Flag of Denmark
Use | Civil flag and ensign |
---|---|
Proportion | 28:37 national[1][2] 56:107 royal |
Adopted | 15 June 1219 1625 (recognised as national flag)[3] | (Dannebrog legend)
Design | A white Nordic cross with a red background |
Rigets flag—Flag of the Kingdom [of Denmark]; also known as Splitflaget | |
Proportion | 56:107[2] |
Orlogsflag | |
Use | Naval ensign |
Proportion | 7:17[2] |
Adopted | 11 June 1748 |
The national flag of Denmark (Danish: Dannebrog, pronounced [ˈtænəˌpʁoˀ])[4] is red with a white Nordic cross, which means that the cross extends to the edges of the flag and the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side.
A banner with a white-on-red cross is attested as having been used by the
Description
In 1748, a regulation defined the correct lengths of the two last fields in the flag as 6⁄4.[8] In May 1893 a new regulation to all chiefs of police stated that the police should not intervene, if the two last fields in the flag were longer than 6⁄4 as long as these did not exceed 7⁄4, and provided that this was the only rule violated.[citation needed] This regulation is still in effect today and thus the legal proportions of the National flag today are 3:1:3 in width and anywhere between 3:1:4.5 and 3:1:5.25 in length.
No official definition of "Dannebrog rød" exists. The private company Dansk Standard, regulation number 359 (2005), defines the red colour of the flag as Pantone 186c.
Construction sheet
History
This section needs additional citations for verification. (March 2019) |
1219 origin legend
A tradition recorded in the 16th century traces the origin of the flag to the campaigns of Valdemar II of Denmark (r. 1202–1241). The oldest of them is in Christiern Pedersen's "Danske Krønike", which is a sequel to Saxo's Gesta Danorum, written 1520–23. Here, the flag falls from the sky during one of Valdemar's military campaigns overseas. Pedersen also states that the very same flag was taken into exile by Eric of Pomerania in 1440.
The second source is the writing of the Franciscan friar
It is this third account that has been the most influential, and some historians[who?] have treated it as the primary account taken from a (lost) source dating to the first half of the 15th century.
In Olai's account, the battle was going badly, and defeat seemed imminent. However the Danish Bishop Anders Sunesen, on top of a hill overlooking the battle, prayed to God with his arms raised, and the Danes moved closer to victory the more he prayed. When he raised his arms the Danes surged forward but when his arms grew tired and he let them fall, the Estonians turned the Danes back. Attendants rushed forward to raise his arms once again and the Danes again surged forward. But for a second time he grew so tired that he dropped his arms and the Danes again lost the advantage and were moving closer to defeat. He needed two soldiers to keep his hands up. When the Danes were about to lose, 'Dannebrog' miraculously fell from the sky and the King took it, showed it to the troops, their hearts were filled with courage, and the Danes won the battle.
The possible historical nucleus behind this origin legend was extensively discussed by Danish historians in the 19th to 20th centuries. One such example is
The Danish church-historian L. P. Fabricius (1934)
A different theory is briefly discussed by Fabricius and elaborated more by Helge Bruhn (1949). Bruhn interprets the story in the context of the widespread tradition of the miraculous appearance of crosses in the sky in Christian legend, specifically comparing such an event attributed to a battle of 10 September 1217 near Alcazar, where it is said that a golden cross on white appeared in the sky, to bring victory to the Christians.[11]
In Swedish national historiography of the 18th century, there is a tale paralleling the Danish legend, in which a golden cross appears in the blue sky during a Swedish battle in Finland in 1157.[12]
Middle Ages
The white-on-red cross emblem originates in the age of the
In the
-
Reichssturmfahne of the Holy Roman Empire
-
Seal ofKalmar union, 1398. A small Dannebrog banner is depicted as held by the three Danish lions in the top-left corner.
The reason why the kings of Denmark in the 14th century began displaying the cross banner in their coats of arms is unknown.
Several coins, seals, and images exist, both foreign and domestic, from the 13th to 15th centuries and even earlier, showing heraldic designs similar to Dannebrog, alongside the
There is a record suggesting that the Danish army had a "chief banner" (hoffuitbanner) in the early 16th century. Such a banner is mentioned in 1570 by Niels Hemmingsøn in the context of a 1520 battle between Danes and Swedes near Uppsala as nearly captured by the Swedes but saved by the heroic actions of the banner-carrier Mogens Gyldenstierne and Peder Skram. The legend attributing the miraculous origin of the flag to the campaigns of Valdemar II of Denmark (r. 1202–1241) was recorded by Christiern Pedersen and Petrus Olai in the 1520s.
Hans Svaning's History of King Hans from 1558 to 1559 and Johan Rantzau's History about the Last Dithmarschen War, from 1569, record the further fate of the Danish hoffuitbanner: According to this tradition, the original flag from the Battle of Lindanise was used in the small campaign of 1500 when King Hans tried to conquer Dithmarschen (in western Holstein in the north Germany). The flag was lost in a devastating defeat at the Battle of Hemmingstedt on 17 February 1500. In 1559, King Frederik II recaptured it during his own Dithmarschen campaign.
In 1576, the son of Johan Rantzau,
Contemporary records describing the battle of Hemmingstedt make no reference to the loss of the original Dannebrog, although the capitulation state that all Danish banners lost in 1500 was to be returned. In a letter dated 22 February 1500 to Oluf Stigsøn, King John describes the battle but does not mention the loss of an important flag. In fact, the entire letter gives the impression that the lost battle was of limited importance. In 1598, Neocorus wrote that the banner captured in 1500 was brought to the church in Wöhrden and hung there for the next 59 years until it was returned to the Danes as part of the peace settlement in 1559.
Modern period
Used as a maritime flag since the 16th century, the Dannebrog was introduced as a regimental flag in the Danish army in 1785, and for the militia (landeværn) in 1801. From 1842, it was used as the flag of the entire army.[15]
During the first half of the 19th century, in parallel to the development of Romantic nationalism in other European countries, the military flag increasingly came to be seen as representing the nation itself. Poems of this period invoking the Dannebrog were written by B.S. Ingemann, N.F.S. Grundtvig, Oehlenschläger, Chr. Winther and H.C. Andersen.[15] By the 1830s, the military flag had become popular as an unofficial national flag, and its use by private citizens was outlawed in a circular enacted on 7 January 1834.
In the national enthusiasm sparked by the First Schleswig War during 1848–1850, the flag was still very widely displayed, and the prohibition of private use was repealed in a regulation of 7 July 1854, for the first time allowing Danish citizens to display the Dannebrog (but not the swallow-tailed Splitflag variant).[16] Special permission to use the Splitflag was given to individual institutions and private companies, especially after 1870.[citation needed] In 1886, the war ministry introduced a regulation indicating that the flag should be flown from military buildings on thirteen specified days, including royal birthdays, the date of the signing of the Constitution of 5 June 1849 and on days of remembrance for military battles. In 1913, the naval ministry issued its own list of flag days. On 10 April 1915, the hoisting of any other flag on Danish soil was prohibited.[17] This prohibition has been lifted on 24 June 2023, after a Supreme Court ruling.[18] From 1939 until 2012, the yearbook Hvem-Hvad-Hvor included a list of flag days. As of 2019 flag days can be viewed at the "Ministry of Justice (Justitsministeriet)" as well as "The Denmark Society (Danmarks-Samfundet)".
Variants
Maritime flag and corresponding Kingdom flag
The size and shape of the civil ensign ("Koffardiflaget") for merchant ships is given in the regulation of 11 June 1748, which says: A red flag with a white cross with no split end. The white cross must be 1⁄7 of the flag's height. The two first fields must be square in form and the two outer fields must be 6⁄4 lengths of those. The proportions are thus: 3:1:3 vertically and 3:1:4.5 horizontally. This definition are the absolute proportions for the Danish national flag to this day, for both the civil version of the flag ("Stutflaget"), as well as the merchant flag ("Handelsflaget"). The civil flag and the merchant flag are identical in colour and design.
A regulation passed in 1758 required Danish ships sailing in the
According to the regulation of 11 June 1748 the colour was simply red, which is common known today as "Dannebrog rød" ("Dannebrog red"). The only available red fabric dye in 1748 was made of madder root, which can be processed to produce a brilliant red dye (used historically for British soldiers' jackets). A regulation of 4 May 1927 once again states that Danish merchant ships have to fly flags according to the regulation of 1748.
The first regulation regarding the Splitflag dates from 27 March 1630, in which King Christian IV orders that Norwegian Defensionskibe (armed merchants ships) may only use the Splitflag if they are in Danish war service. In 1685 an order, distributed to a number of cities in Slesvig, states that all ships must carry the Danish flag, and in 1690 all merchant ships are forbidden to use the Splitflag, with the exception of ships sailing in the East Indies, West Indies and along the coast of Africa. In 1741 it is confirmed that the regulation of 1690 is still very much in effect; that merchant ships may not use the Splitflag. At the same time the Danish East India Company is allowed to fly the Splitflag when past the equator.
Some confusion must have existed regarding the Splitflag. In 1696 the Admiralty presented the King with a proposal for a standard regulating both size and shape of the Splitflag. In the same year a royal resolution defines the proportions of the Splitflag, which in this resolution is called Kongeflaget (the King's flag), as follows: The cross must be 1⁄7 of the flags height. The two first fields must be square in form with the sides three times the cross width. The two outer fields are rectangular and 1+1⁄2 the length of the square fields. The tails are the length of the flag.
These numbers are the basic for the Splitflag, or Orlogsflag, today, though the numbers have been slightly altered. The term Orlogsflag dates from 1806 and denotes use in the Danish Navy.
From about 1750 to the early 19th century, a number of ships and companies which the government has interests in, received approval to use the Splitflag.
In the royal resolution of 25 October 1939 for the Danish Navy, it is stated that the Orlogsflag is a Splitflag with a deep red ("dybrød") or madder red ("kraprød") colour. Like the National flag, no nuance is given, but in modern days this is given as 195U. Furthermore, the size and shape is corrected in this resolution to be: "The cross must be 1⁄7 of the flag's height. The two first fields must be square in form with the height of 3⁄7 of the flag's height. The two outer fields are rectangular and 5⁄4 the length of the square fields. The tails are 6⁄4 the length of the rectangular fields". Thus, if compared to the standard of 1696, both the rectangular fields and the tails have decreased in size.
The Splitflag and Orlogsflag have similar shapes but different sizes and shades of red. Legally, they are two different flags. The Splitflag is a Danish flag ending in a swallow-tail, it is Dannebrog red, and is used on land. The Orlogsflag is an elongated Splitflag with a deeper red colour and is only used on sea.
The Orlogsflag with no markings, may only be used by the Royal Danish Navy. There are though a few exceptions to this. A few institutions have been allowed to fly the clean Orlogsflag. The same flag with markings has been approved for a few dozen companies and institutions over the years.
Furthermore, the Orlogsflag is only described as such if it has no additional markings. Any swallow-tail flag, no matter the colour, is called a Splitflag provided it bears additional markings.
Royal standards
- Monarch
The current version of the
- Other members of the royal family
-
Standard of Frederik, the then-Crown Prince of Denmark (now King Frederik X) flying at Amalienborg
Other flags in the Kingdom of Denmark
Greenland and the Faroe Islands are autonomous territories[19] within the Kingdom of Denmark. They have their own official flags.
Some areas in Denmark have unofficial flags. While they have no legal recognition or regulation, they can be used freely.
The regional flags of Bornholm and Ærø are occasionally used by locals of those islands and in tourist-related businesses.
The proposal for a flag of Jutland has hardly found any actual use, maybe in part due to its peculiar design.[20]
The flag of Vendsyssel (Vendelbrog) is seen infrequently, but many locals recognise it. According to an article in the newspaper Nordjyske, the flag had been used in the former insignia of Flight Eskadrille 723 of Aalborg Air Base, in the 1980s.
Flag | Date introduced | Use | Description |
---|---|---|---|
1633 | Unofficial flag of Ærø | Nearly square banner of horizontal yellow, green, and red stripes repeated three times. A historically incorrect version similar to the flag of Lithuania was used until 2015 | |
1970s | Unofficial flag of Bornholm | Nordic Cross Flag in red and green. Also known in a version with a white fimbriation of the green cross in a style similar to design of the Norwegian flag
| |
1975 | Proposed flag of Jutland | Nordic Cross Flag in blue, green and red. Designed by Per Kramer in 1975[21] Rarely seen in use.
| |
1976 | Unofficial flag of Vendsyssel |
See also
- Flag of Greenland
- Flag of the Faroe Islands
- List of Danish flags
- Nordic Cross flag
- Raven banner
- Flag of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta
- Flag of Savoy
- Danish Protest Pig, a breed of pig bred to look like the Danish flag.
References
- ^ Regulation of 11 June 1748.
- ^ Store Danske Encyklopædi– entry "Danmark -nationalflag"
- ^ a b "Oldest continuously used national flag". Guinness World Records. Retrieved 2023-11-10.
- ^ The word Dannebrog is recorded since the 19th century, and in the opinion of A. D. Jørgensen ("Om Danebroges Oprindelse", Historiske Afhandlinger 2, 1899) the word may be of medieval coinage. Old Danish brog continues Old Norse brók "piece of cloth; breeches, trousers"; the word is not now current in Danish outside of composition, the Ordbog over det danske Sprog (1920 edition) listed it as "dated or poetic" (foræld. og poet.) for "trousers".
- ISBN 87-7739-906-4.
- ISBN 9781841622156. Retrieved 2007-12-31.
Legend states that a red cloth with the white cross simply fell from the sky in the middle of the 13th-century Battle of Valdemar, after which the Danes were victorious. As a badge of divine right, Denmark flew its cross in the other Scandinavian countries it ruled and as each nation gained independence, they incorporated the Christian symbol.
Inge Adriansen, Nationale symboler, Museum Tusculanum Press, 2003, p. 129: "Fra begyndelsen af 1400-tallet kan Dannebrog med sikkerhed dokumenteres som rigsflag, det vil sige statsmagtens og kongens flag" (English: "Dannebrog can with certainty be documented as flag of the realm, that is the flag of the authority of state and of the king, from the beginning of the 1400s") - St George's Flag), the cross representing ChristianityJeroen Temperman (2010). State Religion Relationships and Human Rights Law.ISBN 978-9004181489. Retrieved 2007-12-31..
Many predominantly Christian states show a cross, symbolizing Christianity, on their national flag. Scandinavian crosses or Nordic crosses on the flags of the Nordic countries–Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, and Sweden–also represent Christianity.
. The elongated cross design was subsequently adopted by other Nordic countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands, as well as the British archipelagos of Shetland and Orkney - ^ "Forordning om Coffardi-Skibes og Commis-Farernes samt de octrojerede Compagniers Skibes Flag og Giøs, samt Vimpeler og Fløie af 11. juli 1748" (in Danish). 7 November 1748. Retrieved 21 August 2016.
- ^ a b Adolf Ditlev Jørgensen, Danebroges Oprindelse (1875)
- ^ L. P. Fabricius Sagnet om Dannebrog og de ældste Forbindelser med Estland (1934)
- ^ Helge Bruhn (1949). Dannebrog: og danske faner gennem tiderne. Jespersen og Pio. pp. 17–.
- ^ "Flag of Scania - ENG Part 1". www.skaneflaggan.nu. Retrieved 2024-04-15.
- ^ Volker Preuß. "National Flagge des Königreich Dänemark" (in German). Retrieved 2005-02-14.
- ^ Caspar Paludan-Müller Sagnet om den himmelfaldne Danebrogsfane (1873)
- ^ a b Sven Tito Achen, Heraldikkens femten glæder (1978), p. 108f.
- ^ Cirkulærer om ophævelse af forbuddet mod flagning i kanceli cirkulære af 7. januar 1834 (retsinformation.dk)
- ^ International Law Studies, Naval War College (U.S.), 1918, p. 83.
- ^ "Fra på lørdag er der fri bane til at flage med andre nationers flag i Danmark (From Saturday it's allowed to hoist other nations' flags in Denmark)". DR (in Danish). 2023-06-23. Retrieved 2023-11-11.
- ^ * Benedikter, Thomas (2006-06-19). "The working autonomies in Europe". Society for Threatened Peoples. Archived from the original on 2008-03-09. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
Denmark has established very specific territorial autonomies with its two island territories
- Ackrén, Maria (November 2017). "Greenland". Autonomy Arrangements in the World. Archived from the original on 2019-08-30. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
Faroese and Greenlandic are seen as official regional languages in the self-governing territories belonging to Denmark.
- "Greenland". International Cooperation and Development. European Commission. 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2019-08-27.
Greenland [...] is an autonomous territory within the Kingdom of Denmark
- "Facts about the Faroe Islands". Nordic cooperation. Archived from the original on 23 April 2018. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
The Faroe Islands [...] is one of three autonomous territories in the Nordic Region
- Ackrén, Maria (November 2017). "Greenland". Autonomy Arrangements in the World. Archived from the original on 2019-08-30. Retrieved 2019-08-30.
- ^ [1] Archived 2014-08-14 at the Wayback Machine harteg.dk Bornholms områdeflag afvist
- ^ "Flag, Danneborg, dannebrogsflag, dannebrogsvimpler og dannebrogsstander". Archived from the original on May 30, 2013. Retrieved April 1, 2013. klauber-flag.dk
- ^ "Flag, Danneborg, dannebrogsflag, dannebrogsvimpler og dannebrogsstander". Archived from the original on May 30, 2013. Retrieved April 1, 2013. klauber-flag.dk – Vendelbrog
- ^ "nordjyske.dk Det faldt ikke nedfra himlen ..." Archived from the original on 2016-12-14. Retrieved 2013-04-01.
General references
This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (June 2011) |
- Danmarks-Samfundet – several rules and customs about the use of Dannebrog
- Dannebrog, Helga Bruhn, Forlaget Jespersen og Pios, Copenhagen 1949
- Danebrog – Danmarks Palladium, E. D. Lund, Forlaget H. Hagerups, Copenhagen 1919
- Dannebrog – Vort Flag, Lieutenant Colonel Thaulow, Forlaget Codan, Copenhagen 1943
- DS 359:2005 'Flagdug', Dansk Standard, 2005
External links
- Denmark at Flags of the World
- Danish flag legendary birthplace in Estonia Archived 2012-08-23 at the Wayback Machine