The flag of Russia is a tricolor of three equal horizontal fiels, white on the top, blue in the middle and red on the bottom. The flag was first used as an ensign for merchant and war ships and only became official in 1896. Rumored to be based on the Dutch tricolor, the flag continued to be used by the Russian Provisional Government even after the Tsar was toppled in the February Revolution and was not replaced until the October Revolution which established a Bolshevik government. From that time period, a red flag charged with communist symbols was favored over the tricolor. It was not until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 that the tricolor was brought back as the official flag of the new Russian Federation. The modern era flag underwent a slight change in 1993 and has been official since 2000. The flag of Russia provided the Pan-Slavic colours of red, blue and white that appear in the flags of Slavic countries (including Slovakia, Slovenia, and Serbia).