At present, Russian legislation imposes restrictions on the use of state symbols by public organizations and private citizens. Ordinary Russians must obtain special permission to display the national flag on private residences.
"Permission to display our flag is an inalienable right of every citizen," Vyatcheslav Volodin, a deputy speaker of the lower chamber of the Russian parliament said. "It is a natural expression of patriotism."
In many countries, displaying the national flag has long been a reflection of national pride. In the United States, it is frequently seen on everything from public buildings and private residences to decals for car windows and clothing.
In Russia, the national tricolor, with its horizontal bands of white, blue, and red, first replaced the Soviet-era red banner at the seat of Russian government August 21, 1991, following a failed a coup against the then-Soviet president, Mikhail Gorbachev.
Since 1994, Russia has celebrated National Flag Day August 22, a holiday introduced by Russia's first democratically elected president, Boris Yeltsin.
But in a replay of old rivalries, a Flag Day meeting Tuesday outside Russia's main government building was marred by protest when several hundred activists from the Union of Right forces were challenged by two demonstrators from a pro-Soviet youth organization.
The protestors, who tried to disrupt the carrying of a large Russian flag to the spot where three people died defending the Russian parliament in August 1991, said they were expressing their views of the Russian government and the collapse of the Soviet Union by trampling on the banner.
