Russia allows citizens to display flag

MOSCOW, Oct. 15 (UPI) -- Anyone in Russia -- not just state officials -- can now legally fly the country's flag, lawmakers say.

Under a law passed by the State Duma, the lower house of the Russian Parliament, the use of the national flag by ordinary citizens, such as at sports events and on houses, will now be officially allowed, RIA Novosti reported Wednesday.

Until now, the display of the Russian flag was technically restricted to officials and state occasions, although it was a law that was never actually enforced. The lawmakers who championed the measure say the removal of the technicality will promote patriotism in the country.

"There are moments in life when you want everybody to know that you are a citizen of a great nation, a Russian citizen," Oleg Valenchuk, a member of the pro-Kremlin United Russia party, told the news agency. "I believe the Russian flag carried by an ordinary person is a more striking and genuine manifestation of patriotism than state banners in many civil servants' offices."

RIA Novosti said the Russian flag, with its horizontal white, blue and red stripes, was officially adopted in 1896, discarded after the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution, reinstated in 1993 with slight changes and deemed official in 2000.