State Banner circa 1400

Banner of the Kalmar Union  •  1397-1523

Merchant Ensign  •  circa 1700 

The Dannebrog (Danish Banner) is the oldest national flag in current use. Its design dates, probably, from the thirteenth century and it has served as the national flag of Denmark since the sixteenth century. According to legend, it was sent down from Heaven to the Danish Army at a critical moment of  the Battle of Lyndanisse (Estonia, 15 June 1219). The earliest version of the Dannebrog for which documentary evidence exists dates from the late fourteenth century: a rectangular red banner, longer on the hoist than on the fly, with a broad white cross. This was apparently employed as a flag of state. Denmark's other national symbol, the coat of arms displaying three crowned lions, blue on a golden yellow field strewn with red hearts, was the personal banner of the monarch.

By the seventeenth century the Dannebrog had assumed its current form (see below), though contemporary flag charts sometimes showed the cross with its vertical arm centered—identical to the flags of Savoy and the Knights of Malta. For that reason a Dannebrog with the Royal Cypher on a white panel was required of Danish ships sailing the Mediterranean. The Dannebrog was considered a royal flag and in sharp contrast to modern custom, its use by private persons was severely restricted. An 1834 law, for instance banned its use by ordinary subjects.

The flag of the Kalmar Union, "the Banner of the Realms" is described in letters of King Eric of Pomerania, circa 1430, as a red cross on a yellow field. In modern times it has been revived as the Norden Flag, unofficially symbolizing the ethnic and cultural ties among the Scandinavian countries.

CURRENT CIVIL & STATE FLAGS OF THE KINGDOM OF DENMARK

National Flag & Civil Ensign

Flag of the Queen of Denmark

Flag of the Regent of Denmark 

Today, the rectangular Dannebrog is very much the possession of the people. There are few official restrictions on its use by private persons or organizations and it is widely flown. The Dannebrog is, indeed, something of a cultural icon: Miniature versions are used to decorate Christmas trees, birthday cakes and the like, it appears on packaging to indicate the Danish origin of products, etc. Like the Stars & Stripes in the United States, it is a popular symbol and expression of national identity.

It was in Denmark that the custom of using a a forked or swallowtailed variant of the national flag for official purposes developed. The Danish Splittflag originated as a royal banner and later became the Danish war ensign. By the nineteenth century it was being used by all departments of the Danish government, military and civil, often with a distinctive badge in the canton. (Versions used by the Royal Danish Navy are made in a darker shade of red.) The Splittflag may also be flown with permission by private yachts, often with a yacht club badge in the canton. Most Danish merchant shipping companies have a distinctive "house flag" and some incorporate the Dannebrog. That of the Nordanna Line, for example, displays the Splittflag on a dark blue field.

Current royal flags are also based on the Splittflag, and there are several variants. That for the monarch displays the her personal coat of arms, that of the crown prince displays the Danish state arms, that for the Regent (acting on behalf of the monarch when she is indisposed or out of the country) bears the emblems of royal authority (crown, scepter, sword and orb), and that for other members of the royal family the crown only.

Faroe Islands

Bornholm 

The two autonomous territories of the Danish Kingdom have official flags. That of the Faroe Islands is of the Scandinavian Cross pattern, while that of Greenland preserves the Danish colors in a unique form. The official administrative Regions of Denmark also have flags, none of which are of particular vexillogical interest; they have solid-color fields with the name of the region applied and perhaps a corporate-style logo. Additionally there are a number of unofficial regional flags, mostly of the Scandinavian cross pattern. Bornholm is a Baltic island, east of Denmark; Vendsyssel is the northernmost district of Jutland. Most Danish municipalities have official coats of arms but few if any have flags.