Sunday, March 29, 2015

The Dannebrog


(Originally published in Trendline Magazine, June/July 1999; updated March 2015)
"…of Dannebrog it is known, it fell from heaven down” – traditional Danish folk song.

Confusion over Scandinavian flags remains among military collectors today - perhaps with good reason. Often the Danish Dannebrog is confused with the Swiss flag, however the subtleties of Scandinavian flags are quite simple - once clearly differentiated, that is.

Once among the world’s most powerful nations, Denmark still ranks as one of the largest geographic countries on earth; counting its protectorate, Greenland, plus the Faroe Islands and Bornholm. While once ruling much of present day Norway and Sweden, Denmark has made an even more lasting impression on world history with their flag, the Dannebrog.


The basic design can be traced back 700 years, and a coin suggests it dates from the late 1100’s and could actually be related to red flags used on the Baltic Sea in the ninth century. In a story known to Danish children, the Dannebrog fell from heaven on June 15, 1219 during a battle at Lyndanisse between Denmark’s King Valdemar II and Estonia. Bishops had of course prayed for victory, and as a sign of favor, God sent the first Dannebrog fluttering down to earth.

More likely is that it was a gift from the Pope, as it appears similar to the war flag of the Holy Roman emperors, while other areas of Europe have employed a similar design through history; Danzig, Barcelona, Pisa, Utrecht, and Savoy.

In its current form, the Dannebrog is among the simplest in the world - a white cross offset on red. This design is also employed by Norway but with an inset blue cross overlaying the white. Sweden has a yellow cross on blue, and the Danish island of Bornholm keeps the Dannebrog red field with an overlaid green cross. Though technically Iceland and Finland are not considered part of Scandinavia, their flags are of the basic Dannebrog design. Iceland with its red cross over white on a blue field, Finland with the light blue cross on white. The Finnish province of Aaland bears a red cross inset over a yellow cross on a blue field. The Danish Faroe Islands flag bears a red cross inset on blue on a white field.

The Dannebrog is flown both in rectangular form as well as the “splitflag,” which is reserved for royal institutions and the navy. Of course any visit to beautiful Denmark will show that Danes are practically unrivaled in their pride over the Dannebrog. It is flown virtually anywhere there is room; at home, in the garden plot, strung across shopping malls, around sitting rooms, atop birthday cakes, and even as ornaments for Christmas trees. It is flown in commemoration of a glorious early May day in 1945 when the occupying Germany army was forced out. Every July 4th, many Danes also observe the American Independence day with the Dannebrog flying next to the stars and stripes to celebrate the strong ties between the United States and Denmark.

References: “Flags Through the Ages and Across the World,” by Dr. Whitney Smith; and Tojhusmuset, Copenhagen.

Map image sourced from:
<http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6e/Nordic_flags.PNG/250px-Nordic_flags.PN>

Meet the Chimera


Welcome to my blog! I started this with the idea of having an annex to my main website as a place to discuss aspects of personal property appraising, profile items and areas of collecting, and generally to talk about my interests which are rather varied. Hence the chimera. Here you may expect to read about anything from history to astronomy to music to movies. I know most people do this sort of thing on Facebook, but the format is too ephemeral for what I have planned. Not that I have any life-altering truths to offer, though. At least I don't think so. Oh yes, please talk back if you're so inclined!

This is what I'd like you to think my library/study looks like.

So anyway, I'm sitting here in the wee hours of a Sunday morning watching The Name of the Rose (1986) for the thousandth time and proofing my site, as well as the official website of The H.G. Wells Society, which I created last month along with my own. I've been the society's webmaster since around 2000, and felt we had simply outgrown our old digital home. I'm happy to say reaction to our new site has been uniformly positive, and even helped us earn several new institutional subscriptions.

The site will continue to grow as my colleagues finish some of their projects that will be included on our site through pages or links, which of course I will talk about here.

Over the last few days I've added new images to my own website to show people the kinds of things I am looking to appraise for them. By no means am I limited to just these things, though! Of course there are some things I will not appraise, such as coins, stamps, firearms, and automobiles, but I do have a stable of local and national appraisers to consult with or refer a client to, depending on the need and circumstance.

Representing just a few categories I appraise...

Enough for tonight. The creature is ready to sleep.