Flag of the Day #3 – Denmark
The flag of Denmark or “Dannebrog” as the Danes call it, has the distinction of being the oldest national flag in continuous use. It also has the distinction of being literally handed down by God from his heavenly throne during battle to help the Danes rally and beat the (then) pagan Estonians at the battle Battle of Lindanise in 1219. Verily, the Lord works in mysterious ways. “Oh you are getting your asses kicked? Here’s a flag.”
The special delivery of the flag is credited with helping the Danes vanquish the pagans and it set off a mania for the nordic cross as a flag motif. The nordic (or scandinavian) cross is a cross in a rectangular field, with the centre of the cross shifted towards the hoist. In Denmark’s case it is a white cross on red.
Wanaknowwhoelse has a nordic cross flag? The City of Wilmington Delaware, that’s who. Obviously honoring the Swedes who were good enough to inform the Nanticoke Lenni-Lenape that they were living in a place called Nya Sverige when they began showing up in the 1610’s.
I like this feature, fwiw.
Yep, if you lift the city seal off Wilmington’s flag, you have — presto! — the flag of Sweden. (Which, btw, is flown from the masthead of Wilmington’s tall ship replica Kalmar Nyckel.)
I know colonial history is not the aim of this thread, but it could use a bit of clarification. It was the Lenape whose lands around present-day Wilmo the first Swedish colonizers “bought” for Nya Sverige in 1638. The Nanticoke lived down around the Eastern Shore headwaters of the Chesapeake, in the area of the river later named for them, the Nanticoke.
Thanks for the clarification. I’m my five minutes worth of research I didn’t find much on New Sweden’s interactions with the locals, which gave me the impression that those interactions were fairly benign.
You’re quite right that relations between the Swedes and Indians were almost entirely peaceful, which was unique in the early history of European colonization of the Eastern Seaboard. New Sweden started small — actually as a trading post for furs — and grew very slowly, so the Europeans had no need to push the Lenape off their lands. And each side found the other useful. (As you can probably tell, colonial and Delaware history are a couple of my hobbyhorses.)
Very much enjoyed the history of the Danes, their flag and the nordic cross. Who knew about those dastardly pagan(!) Estonians?
Are we doing historic flags too? Please choose Libya’s flag under Muammar Gaddafi! It’s my favorite!
OK