Russia’s regional flags
Eighty-three federal subjects, from ethnic republics with their own national tricolours to oblasts flying bears, tigers and camels.
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Almost none of these flags existed before 1991. When the Soviet Union broke up, Russia’s regions each adopted a flag of their own, and they split roughly two ways: the ethnic republics chose tricolours and national symbols, while the oblasts and krais mostly put their pre-revolutionary coats of arms on a coloured field.
This list covers the 83 subjects Russia had before 2014; it leaves out Crimea, Sevastopol and the regions of Ukraine that Russia claims to have annexed since, which most of the world doesn’t recognise.
Republics
Russia’s ethnic republics, most with flags in their own national colours.
Adygea
Twelve gold stars and three crossed arrows on green, from a 19th-century Circassian banner.
Altai Republic
White over a light blue stripe.
Bashkortostan
Blue, white and green, with a gold kurai flower.
Buryatia
Blue, white and yellow, with the Buddhist soyombo symbol.
Chechnya
Green, white and red, with a band of ornament at the hoist.
Chuvashia
A red tree-of-life emblem on yellow.
Dagestan
Green, blue and red stripes.
Ingushetia
A red solar sign on white, between green stripes.
Kabardino-Balkaria
Blue, white and green, with the twin peaks of Elbrus in a disc.
Kalmykia
A white lotus on yellow: Kalmykia is the only Buddhist-majority region in Europe.
Karachay-Cherkessia
Blue, green and red, with Elbrus in a disc.
Karelia
Red, blue and green stripes.
Khakassia
Blue, white and red, with a solar emblem on a green stripe at the hoist.
Komi
Blue, green and white stripes.
Mari El
A bear with a sword on a shield, on white with an ornamental border.
Mordovia
Red, white and dark blue, with an eight-pointed solar sign.
Sakha (Yakutia)
A white sun on sky blue, over thin stripes of white, red and green.
North Ossetia-Alania
White, red and yellow, the same tricolour South Ossetia flies across the border.
Tatarstan
Green and red, divided by a thin white stripe.
Tuva
A yellow triangle in a white Y, for the two rivers that meet to form the Yenisei.
Udmurtia
Black, white and red, with a red eight-pointed solar sign.
Krais
Altai Krai
The krai’s arms on red, with an ear of wheat on a blue stripe at the hoist.
Kamchatka Krai
A volcano over white and blue.
Khabarovsk Krai
Blue and green, split by a white-edged green triangle.
Krasnodar Krai
Blue, crimson and green bands, with the krai’s arms.
Krasnoyarsk Krai
The krai’s arms on red: a lion holding a sickle and spade.
Perm Krai
A white cross on red and blue, with the bear from Perm’s arms.
Primorsky Krai
A Siberian tiger in the canton, above a white-edged blue diagonal.
Stavropol Krai
A white and gold cross with the krai’s arms.
Zabaykalsky Krai
Green and red, with a yellow triangle at the hoist.
Federal cities
Moscow
St George slaying the dragon, on crimson.
Saint Petersburg
Crossed anchors and a sceptre on red: the city was founded as a port and a capital.
Autonomous okrugs and oblast
Jewish Autonomous Oblast
White with a thin rainbow stripe of seven colours, recalling the menorah’s seven branches.
Chukotka
A white triangle with a Russian-flag roundel, on blue.
Khanty-Mansi
Blue over green with a white stripe at the fly, and a white crown shaped like reindeer antlers, from Khanty and Mansi ornament. Blue stands for the region’s rivers and lakes, green for the taiga, white for the snow.
Nenets
White and blue, with a band of traditional ornament.
Yamalo-Nenets
Sky blue over a band of ornament.
Oblasts
Mostly the oblast’s coat of arms on a field of one or two colours.
Amur Oblast
Red over blue, split by a white wave: the Amur river.
Arkhangelsk Oblast
The blue saltire of the Russian navy’s St Andrew ensign, with the oblast’s arms.
Astrakhan Oblast
A crown and a curved sword, from the arms of the old Astrakhan khanate.
Belgorod Oblast
A blue cross on white, red, green and black quarters; the arms show a black eagle over a gold lion, first seen on the banners of the Belgorod regiment in 1712.
Bryansk Oblast
Its arms still carry a hammer and sickle.
Chelyabinsk Oblast
A white camel carrying a load, from Chelyabinsk’s arms, recalling the old caravan trade.
Irkutsk Oblast
A babr, the Siberian tiger, holding a sable in its jaws.
Ivanovo Oblast
Red and blue halves over three white waves, with the arms: a gold shuttle for the textile industry and a torch for knowledge.
Kaliningrad Oblast
A castle over red, yellow and blue.
Kaluga Oblast
A gold imperial crown on red, over green, with a thin white stripe between them for the Oka river.
Kemerovo Oblast
Red with a blue band at the hoist carrying the arms: a black pyramid with a pick and hammer, for the coal mines of the Kuzbass.
Kirov Oblast
The arms above green and blue stripes: a hand reaching from a cloud to draw a bow, from the old arms of Vyatka. The blue stands for the Vyatka river.
Kostroma Oblast
A gold galley on blue.
Kurgan Oblast
Two silver kurgans, or burial mounds, on a green band between white.
Kursk Oblast
The white, gold and black stripes in the middle come from the Russian Empire’s flag of 1858–1883; the arms show three partridges on a blue diagonal.
Leningrad Oblast
The oblast’s arms over a white and blue wave.
Lipetsk Oblast
A gold linden tree, the lipa that gives Lipetsk its name.
Magadan Oblast
A blue band of waves under red, with the arms in the canton.
Moscow Oblast
St George on horseback slaying the dragon, in the corner of a red field.
Murmansk Oblast
The northern lights over the Arctic, on blue.
Nizhny Novgorod Oblast
The full arms on white: a red deer on a silver shield, the shield crowned and wreathed in gold oak leaves.
Novgorod Oblast
Blue, white and red bands, with the arms: two black bears beside a gold throne topped by a three-branched candlestick, and two fish below.
Novosibirsk Oblast
Two sables holding a loaf, split by a white and blue cross.
Omsk Oblast
A wavy blue stripe for the Irtysh river, on red and white.
Orenburg Oblast
The full arms on red: a cross and a crescent for a region on the edge of Europe and Asia, where Orthodox and Muslim peoples live side by side, and a blue marten, the old emblem of Ufa.
Oryol Oblast
The arms on red over a blue stripe: a white fortress crowned by a gold double-headed eagle.
Penza Oblast
Green and yellow, with the arms: three gold sheaves tied with red ribbons. This design replaced the old flag in 2022.
Pskov Oblast
A golden leopard under the hand of God, from Pskov’s old arms.
Rostov Oblast
Blue, yellow and red, the colours of the Don Cossacks.
Ryazan Oblast
White, yellow and red stripes, with the prince from the oblast’s arms holding a sword.
Sakhalin Oblast
A white map of Sakhalin and the Kuril Islands.
Samara Oblast
Red, white and blue in the order of the Samara Banner, a relic of both Russia and Bulgaria, with the arms: a silver wild goat.
Saratov Oblast
White over red, with the arms: three sterlets, a kind of sturgeon, inside a gold wreath.
Smolensk Oblast
Red with two yellow stripes, and the arms in the corner: the Gamayun, a bird from Slavic folklore, perched on a cannon.
Sverdlovsk Oblast
White, blue, white and green stripes: white and blue for the Russian flag, green for the nature of the Urals.
Tambov Oblast
Red and blue halves, with the arms: a silver beehive and three bees, which stand for hard work.
Tomsk Oblast
The arms on white: a silver horse on green. Green and white are Siberia’s traditional colours, for forest and snow.
Tula Oblast
Crossed swords and hammers: Tula has made weapons for over 300 years.
Tver Oblast
A gold throne with a crown, on red and yellow.
Tyumen Oblast
White, blue and green, with a red triangle at the hoist and three gold crowns shaped like reindeer antlers, from the ornament of the region’s northern peoples.
Ulyanovsk Oblast
A white column crowned by a gold imperial crown, on blue.
Vladimir Oblast
The arms on red, with a hammer and sickle at the hoist.
Volgograd Oblast
The Motherland Calls, the war memorial on Mamayev Kurgan.
Vologda Oblast
White with a red stripe at the fly, and the arms in the corner: a hand from a cloud holding an orb and a sword, under a crown.
Voronezh Oblast
A tipped jug pouring water down a rocky gold hill, on red, from the arms of Voronezh.
Yaroslavl Oblast
A black bear carrying an axe, from the legend of the city’s founding.
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