Russia: Flag and Facts
Russia's flag stacks white, blue, and red in three horizontal bands of the same height, white uppermost.
- Official name
- Russian Federation
- Capital
- Moscow
- Region
- Eastern Europe
- Population
- 140 million (2025)
- Languages
- Russian
- Currency
- Russian ruble
- Area
- 17,098,242 km² (6,601,665 sq mi)
- People
- Russian
- Calling code
- +7
- Highest point
- Gora El'brus (highest point in Europe) 5,642 m
- Independence
- 25 December 1991 (from the Soviet Union
- National symbols
- bear, double-headed eagle
- Borders
- Azerbaijan, Belarus, China, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, North Korea, Latvia, Lithuania, Mongolia, Norway, Poland, Ukraine
About Russia
No official meaning is attached to the colors, though they may have been borrowed from the Dutch flag. The banner first appeared when Russia built its earliest navy ships, and for a long time it flew mainly at sea, until the 19th century. The bear and the double-headed eagle are national symbols.
Muscovy began in the 12th century and broke free after more than 200 years of Mongol control, then swallowed its neighbors. The Romanov dynasty pushed across Siberia to the Pacific, and under Peter I the state was renamed the Russian Empire. The Romanovs fell in 1917, and Lenin's communists created the USSR. Russia took its present form on 25 December 1991, when the Soviet Union ended. It spans 17,098,242 square kilometers, about 1.8 times the US, from steppes in the south to Siberian forest and Arctic tundra in the north.
Did you know?
- Gora El'brus, at 5,642 meters, is Russia's tallest peak and the highest point in Europe.
- The shore of the Caspian Sea is Russia's lowest point, 28 meters below sea level.
- Russia shares land borders with 14 countries, from Norway to North Korea.
Want to test yourself? The random flag generator has a quiz mode, and the full flags of the world page shows every flag at once.
Questions about Russia
What is the capital of Russia?
Moscow, a city of about 12.7 million people. Saint Petersburg is second with roughly 5.6 million.
When is Russia Day?
Russia Day is celebrated on 12 June.
Sources
- CIA World Factbook, checked October 8, 2026
- REST Countries data (mledoze/countries), checked October 8, 2026
- Flag artwork: flag-icons (MIT), checked October 8, 2026
Facts are compiled from these open sources and rewritten in our own words. Spotted something out of date? Tell us.