The Russian flag is a combination of three colored stripes of equal width: the top one is white, the middle one is blue, and the bottom one is red. But what do the colors of the Russian tricolor mean and what do they symbolize?
The meanings of the colors of the flag of Russia: history and modernity
There is no official interpretation of the meaning of the white, blue and red stripes on the Russian tricolor. However, there are a number of "unofficial" interpretations of the meaning of the colors of the Russian flag.
According to the most popular of them, the white stripe represents peace, perfection, purity and purity. The blue color on the Russian flag is the color of constancy, faith and loyalty. Also, blue is the color of the Mother of God, under whose patronage the country is located. However, Russia is still considered a secular state, so it would not be entirely correct to directly associate blue with religion. And finally, the red stripe symbolizes strength and energy, as well as the blood shed for the Motherland.
Since the Russian tricolor appeared more than three centuries ago, naturally, there are also “historical” interpretations of the meaning of the white-blue-red flag.
According to one of them, the colors of the stripes and their mutual arrangement serve as a reflection of the structure of the world from the point of view of the ancient Slavs. In this case, the lower, red stripe of the tricolor corresponds to the physical world; blue - to the heavenly world, and the upper, snow-white - to the divine.
White color on the flag of Russia - freedom, blue - faith, red - statehood. This is a very popular version of the "reading" of the tricolor during the existence of the Russian Empire. Another "great-power" interpretation of the meaning of the colors of the flag is that the three stripes of the tricolor symbolize the unity of the three Slavic peoples. In this case, the white stripe on the Russian flag symbolizes Belarus, the blue one - Little Russia, and the red one - Great Russia.
The colors of the Russian flag - meanings in heraldry
There is no universal “recipe” that allows you to “read” the meanings of the colors of the state flags of both Russia and other countries. Color values can be written in official documents, but this is completely optional. However, quite often, to "decipher" flags, they turn to heraldic interpretations of the meaning of color. What is the meaning of heraldry in white, blue and red?
White in heraldry is traditionally called "silver" or simply "silver". The use of white means purity and innocence, virginity, purity. Also, this color symbolizes wisdom, serenity and reliability, truthfulness and frankness. In alchemy, pearls correspond to silver, and in astronomy, the moon. The element of white is water.
The color blue in heraldry is usually called "azure" or "azure". He is a symbol of beauty and greatness, glory and honor, gentleness, loyalty, sincerity and honesty. Perfection, grandeur and chastity are also "azure" qualities. The element of this color is water, planets - Jupiter, and in alchemy blue means sapphire or tin.
Red, it is also a worm. Scarlet in heraldry traditionally symbolizes courage, bravery and boldness, as well as fearlessness, love and generosity. In addition, the meanings of red include right, fire and warmth. A red background can mean spilled blood, as well as political or religious views. In alchemy, ruby and iron correspond to scarlet, in astronomy - Mars. The element of red, of course, is fire.
What color is the Russian flag: shades and their designations
In the Law on the State Flag of the Russian Federation, the shades of white, blue and red colors of the flag are not established. However, according to GOST, the color of each stripe must correspond to one of the numbers of the Color Atlas of VTsAMlegprom or Pantone. State bodies, as a rule, indicate the following colors of the Russian flag when ordering symbols according to Pantone: white without additional shades, blue 286C, red 485C.
In vexillology, the science that studies banners and flags, it is customary to designate colors according to an alphabetic system, where each color on the panel corresponds to a Latin letter, as a rule, coinciding with the first letter of the color name in European languages. According to this system, the colors of the Russian flag correspond to the following designations: W - white (from weiss in German and white in English), B - blue (blue or blau in German) and R - red (from this letter, red is called in almost all European languages)
