For the first time, the idea of raising a red flag over the capital of defeated Germany was expressed by Joseph Stalin on November 6, 1944, at a ceremonial meeting in Moscow on the eve of the anniversary of the October Revolution. At the same time, he decided that during the assault on Berlin, the Victory Banner should be raised over the German Reichstag building, symbolizing the final collapse of Nazism. Soon, based on the design of the USSR state flag, nine copies of the Victory Banner were urgently produced, corresponding to the number of divisions of the 3rd Shock Army fighting in the first echelon of the Soviet troops storming Berlin. The vanguard assault groups, composed of volunteer soldiers, strove to complete the important task as quickly as possible. Flag No. 5, which became the Victory Banner, was carried by a group of three soldiers led by Senior Sergeant Ivanov. He received a fatal wound while breaking through to the upper floors of the Reichstag, but Sergeant M. Egorov and Junior Sergeant M. Kantaria, covered by their comrades from the 756th Regiment of the 159th Rifle Division, managed to raise the Victory Banner. On April 30, 1945, a red flag appeared on the roof of the Reichstag, followed by two more similar banners. The next day, the Victory Banner was moved to the glass dome of the building. It remained there until May 9, 1945, after which it was kept at the headquarters of the 150th Division. On June 20, 1945, the Red Victory Banner was delivered to Moscow by a special transport plane, and on June 24, 1945, during the Victory Parade of Soviet troops, Egorov and Kantaria ceremoniously carried it across Red Square in the capital. Although there is a version that the Banner was not present at the Victory Parade. Be that as it may, since then, the Victory Banner has been kept in the Central Museum of the Armed Forces of Russia in Moscow.