Every year on August 22 the country marks Russia’s State Flag Day. The Russian tricolored flag is one of the major state symbols. It represents the centuries-old history, the power and the grandeur of our country.

The celebration date was officially approved in 1994. However, the history of the flag goes throughout the centuries. Its design and the disposition of the lines were first thought out by Emperor Peter I. On August 20, 1705 he issued an order under which the white-blue-red flag must be hoisted on all commercial vessels. Ever since the Russian flag has become an inalienable part of the fleet’s culture. The tricolored flag is hoisted every day at 08:00 a.m. and lowered at sunset only on vessels having the flag certificate under the Russian Commercial Maritime Code.

On August 22, 2017 a solemn ceremony of hoisting the flag on vessels of FSUE “Rosmorport” was held.

First the Russian State Flag was hoisted on vessels of the Sakhalin Branch: on the Viktor Olenich, Vostok, Dobrynya boats and on the Farvater dredger. The festive events took place on FSUE “Rosmorport” icebreakers. Thus, the flags on the Krasin and Kapitan Khlebnikov icebreakers were solemnly hoisted in the Far Eastern Basin Branch. Cadets of Neveskiy Maritime State University were conferred the right to hoist the Russian tricolored flag. They undergo training on the Professor Khlyustin vessel.

The solemn ceremony of hoisting the Russian state flag was conducted in the FSUE “Rosmorport” Arkhangelsk Branch in the morning on the Spolokha and Gals boat, the Arkhangelsky, Severnaya Dvina dredgers, the Dikson, Kapitan Chadayev and Kapitan Kosolapov icebreakers. In Murmansk the flags were hoisted on the Kapitan Dranitsyn and Novorossiysk icebreakers and on the Lebedin boat.

In the North-Western Basin Branch the solemn ceremonies of hoisting the Russian flag were conducted on the Moskva, St Petersburg, Tor, Kapitan Nikolayev, Murmansk, Kapitan Sorokin icebreakers, as well as on the Sommers dredger and the KS-110 pilot’s boat.

In the Southern Basin the solemn events involved the Elbrus, Afalina and Albatros boats. The Azovo-Chernomorsky Basin Branch conducted the ceremonies on the Bata, Bora and Bospor boats, on the Kadosh dredging vessel and the Admiral Lazarev and the Admiral Serebryakov tugs.

The saucy ships, the Mir, the Nadezhda and the Khersones, the pride of the FSUE “Rosmorport” fleet, also conducted the solemn ceremonies of hoisting the Russian State Flag. Today the tricolored flag is flying on the sailing ships, the Mir and the Nadezhda, over the high seas on both sides of the Eurasian continent. The Russian flag has flied up aboard the Khersones ship in the Black Sea.

The FSUE “Rosmorport” branches have taken part in However, not only the branches of FSUE “Rosmorport” took part in the celebrations. The Knyaz Vladimir cruise ship, which is currently in Yalta, also joined the holiday. The ceremony of hoisting the Russian State Flag aboard the vessel involved the captain, the crew of the vessel and all passengers of the liner.

On this holiday solemn events have been held in all branches of FSUE “Rosmorport” – from Vladivostok to Kaliningrad, from Murmansk to Makhachkala. Over 100 flags are flying on vessels and flagstaffs of the enterprise’s administrative buildings.