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Concept
Flag of Denmark
Summary
The national flag of Denmark (Dannebrog, ˈtænəˌpʁoˀ) 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 kings of Denmark since the 14th century. 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 Nordic cross, which represents Christianity, 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 of being the oldest continuously used national flag.
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 186c.
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 Petrus Olai (Peder Olsen) of Roskilde (died 1570).
Official source
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