Guide To Honorary Revolutionary Red Banner 1920-24

[DougD]

I am working on a basic guide to Soviet Unit flags from the different eras. The first will be the era of the Russian Civil War. I am not going to be able to do all the odd variations of the RCW era, so am trying to just the the "regulation" flags of the Red Army.

The first real Red Army unit flag was the Honorary Revolutionary Red Banner, first issued without any real decree in 1918. By 1920, the regulations came about that actually placed the HRRB as a decreed unit award (individual awards were still a bit frowned upon).

In 1920 the Central Committee decided on the HRRB as the first “official” unit award and even had the organization initials on the banners themselves (VT s IK). What makes the HRRB such an interesting unit flag is that it was not simply issued to all units, but rather it was an award. The only real follow up to that would be the Guards unit flags of WWII; they had to be earned as well.

Even with this regulation, the design of early unit flags from 1918-1924 varied incredibly, though it is not my intention to cover all of them here. Rather, i will just stick to the ‘official’ unit flags. This however, does not mean that all HRRB were the same; they varied quite a bit as well.

As far as I know there are only a handfull of these outside museums; one HRRB outside of a Russian / Soviet museum. It is shown here, for the Voronezh Red Commanders School, the students at which fought bravely against the whites and were awarded this unit flag in 1920 (Red Army schools were issued unit flags).

Made of heavy red velvet, with hand done embroidery, the front side shows the early Red Army star, with Hammer and Plow device. The rear is unique, as it shows a factory (located in Voronezh?) and two workers breaking their chains of oppression. This is the only example I know of were an HRRB has a hand painted scene on it.

[DougD]

More shots, showing the incredible detail work, surpassing anything ever produced in the TR!

[DougD]

2 HRRBs hanging in the Central Armed Forces Museum (CAFM); they show the unit name and the parent unit as well. Note the use of the hammer and sickle, probably a sign these flags were issued later, perhaps 1922-1923 or so.

[DougD]

More traditional HRRBs hanging in the Central Naval Museum, St.Petersburg.

[DougD]

The head of the KGB museum, holding the HRRB of the Cheka. I have my doubts this flag is original. I think it might have been made later (1967?) to show the flag as it should have been. The original might have been lost. I might be incorrect and it might be original, but the condition makes me question its age.

[DougD]

HRRB in use by Cavalry unit, 1920.

[EricFG]

Beautiful flags Doug, thanks for sharing. I can see why you like them so much. :)

[deValcourt]

These are part of cloth collecting I at least have a basic grasp of.;)

Absolutely great set!:thumbsup My personal favorite is the 212 rifle regiment flag with the ole hammer & plow symbol. I think even Elvis would have liked it with all that velvet.:chuckle Joking aside, I've always been impressed with the velvet banners (large or small), despite their weight.

Which brings me to my question: how do you store or display these (or are they just passing through)?

Phillip

[DougD]

Eric,

Glad you like them, to me they were always amongst the most striking of Red Army unit flags...sort of the ‘father’ of all Red Army unit flags to come.

Phil,

I have only had two originals in my hands, the rest of the photos are of examples in museums. As for the two originals, storage depends on the flag itself... The Voronezh example has a painted obverse, and thus folding is not good for it...to be honest it stays flat hanging on a wall...luckily I have convinced the girlfriend it’s “art”. The Sverdlov example can stay folded as it its simply embroidered and the folding will not do it great damage.

Always looking for more photos of these in use or in museums!