Last Soviet-era (before 1991) flag was adopted by the Russian SFSR in 1954. The constitution stipulated:
- The state flag of the Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic presents itself as a red rectangular sheet with a light-blue stripe at the pole extending all the width which constitutes one eighth length of the flag.
Between 1937 and the adoption of the flag to the right, the flag was red with the gold Cyrillic characters РСФСР (RSFSR) in the top-left corner, in a traditional viaz' style of ornamental Cyrillic calligraphy.
The flag of RSFSR is a defacement of the flag of the Soviet Union.
Like the flag of the Soviet Union, the hammer and sickle represents the working class and more specifically, the hammer represents the urban industrial workers and the sickle represents the rural and agricultural peasants. The red in the flag represents the Russian revolution and revolution in general.
Famous quotes containing the words flag of, flag, russian, soviet, socialist and/or republic:
“Swift blazing flag of the regiment,
Eagle with crest of red and gold,
These men were born to drill and die.
Point for them the virtue of slaughter,
Make plain to them the excellence of killing
And a field where a thousand corpses lie.”
—Stephen Crane (1871–1900)
“What is Americanism? Every one has a different answer. Some people say it is never to submit to the dictation of a King. Others say Americanism is the pride of liberty and the defence of an insult to the flag with their gore. When some half-developed person tramples on that flag, we should be ready to pour out the blood of the nation, they say. But do we not sit in silence when that flag waves over living conditions which should be an insult to all patriotism?”
—Anna Howard Shaw (1847–1919)
“...I never drink wine ... I keep my hands soft and supple ... I sleep in a soft bed and never over-tire my body. It is because when my hour strikes I must be a perfect instrument. My eyes must be steady, my brain clear, my nerves calm, my aim true. I must be prepared to do my work, successfully if God wills. But if I perish, I perish.”
—Lisa, Russian terrorist (anonymous)
““Is there life on Mars?” “No, not there either.””
—Russian saying popular in the Soviet period, trans. by Vladimir Ivanovich Shlyakov (1993)
“I pass the test that says a man who isn’t a socialist at 20 has no heart, and a man who is a socialist at 40 has no head.”
—William Casey (1913–1987)
“Royalty is a government in which the attention of the nation is concentrated on one person doing interesting actions. A Republic is a government in which that attention is divided between many, who are all doing uninteresting actions. Accordingly, so long as the human heart is strong and the human reason weak, Royalty will be strong because it appeals to diffused feeling, and Republics weak because they appeal to the understanding.”
—Walter Bagehot (1826–1877)