Banner of the 3rd Poltava Cossack Regiment

The development of methodological recommendations for the storage and restoration of banners required the study of archival materials and records of museums and restoration centers. Among the discovered documents, a protocol on the restoration of the banner of the 3rd Poltava Cossack Regiment was found. Currently, the banner is on display in the Museum of 1812. Unfortunately, its placement in the exhibition hall allows one to see only the front side of the cloth, which depicts Tsar Constantine. A photograph of the beginning of the XX century, posted on the website of the catalog of the State Museum Fund of the Russian Federation, gives an idea of the reverse side of the cloth, in the center of which is the inscription "ЗА ВѢРУ ЦАРЯ И ОТЕЧЕСТВА". A rare banner icon and an inscription on the back of cloth, different from the inscription on the home guard banners of the XIX – early XX century "ЗА ВѢРУ, ЦАРЯ И ОТЕЧЕСТВО" attracted attention. The study of published and archival documents made it possible to clarify the dating of the banner, to establish the composition of the regiment, the names of its commanders, the operations in which the regiment participated in 1812–1814, and to track the process of including the banner in the museum collection.