The national flag of

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of Denmark , establish ...

( da, Dannebrog, ) is red with a white

Nordic cross A Nordic cross flag is a flag bearing the design of the Nordic or Scandinavian cross, a cross symbol in a rectangular field, with the centre of the cross shifted towards the hoist. All independent Nordic countries have adopted such flags in t ...

, 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

kings of Denmark This is a list of Danish monarchs, that is, the kings and queens regnant of Denmark. This includes: * The Kingdom of Denmark (up to 1397) ** Personal union of Denmark and Norway (1380–1397) * The Kalmar Union (1397–1536) ** Union of Denmark ...

since the 14th century."Dannebrog" by Hans Christian Bjerg, p.12, . An origin legend with considerable impact on Danish national historiography connects the introduction of the flag to the Battle of Lindanise of 1219. The elongated

reflects its use as a maritime flag in the 18th century. The flag became popular as a national flag in the early 16th century. Its private use was outlawed in 1834 but again permitted by a regulation of 1854. The flag holds the

world record A world record is usually the best global and most important performance that is ever recorded and officially verified in a specific skill, sport, or other kind of activity. The book ''Guinness World Records'' and other world records organization ...

of being the oldest continuously used national flag.

Description

In 1748, a regulation defined the correct lengths of the two last fields in the flag as . 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 as long as these did not exceed , and provided that this was the only rule violated. 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 Pantone LLC (stylized as PANTONE) is a limited liability company headquartered in Carlstadt, New Jersey. The company is best known for its Pantone Matching System (PMS), a proprietary color space used in a variety of industries, notably graphi ...

186c.

History

1219 origin legend

A tradition recorded in the 16th century traces the origin of the flag to the campaigns of

Valdemar II of Denmark Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241. Background He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Sophi ...

(r. 1202–1241). The oldest of them is in

Christiern Pedersen Christiern Pedersen (c. 1480 – 16 January 1554) was a Danish canon, humanist Humanism is a philosophical stance that emphasizes the individual and social potential and agency of human beings. It considers human beings the starting ...

's "''Danske Krønike''", which is a sequel to Saxo's

Gesta Danorum ''Gesta Danorum'' ("Deeds of the Danes") is a patriotic work of Danish history, by the 12th-century author Saxo Grammaticus ("Saxo the Literate", literally "the Grammarian"). It is the most ambitious literary undertaking of medieval Denmark an ...

, written 1520–23. Here, the flag falls from the sky during a Russian campaign of Valdemar's. Pedersen also states that the very same flag was taken into exile by

Eric of Pomerania Eric of Pomerania (1381 or 1382 – 24 September 1459) was the ruler of the Kalmar Union from 1396 until 1439, succeeding his grandaunt, Queen Margaret I. He is known as Eric III as King of Norway (1389–1442), Eric VII as King of Denmark (1 ...

in 1440. The second source is the writing of the Franciscan friar Petrus Olai (Peder Olsen) of

Roskilde Roskilde ( , ) is a city west of Copenhagen on the Danish island of Zealand. With a population of 51,916 (), the city is a business and educational centre for the region and the 10th largest city in Denmark. It is governed by the administrative ...

(died c. 1570). This record describes a battle in 1208 near

Fellin Viljandi (, german: Fellin, sv, Fellin) is a town and municipality in southern Estonia with a population of 17,407 in 2019. It is the capital of Viljandi County and is geographically located between two major Estonian cities, Pärnu and Tart ...

during the Estonia campaign of King Valdemar II. The Danes were all but defeated when a lamb-skin banner depicting a white cross fell from the sky and miraculously led to a Danish victory. In a third account, also by Petrus Olai, in ''Danmarks Tolv Herligheder'' ("Twelve Splendours of Denmark"), in splendour number nine, the same story is re-told almost verbatim, with a paragraph inserted correcting the year to 1219. Now, the flag is falling from the sky in the Battle of Lindanise, also known as the Battle of Valdemar (Danish: ''Volmerslaget''), near Lindanise (Tallinn) in

Estonia Estonia, formally the Republic of Estonia, is a country by the Baltic Sea in Northern Europe. It is bordered to the north by the Gulf of Finland across from Finland, to the west by the sea across from Sweden, to the south by Latvia, a ...

, of 15 June 1219. It is this third account that has been the most influential, and some historians 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 Adolf Ditlev Jørgensen, who argued that Bishop Theoderich was the original instigator of the 1218 inquiry from Bishop

Albert of Buxhoeveden Albert of Riga or Albert of Livonia or Albrecht (german: Albert von Buxthoeven, lv, Alberts fon Buksthēvdens; c.1165 – 17 January 1229) was the third Bishop of Riga in Livonia. In 1201 he allegedly founded Riga, the modern capital of Latvi ...

to King

Valdemar II Valdemar (28 June 1170 – 28 March 1241), later remembered as Valdemar the Victorious (), was the King of Denmark (being Valdemar II) from 1202 until his death in 1241. Background He was the second son of King Valdemar I of Denmark and Soph ...

which led to the Danish participation in the Baltic crusades. Jørgensen speculates that Bishop Theoderich might have carried the Knight Hospitaller's banner in the 1219 battle and that "the enemy thought this was the King's symbol and mistakenly stormed Bishop Theoderich tent. He claims that the origin of the legend of the falling flag comes from this confusion in the battle." The Danish church-historian L. P. Fabricius (1934) ascribes the origin to the 1208 Battle of Fellin, not the Battle of Lindanise in 1219, based on the earliest source available about the story. Fabricius speculated that it might have been Archbishop

Andreas Sunesøn Anders Sunesen (also ''Andreas'', ''Suneson'', ''Sunesøn'', Latin: ''Andreas Sunonis'') (c. 1167 – 1228) was a Danish archbishop of Lund, Scania, from 21 March 1201, at the death of Absalon, to his own death in 1228. He is the author of ...

's personal ecclesiastical banner or perhaps even the flag of Archbishop

Absalon Absalon (21 March 1201) was a Danish statesman and prelate of the Catholic Church who served as the bishop of Roskilde from 1158 to 1192 and archbishop of Lund from 1178 until his death. He was the foremost politician and church father of Denm ...

, under whose initiative and supervision several smaller crusades had already been conducted in Estonia. The banner would then already be known in Estonia. Fabricius repeats Jørgensen's idea about the flag being planted in front of Bishop Theodorik's tent, which the enemy mistakenly attacked believing it to be the tent of the King. 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. 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.

Middle Ages

The white-on-red cross emblem originates in the age of the Crusades. In the 12th century, it was also used as

war flag A war flag, also known as a military flag, battle flag, or standard, is a variant of a national flag for use by a country's military forces when on land. The nautical equivalent is a naval ensign. Under the strictest sense of the term, few count ...

by the

Holy Roman Empire The Holy Roman Empire was a political entity in Western, Central, and Southern Europe that developed during the Early Middle Ages and continued until its dissolution in 1806 during the Napoleonic Wars. From the accession of Otto I in 962 ...

. In the ''

Gelre Armorial The Gelre Armorial ( nl, Wapenboek Gelre) is a medieval armorial. History The armorial was compiled before 1396 by one Claes Heinenzoon (or Heynen, fl. 1345−1414) who was a herald in the service of the Duke of Guelders and also the creator ...

'', dated 1340–1370, such a banner is shown alongside the

coat of arms A coat of arms is a heraldic visual design on an escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central element of the full heraldic achievement, which in its ...

of the king of Denmark. This is the earliest known undisputed colour rendering of the Dannebrog. At about the same time,

Valdemar IV of Denmark Valdemar IV Atterdag (the epithet meaning "Return of the Day"), or Waldemar (132024 October 1375) was King of Denmark from 1340 to 1375. He is mostly known for his reunion of Denmark after the bankruptcy and mortgaging of the country to finance ...

displays a cross in his coat of arms on his ''Danælog'' seal (''Rettertingsseglet'', dated 1356). The image from the Armorial Gelre is nearly identical to an image found in a 15th-century coat of arms book now located in the

National Archives of Sweden , nativename_a = , nativename_r = , seal = Riksarkivet_myndighetsvapen_-_Riksarkivet_Sverige.png , seal_width = 150 , seal_caption = , logo = , logo_width = , logo_caption = , picture ...

(''Riksarkivet''). The seal of

(1398) as king of the Kalmar union displays the arms of Denmark's chief dexter, three lions. In this version, the lions are holding a Dannebrog banner. File:War flag of the Holy Roman Empire (1200-1350).svg, Reichssturmfahne of the

File:Royal Banner of Denmark (14th Century).svg, FIAV historical

The royal banner of the Kings of Denmark based on the royal coat of arms File:Erikafpommernsdanskeunionssegl.jpg, Seal of

as king of the Kalmar 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 begin displaying the cross banner in their coats of arms is unknown. Caspar Paludan-Müller (1873) suggested that it may reflect a banner sent by the pope to the Danish king in support of the

Baltic countries The Baltic states, et, Balti riigid or the Baltic countries is a geopolitical term, which currently is used to group three countries: Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. All three countries are members of NATO, the European Union, the Eurozone ...

. Adolf Ditlev Jørgensen (1875) identifies the banner as that of the Knights Hospitaller, which order had a presence in Denmark from the later 12th century.Adolf Ditlev Jørgensen, ''Danebroges Oprindelse'' (1875) 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 royal coat of arms (three blue lions on a golden shield.) Saxo Chr P front version 002

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 Mogens Henrikssen Gyldenstjerne of Restrup og Iversnæs (1485 or 1481 – 9 October 1569 in Copenhagen) was a Danish nobleman and member of the Council of the Realm, who belonged to the illustrious Gyldenstierne family. He led the defense of ...

and

Peder Skram Peder Skram (died 11 July 1581) was a Danish Admiral and naval hero. Biography Skram born between 1491 and 1503, on his father's estate at Urup near Horsens in Jutland, Denmark. He participated in military service during the Swedish War of L ...

. The legend attributing the miraculous origin of the flag to the campaigns of

(r. 1202–1241) was recorded by

and Petrus Olai in the 1520s. Hans Svaning's ''History of King Hans'' from 1558 to 1559 and

Johan Rantzau Johan (also Johann) Rantzau (12 November 1492 – 12 December 1565) was a German- Danish general and statesman known for his role in the Count's Feud. His military leadership ensured the succession of Christian III to the throne, which bro ...

's ''History about the Last

Dithmarschen Dithmarschen (, Low Saxon: ; archaic English: ''Ditmarsh''; da, Ditmarsken; la, label=Medieval Latin, Tedmarsgo) is a district in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It is bounded by (from the north and clockwise) the districts of Nordfriesland, Schle ...

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 John (Danish language, Danish, Norwegian language, Norwegian and sv, Hans; né ''Johannes'') (2 February 1455 – 20 February 1513) was a Scandinavian monarch under the Kalmar Union. He was king of Kingdom of Denmark, Denmark (1481–1513 ...

tried to conquer

(in western

Holstein Holstein (; nds, label=Northern Low Saxon, Holsteen; da, Holsten; Latin and historical en, Holsatia, italic=yes) is the region between the rivers Elbe and Eider. It is the southern half of Schleswig-Holstein, the northernmost state of German ...

in the north

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

). The flag was lost in a devastating defeat at the

Battle of Hemmingstedt The Battle of Hemmingstedt took place on 17 February 1500 south of the village of Hemmingstedt, near the present village of Epenwöhrden, in the western part of present-day Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. It was an attempt by King John of Denma ...

on 17 February 1500. In 1559, King Frederik II recaptured it during his own

campaign. In 1576, the son of ''Johan Rantzau'',

Henrik Rantzau Heinrich Rantzau or Ranzow (Ranzovius) (11 March 1526 – 31 December 1598) was a German humanist writer and statesman, a prolific astrologer and an associate of Tycho Brahe. He was son of Johan Rantzau. He was Governor of the Danish royal s ...

, also writes about the war and the fate of the flag, noting that the flag was in a poor condition when returned. He records that the flag after its return to Denmark was placed in the cathedral in Slesvig. Slesvig historian Ulrik Petersen (1656–1735) confirms the presence of such a banner in the cathedral in the early 17th century and records that it had crumbled away by about 1660. 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 Johann Adolf Köster (also Johannes Adolph Köster) (c. 1550 – 1630) was a pastor, teacher and historian in Büsum, Germany. He is better known by his Latin name Neocorus, under which he chronicled the medieval history of Dithmarschen. The Neoco ...

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.Sven Tito Achen, '' Heraldikkens femten glæder'' (1978), p. 108f. 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. 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 The First Schleswig War (german: Schleswig-Holsteinischer Krieg) was a military conflict in southern Denmark and northern Germany rooted in the Schleswig-Holstein Question, contesting the issue of who should control the Duchies of Schleswi ...

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). Special permission to use the ''Splitflag'' was given to individual institutions and private companies, especially after 1870. 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. From 1939 until 2012, the yearbook ''Hvem-Hvad-Hvor'' included a list of flag days. As of 2019 flag days can be viewed at th
"Ministry of Justice (Justitsministeriet)"
as well a
"The Denmark Society (Danmarks-Samfundet)"

Variants

Maritime flag and corresponding Kingdom flag

The size and shape of the

civil ensign A civil ensign is an ensign (maritime flag) used by civilian vessels to denote their nationality. It can be the same or different from the state ensign and the naval ensign (or war ensign). It is also known as the merchant ensign or merchant flag ...

("''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 of the flag's height. The two first fields must be square in form and the two outer fields must be 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

Mediterranean The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western Europe, Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa ...

to carry the royal cypher in the center of the flag in order to distinguish them from Maltese ships, due to the similarity of the

flag of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta The flag and coat of arms of the Sovereign Military Order of Malta, or the Jerusalem flag, display a white cross on a red field (blazon ''gules a cross argent''), ultimately derived from the design worn by the Knights Hospitaller during the Crusa ...

. 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 Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian monar ...

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 The East Indies (or simply the Indies), is a term used in historical narratives of the Age of Discovery. The Indies refers to various lands in the East or the Eastern hemisphere, particularly the islands and mainlands found in and around ...

West Indies The West Indies is a subregion of North America, surrounded by the North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea that includes 13 independent island countries and 18 dependencies and other territories in three major archipelagos: the Greate ...

and along the coast of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. 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 The Danish East India Company ( da, Ostindisk Kompagni) refers to two separate Danish-Norwegian chartered companies. The first company operated between 1616 and 1650. The second company existed between 1670 and 1729, however, in 1730 it was re-fo ...

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 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 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 of the flag's height. The two first fields must be square in form with the height of of the flag's height. The two outer fields are rectangular and the length of the square fields. The tails are 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 The Royal Danish Navy ( da, Søværnet) is the sea-based branch of the Danish Defence force. The RDN is mainly responsible for maritime defence and maintaining the sovereignty of Danish territorial waters (incl. Faroe Islands and Greenland). O ...

. 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

royal standard In heraldry and vexillology, a heraldic flag is a flag containing coats of arms, heraldic badges, or other devices used for personal identification. Heraldic flags include banners, standards, pennons and their variants, gonfalons, guidons, and ...

was introduced on 16 November 1972 when the

Queen Queen or QUEEN may refer to: Monarchy * Queen regnant, a female monarch of a Kingdom ** List of queens regnant * Queen consort, the wife of a reigning king * Queen dowager, the widow of a king * Queen mother, a queen dowager who is the mother ...

adopted a new version of her personal coat of arms. The royal standard is the flag of Denmark with a swallow-tail and charged with the monarch's coat of arms set in a white square. The centre square is 32 parts in a flag with the ratio 56:107. ;Other members of the royal family File:Standard of the Crown Prince of Denmark.svg, Standard of Frederik the Crown Prince of Denmark File:Standard of the Regent of Denmark.svg, Standard of the Regent of Denmark File:Standard of the Royal House of Denmark.svg, Standard of the royal house- used by other members of the Royal Family File:Standard of Frederik the Crown Prince of Denmark at Amalienborg.jpg, Standard of Frederik the Crown Prince of Denmark flying at

Amalienborg Amalienborg () is the official residence for the Danish royal family, and is located in Copenhagen, Denmark. Queen Magrethe ll lives here in winter and autumn. It consists of four identical classical palace façades with rococo interiors aroun ...

Other flags in the Kingdom of Denmark

Greenland Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit Nunaat, ; da, Grønland, ) is an island country in North America that is part of the Kingdom of Denmark. It is located between the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, east of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago. Greenland i ...

and the

Faroe Islands The Faroe Islands ( ), or simply the Faroes ( fo, Føroyar ; da, Færøerne ), are a North Atlantic island group and an autonomous territory of the Kingdom of Denmark. They are located north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway bet ...

are additional autonomous territories* * * * within the Kingdom of Denmark. They have their own official flags. File:Flag of the Faroe Islands.svg, 8:11

Flag of the Faroe Islands The flag of the Faroe Islands (in faroese: ''Merkið'') is an offset cross, representing Christianity. It is similar in design to other Nordic flags – a tradition set by the '' Dannebrog'' of Denmark, of which the Faroe Islands are an auto ...

File:Flag of Greenland.svg, 2:3

Flag of Greenland The flag of Greenland ( kl, Kalaallit erfalasuat, da, Grønlands flag) was designed by Greenland native Thue Christiansen. It features two equal horizontal bands of white (top) and red (bottom) with a counter-changed red-and-white disk slightl ...

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.
harteg.dk Bornholms områdeflag afvist 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 Aalborg Air Base ( da, Flyvestation Aalborg) also Air Transport Wing Aalborg is a military air base for the Royal Danish Air Force . It is located at Vadum, near Aalborg, Denmark. Aalborg Air Base shares its runway system as well as some servic ...

, in the 1980s.

References

General references

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

*
Danish flag legendary birthplace in Estonia
{{nationalflags National symbols of Denmark

Articles containing video clips