Russian Navy Flag Essay

Throughout Russia’s involvement in the first World War, seeing their flags in battle wasn’t uncommon. However, there was one flag guaranteed to fly when Naval force was required, a flag that had been in use nearly two centuries before: The Russian Navy Ensign. Since its instatement in 1712, the Russian Navy Ensign has ducked in and out of use for various reasons, but until 1917 it was a flag flown amongst the Allies as they fought against the Axis powers.

The flag was designed in 1712 by Peter I The Great as a tribute to his father, Alexis “Alexey” Mikhaylovich Romanov because he established a flag for the first Russian naval vessel, the three-masted warship Oryol. The flag’s design is a blue saltire, Saint Andrew’s Cross, on a white field. This design is reflected in many other flags, such as the flags for Scotland and Jamaica. In 1732, Empress Anna decreed that all warships of the Russian Navy should fly the Andrew Flag. However, In 1743 Empress Elizabeth reinstated the other squadron ensigns and pennants, only for them to be abolished once more by Empress Catherine II in 1764, leaving the Andrew flag as Russia’s sole naval flag.

But during their time at war, the Russian navy got to fight in many battles alongside the rest of the Allied Powers. They consist of the Battle of Moon Sound (1917), the Battle of Penang (1914), the Battle of the Gulf of Riga (1915), the Battle of Åland Islands (1915), the Battle of Cape Sarych (1914), and the Battle of Kirpen Island (1915). Other incidents the Ensign flew at include the Action of 8 January 1916, Action of 10 May 1915, the Black Sea Raid (1914), the Naval operations in the Dardanelles Campaign, the Pursuit of Goeben and Breslau, and the U Boat Campaigns of the Great War