New Colours to the Northern Fleet’s naval infantry
The Russian Armed Forces are replacing Soviet heraldic symbols with Russian. The Northern Fleet’s naval infantry brigade’s flag no longer shows Lenin’s portrait and the slogan “For our Soviet Motherland”, but is based on a pre-revolutionary design.
According to Rossiyskaya Gazeta, the brigade’s commander Colonel Magomedali Magomedzhanov received the new Colours from Deputy Commander of the Northern Fleet Aleksander Vitko in a ceremony on November 4.
The old flag had a hammer and sickle, a portrait of Vladimir Lenin and the slogan “For our Soviet Motherland”. The new flag is based on a pre-revolutionary design with the St. George cross on a white background.
The Northern Fleet’s other land-based units are next in line to get new flags. In all, 2135 Russian military units will get new Colours.
The brigade’s official name is 61. Independent Kirkenes Order of the Red Banner Naval Infantry of the Northern Fleet. It was named after the Norwegian town Kirkenes after having participated in the liberation of the town in 1944.
