IN SHORT: Footage of protesters waving Russian flags during Nigeria's ongoing economic protests has gone viral. But claims that the president had a Russian flag behind him as he addressed the nation are false.
On 1 August 2024, Nigerians began demonstrating against economic hardship and hunger.
In a televised speech on 4 August, president Bola Tinubu called for an end to the protests and reassured Nigerians that the economy was recovering.
Despite the appeal, the protests continued. Local media reported that Russian flags were seen in several northern Nigerian states, amid calls for a military takeover.
In his appeal, Tinubu stood on a podium, with two flags behind him. One was the official flag of Nigeria, which is green and white.
The other flag was red, blue, white and green, with several posts on social media claiming it was the Russian flag.
Part of one post reads: “Why was Russian 🇭🇷flags place behind President Tinubu when addressing Nigerians on Sunday?”
Similar claims have appeared here and here. (Note: See more instances listed at the end of this report.)
But is it the flag of Russia? We checked.
Flag indicates that the president is commander-in-chief
The Russian flag is rectangular with three equal horizontal bands: white at the top, blue in the middle and red at the bottom.
However, the flag in the television broadcast has four colours, with red at the top, followed by blue, white and green. These are the colours of Nigeria’s presidential standard.
A presidential standard is a special flag or emblem representing the office of the president of a country. It is used to indicate the presence of the president at official events, in vehicles, at residences or other locations.
Both flags have similar colours. However, the arrangement and number of colours are different.
The flag behind the president also indicates that he is the commander-in-chief of the army.
We have also seen the same flag behind former Nigerian presidents when they made speeches while in office.
The flag behind Tinubu is not that of Russia.
The false claim has also appeared here, here, here, here, here and here.
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