The new Russian flag should follow the model of the flag of the Netherlands (at that time three horizontal strips orange-white-blue in addition, red-white-blue after 1630), but use colors from Russia. Peter I selected the colors from the coat of arms of the Principality of Moscow: On red background a white knight on a white horse rides, wrapped into a blue coat and blue sign carrying. Later the three colors were interpreted also than symbol for the three state-carrying ostslawischen peoples in the Russian Zarenreich: White for the “white Russians”, blue for the “small Russians” and red for the “large Russians”.