Boris Godunov and the Tricolor Flag

[Katya Jordan]

Dear Michael,

Those are some interesting questions.  The first tricolor flag appeared in 
Peter’s time—I believe there is no argument about that among historians.  I do 
not pretend to know the mind of those who decided to use a tricolor in the 
production in question, but I would suppose that it was done deliberately.  
Here is why.  I remember in the early 1990s, soon after the Coup, an actor 
Gennady Khazanov doing a stage performance—something like a one-man 
comedy routine—where he made fun of politicians of the time, likening the 
time after the coup of 1991 to the Time of Troubles.  Moreover, he specifically 
described “narod” chanting “Borisku na tsarstvo!  Borisku na tsarstvo!”  Of 
course, in the 1990s that meant Boris Yeltsin, but the historical parallel that 
Khazanov was making was quite apparent to those familiar with the Russian 
history.  Besides, I can personally attest that the 1990s did indeed feel like 
the Time of Troubles in many ways.

--Katya

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