 2000
image by António Martins-Tuválkin, 29 July 2008
Red with inscription «Russian Socialist Federal Soviet Republic»
in Cyrillic as decreed 13 Apr 1918.
Mark Sensen, 30 July 1996
According to Konstantin A. Ivanov [iva67],
the red flag with the full name of the RSFSR in the canton is a legal flag
after the Decree of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee [A-RCEC] of
the Soviet of Workers’, Soldiers’, Peasants’, and
Cossaks’ Deputies on 14 April 1918 which stated «As the flag of the
Russian Republic is established the Red Banner with the inscription —
«Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic».» Note that
there is no reference to the color of the inscription.
Dave Martucci, 17 Januay 2000
Improved version for the image at su-ru_h.html#18c in FotW-ws.
According to the illustration in [iva67] (p.43, fig.1), this flag had 2:3 ratio.
António MARTINS-Tuválkin, 29 July 2008
image by Mark Sensen, 24 April 1996
Cyrillic letters "RSFSR" in cross ("R" on the top, "SFS" in the middle, "R" on the bottom):
R S F S RThis variant was drawn in first edition of the Constitution (1918).
Red with in the upper hoist yellow
Cyrillic
initials (RSFSR) in serif, placed in the form of a cross.
Mark Sensen, 24 April 1996
I’m surprised that the
official image
shows the flag with a 2:3 ratio.
António Martins, 31 August 2006
In Crampton’s 1990 flag book [cra80d]
the flag is entitled «the USSR national flag from 1918 to 1920». This
caption is a misnomer as the USSR was not formed by the
RSFSR, Ukrainian SSR et al. until 1922.
Edward Mooney, 13 January 2000, and
Roy Stilling, 14 January 2000
The Petit Larousse encyclopedia (1924 ed., Dutch) shows under «Sovjet Russia»: A version with the Latin characters RSFSR in a triangle, the R’s at the base-corners, the F in the apex:
F S S R RPeter-Hans van den Muijzenberg, 29 Oct 2000
It is a fiction. I think the drawing was made according to textual description
(«red banner with abbreviation RSFSR») by the artist who never saw the real flag.
I don’t know about variants with either Latin "RSFSR" or
Cyrillic "RSFSR" in a
triangle.
Victor Lomantsov, 30 October 2000 and 31 October 2000
18.gif)
image reduced
See also: later coat-of-arms
image by Željko Heimer, 13 July 1996
On 29 of September, 1920 the Government revised the flags.
Merchant ensign — red with white letters ’"RSFSR"
Victor Lomantsov, 31 October 2000
The merchant flag was red bearing the plain Cyrillic letters "RSFSR"
in white. This flag was superceded in 1923 by the Flag
of the Soviet Union.
Dave Martucci, 17 January 2000
This is one of the flags shown in the background of a
poster
identified as Civil War poster: White Russian anti-Semitism,
dating from 1919 (Trotsky Internet Archive).
Phil Nelson, 12 November 1999
image by Mark Sensen, 25 May 1996
Red with in the upper hoist yellow Cyrillic
initials (RSFSR) in serif. The same flag used in 1940’s.
Mark Sensen, 25 May 1996
Red field with golden letters «RSFSR» in canton (without the
yellow border).
Victor Lomantsov, 31 October 2000
This flag was replaced by a new one
in 1954.
Željko Heimer, 17 April 1996
