Russia’s national flag will always be a sacred symbol for the country’s people, President Vladimir Putin said in a video address on National Flag Day.
"Today, we are marking National Flag Day. We pay respect to Russia’s official state symbol that, along with its emblem and anthem, represents its sovereignty and independence and asserts the continuity between generations of our multi-ethnic people," he noted.
"Our flag that was raised on Russia’s first warship over three centuries ago, remained Russia’s symbol in difficult, challenging periods of its history - under Peter the Great when the Russian Empire was still forming, on the battlefields of World War I, and amid the dramatic changes of the contradictory, arduous 1990s. On August 22, 1991, the white, blue and red flag once again flew over Russia," the president stressed.
According to Putin, "the national flag and the unfading Red Banner of Victory instil in the rising generation an appreciation for the values of patriotism, citizenship and responsibility for the future of the Motherland." The president noted that "from September 1 of this year, all schools in the country will begin every school week with a ceremony of raising the flag and singing the anthem."
"I am confident that Russia’s national flag will always remain a sacred symbol for all generations of our citizens. It will inspire them to military glory, professional achievements and new heights in science, culture and sports. It will make them proud of their Motherland," Putin emphasized. "Russia is a strong, independent world power. On the international stage, we are committed to pursuing only such policies that meet the vital interests of our Fatherland," he pointed out.
"The national flag symbolizes our faith in our traditional values that we will never give up - truth and justice, solidarity and mercy, and respect for Russia’s centuries-long uninterrupted history, the achievements and victories of our ancestors that inspire us to care for and defend our Motherland and never permit any foreign hegemony or diktat. The desire to live according to our own will, to choose our own path and to follow it, has become part of our people’s genetic code," Putin said.
National Flag Day was created by a presidential decree in 1994. On August 22, 1991, the Supreme Soviet of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic passed a resolution establishing the historical flag of Russia (a white, azure and scarlet tricolor) as the national flag of the Russian Federation. In 1993, the azure color was replaced with blue and the scarlet color was replaced with red.
