Tzar’s personal flags

Last modified: 2003-01-25 by antonio martins
Keywords: tzar | royal flag | aleksandrina | moscow | ivan 4 “the terrible” (russia) | eagle: two heads (balck) | sword | wreath | shield |
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• Personal Standard of the Tzar
• Emperor Standard ashore (1858-1917)
• Emperor Standard afloat (1858-1917)
• Personal Standard of the Tzar in Moscow
• Personal Standard of the Tzar in Aleksandriâ
• Flags of Ivan IV, “the terrible”

• Personal flags of other Royal Family members
• Russia
• Russian Empire (historical flags)

This is the personal Standard of the Tzar.
Jaume Ollé, 21 Jul 1998

Golden flag with black coat of arms with 4 scrolls: Vessel standard (1699-1917)
Zeljko Heimer, 03 Apr 1999, quoting from Flag-znamya korablya, Russian Navy website, consulted 07 Mar 1999

Only one Emperor’s Standard (yellow with black eagle with maps in his claws) existed in times of Catherine the Great. She used it. Kostroma (city on Volga River) have the arms: «Azure, a ship of Catherine the Great with Emperor’s Standard on main-mast».
Victor Lomantsov, 02 Jun 2000

Broad Pennant

Broad-pennant of Emperor — swallow-tailed, emperor’s standard at the hoist, white at the fly.
Victor Lomantsov, 30 May 2000

This is the Russian Emperor Standard. It should had been adopted toward 1858 and this is the version used ashore.
Mario Fabretto, 17 Jul 1998

The tzar’s standard afloat is the same as ashore but with red background.
Jaume Ollé, 21 Jul 1998

The tzar’s standard in Moscow is the same as the normal one but white, blue, red horizontal stripes background.
Jaume Ollé, 21 Jul 1998

I'm not so sure it is the one. The eagle should be yellow and not black with maps (“naval version”). Russian tricolour with golden coat of arms allover: The first vessel standard "Moscow Tzar Flag" (1693-1699).
Zeljko Heimer, 03 Apr 1999, summarizing from Flag-znamya korablya, Russian Navy website, consulted 07 Mar 1999

Symbolism of Andreevsky Flag was also Peter’s contribution to his father — tsar Alexei Mikhailovich who instituted the special flag - dark red two-headed eagle on white-blue-red cloth — for the first military Russian vessel — three-mast galiot Eagle.
Edward Mooney, 14 Mar 1999, quoting from Russian Navy website

In one of the worlds first flagbooks, compiled by Carel Allard (from Amsterdam) in 1695 [ala95], shows three Russian flags:

• horizontal white-blue-red, over all (shifted to the hoist) a golden double headed eagle with a red shield (with St.George, without the dragon) on its chest and a golden crown over its heads. Caption: Czar of Moscovia.
• horizontal white-blue-red, over all a blue saltire. Ratio of the flag aprox. 1:3. Caption: Other flag of Czar of Moscovia. (See here.)
• quarterly red and white, a blue cross over all. Caption: another Moscovian flag. (See here.)

Also exists a tzar Standard (and pennant) for his rural house of Alexandrina: white with emblem (white bordered black shield, vertical sword, ring of wreath).
Jaume Ollé, 21 Jul 1998

Flag for “The Alexandria”, a personal summer-cottage of Emperor. White flag with arms: Azure, a Sword in pale Argent hilted Or and decored with a round Wreath of flowers and leaves.
Victor Lomantsov, 20 Jul 2000

Broad Pennant

Broad-pennant for “The Alexandria”, a personal summer-cottage of Emperor. The same design but swallow-tailed and long.
Victor Lomantsov, 20 Jul 2000

The Smith’s 1975 big book of his [smi75c], the flag of Ivan VI is shown. I have another book called The Cultural Atlas of Russia which shows a flag of Ivan VI which is called the flag at Kazan. This flag is totally different than the one in Smith’s book. So, the question is: what flag did Ivan IV have?
Steve Stringfellow, 23 and 27 Aug 1999

I confess that I have no idea: Ivan the terrible was the first Muscovy prince to use the title of tzar (from latin "CAESAR", in russian "carh | öàðü"), after geting rid of Mongol / Tatar domination and having submitted to his own personal power the other russian princes (Tver, Kiev, Novgorod, etc.) — hence «tzar of all Russias». This happend in a historical period when heraldry wasn’t yet really set in Russia (it come somewhat later, after the german and french influences), and I guess that Ivan’s flag would have much more to do with mongol Khan’s regalia, than to the usual symbol’s of a westerner monarch. This image seems to confirm it.
António Martins, 24 Aug 1999

Ivan IV, the Terrible (1530-1584), often considered as the founder of the modern Russian Empire. He was the first to adopt the title of czar (from Latin Caesar, since Moscow was supposed to be the third Rome — replacing Rome and Byzance) and increased the Russian territory by conquering the khanates of Kazan and Astrakhan.
Ivan Sache, 01 Oct 2000