The 1695 flag book by Carel Allard describes three flags used by the czar of Muscovy: Thetricolour with the double-headed eagle bearing a shield on its breast and wearing a golden crown over both of its heads, the tricolour with a blue saltire over it, and a third showing red and white quartering with a blue cross over all.[9]
The Russian tricolour flag was adopted as amerchant flag at rivers in 1705.
The colours of the flag of Russia inspired the choice of the "Pan-Slavic colours" by thePrague Slavic Congress, 1848. Two other Slavic countries, Slovakia and Slovenia, have flags similar to the Russian one, but with added coats-of-arms for differentiation.
On 7 May 1883, the Russian flag was authorized to be used on land, and it became an official National flag before the coronation of Tsar Nicholas II in 1896.
The flag continued to be used by the Russian Provisional Government after the Tsar was toppled in the February Revolution and was not replaced until the October Revolutionwhich established the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic. From that time period, a 1:2 red flag featuring the abbreviated name "RSFSR" ("РСФСР") was used, until replaced in 1954 with the universal design of the Soviet flag with a blue stripe along the mast. It was not until thedissolution of the Soviet Union in 1991 that the tricolor was brought back as the official flag of the new Russian Federation. The modern era flag underwent a proportion change in 1993 and has been official since 2000.