I have reposted this from the Uniforms etc forum as it elicited no responses. Here is what I have pieced together so far on flags used by the Russian forces in the Boxer Rebellion in 1900-1. I would be grateful for comments/suggestions/corrections, please.
`… and I hoisted the Russian Flag at the Chien Men side [of the Tarter City Wall].' - Private Oscar Upham USMC
Contemporary observers mention the use of flags by all the Allies to mark captured buildings etc. This was probably the national flag as it would be more obviously Russian than one of the military designating flags or regimental Colours, and regimental Colours were too precious to be used for that kind of thing. Sailors might have used the St Andrew's cross Russian naval jack. [Hillman]
Certainly a Russian flag was used alongside a British Union flag and a Stars and Stripes to show the relief force that the legation defenders were still alive, as described in the quote above. Upham does not say what the flag was but a more recent account states that it was the `…the Imperial eagle of Russia', but gives no source for this specific identification [Preston]
If this is correct the contenders would appear to be a the Imperial Standard of the Czar or the flag of a Russian Ambassador or Minister Plenipotentiary. The former was yellow with the black double headed Imperial eagle and various shield with coats of arms. The latter was a red field with white diagonal, horizontal and vertical crosses with a blue St Andrew's cross on the diagonal white, and the upper left canton yellow with the black double headed Imperial eagle as on the Czar's standard. [Hulme] I don't know if it is likely the Imperial Standard would have been in a Russian legation? Clearly the flag for the ambassador should have been, and so could have been available for use?
Too further complicate matters, as has been posted elswhere in this forum, in 1858 a black/golden yellow/white horizontal tricolor had been adopted as the Russian national civil flag. Black and yellow were the Imperial colours; the white stripe was added to distinguish this flag from the Imperial Austrian "Reich" and war flag, which was a black-yellow horizontal bicolour. The black/yellow/white flag was highly unpopular and in 1883 the civil ensign, a white/blue/red horizontal tricolor, was adopted as an alternate national flag. However, the black-orange-red was not officially abolished, so that Russia had two civil flags from 1883 to 1914. [Gregg] So the flag raised could have been either of these two?
Can anyone can help me with better information as to which flags were used, please? Thanks
Mike
