December 11 — St. Andrew's Flag Day: the History of the Russian Navy Flag

Every year on December 11, Russia celebrates St. Andrew's Flag Day, the battle flag of the Navy, a symbol of faith, valor and glory of Russian sailors. In 2025, the holiday falls on a Thursday. Read about the history of the flag and its meaning in the Izvestia article.

St. Andrew's Flag Day – 2025: the history of the flag

The St. Andrew's flag owes its appearance to Peter the Great — it is believed that it was on December 11 (December 1, old style) that the tsar approved it as the official flag of the young navy. Peter the Great personally worked on the drawing of the banner and eventually preferred a white-blue-red canvas with a diagonal St. Andrew's cross. The tsar explained the presence of a cross on the flag instead of the usual double-headed eagle by the fact that "the holy Apostle Andrew the First-Called enlightened the Russian land with the light of Christ's teaching."

There is a beautiful, but unconfirmed legend, according to which Peter the Great dreamed of the flag drawing. Allegedly, the tsar dozed off at his desk, and when he woke up, he saw the silhouette of a cross on the sketch of the banner, cast by stained-glass windows. However, the surviving documents show that the search for suitable symbols was conducted for a long time and carefully.

Later, Peter the Great introduced three varieties of the St. Andrew's flag for the main squadrons of the Baltic Fleet: white for the corps de combat, that is, the main forces, blue for the vanguard and red for the rearguard. Their status was finally fixed by the Maritime Charter of 1720.

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In 1853, the St. Andrew's flag received the status of a common Russian military stern flag. It was worn by ships of the 2nd Division of the Baltic Fleet, as well as ships of the Black Sea, Caspian and Kamchatka fleets. And in 1865, by decree of Emperor Alexander II, the banner with a diagonal cross became common to all ships of the navy. Under it, Russian sailors fought battles and sailed around the world.

After the October Revolution of 1917, at the All-Russian Congress of the Navy, it was decided to replace the St. Andrew's flag with the red banner of the International. In 1935, the design of the banner was changed again — from that moment on, Navy ships began to raise a white cloth with a red hammer and sickle and a blue stripe along the bottom edge.

After the collapse of the USSR, it was decided to return the St. Andrew's flag to the fleet — the corresponding decree was signed by Russian President Boris Yeltsin. The modern flag is a white rectangular panel intersected by a blue diagonal cross. He continues to be a proud symbol of the glory and valor of the Russian navy.

Interesting facts about St. Andrew's Flag

In honor of the holiday, Izvestia collected some interesting facts about the St. Andrew's flag.

There is a widespread opinion that the Bolsheviks completely abolished the St. Andrew's flag. However, in reality, its elements were preserved in the symbols of the Soviet Navy. From 1924 to 1932, the St. Andrew's Cross was present on the hulls of Soviet ships. This is the name of the bow flags hoisted on ships of the first and second rank during parking. The drawing on them largely repeated the version invented by Peter the Great: a red cloth with a white straight cross and a blue St. Andrew's cross on top of it. The main difference was a white circle in the center with a red star, sickle and hammer.

Initially, the St. Andrew's flag was of impressive size and reached 4 m in length. This was due not only to the need to see the banner from afar, but also for tactical reasons — it "roared" in the wind, terrifying the enemy.

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The St. Andrew's flag was a symbol of the honor of the Russian navy, it was not supposed to be lowered in front of any enemy. In more than 200 years of the Russian Navy's history, this rule has been violated only twice. The first incident occurred in May 1829 during the Russian-Turkish War. The commander of the frigate Rafail, Captain Semyon Stroynikov, ordered the flag to be lowered, being surrounded. In this way, he saved hundreds of lives, but all the officers of the Raphael were demoted and stripped of their awards, and the frigate itself was burned.

The St. Andrew's flag was lowered for the second time in May 1905, on the second day of the Battle of Tsushima. The order was given by Rear Admiral Nikolai Nebogatov, after the five remaining Russian squadrons were surrounded by two and a half dozen Japanese ships. At the tribunal, Nebogatov was sentenced to death, which was then commuted to 10 years of imprisonment in a fortress, although his actions saved 2,280 sailors.

Earlier, Izvestia reported on the history and traditions of Heroes of the Fatherland Day.