▁specify ▁the ▁exact ▁colours ▁of ▁the ▁flag . ▁In ▁practice , ▁however , ▁federal ▁authorities ▁tend ▁to ▁use ▁the ▁following ▁colors : ▁ ▁Vari ant ▁versions ▁ ▁A ▁variant ▁of ▁the ▁flag ▁was ▁author ized ▁for ▁private ▁use ▁by ▁Ts ar ▁Nicholas ▁II ▁before ▁World ▁War ▁I , ▁adding ▁the ▁large ▁state ▁e agle ▁on ▁a ▁yellow ▁field ▁( imper ial ▁standard ) ▁in ▁a ▁canton ▁in ▁the ▁top ▁left - hand ▁corner . ▁It ▁was ▁never ▁made ▁the ▁official ▁state ▁flag . ▁ ▁When ▁the ▁B ols he vik s ▁took ▁power ▁in ▁ 1 9 1 7 , ▁the ▁tr icol or ▁design ▁was ▁disc arded , ▁and ▁a ▁definit ive ▁new ▁flag ▁of ▁the ▁R S FS R ▁( one ▁of ▁the ▁constitu ent ▁republic s ▁of ▁the ▁Soviet ▁Union ) ▁was ▁introduced ▁in ▁ 1 9 5 4 ▁( see ▁flag ▁of ▁Russian ▁S FS R ), ▁and ▁this ▁remained ▁the ▁republic ' s ▁flag ▁until ▁the ▁collapse ▁of ▁the ▁Soviet ▁Union ▁in ▁ 1 9 9 1 . ▁All ▁of ▁the ▁Soviet ▁Republic s ' ▁flags ▁were ▁created ▁by ▁introdu cing ▁a ▁small ▁but ▁notice able ▁change ▁to ▁the ▁flag ▁of ▁the ▁Soviet ▁Union . ▁For ▁Russia , ▁the ▁change ▁was ▁an ▁introduction ▁of ▁the ▁left - hand ▁blue ▁band . ▁The ▁previous ▁Soviet ▁design ▁was ▁different , ▁a ▁plain ▁red ▁flag ▁with ▁different ▁variants ▁of ▁the ▁" RS FS R " ▁abbre viation ▁in ▁the ▁canton . ▁Today , ▁the ▁Soviet ▁flag ▁is ▁used ▁by ▁the ▁supp