Danish Royal and National Flags

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by MarcosFenn

I'm sure that the Danish Crown in a very real sense is a symbol of the nation.

Then, I reckon in a different sense, the Folketing must also be a symbol of the nation.

It's interesting that the British House of Lords in its origins goes back at least to the Barons of Runnymede and Magna Carta, 1215. This is regarded as an early, strong assertion of the rule of law.

Incidentally, you live in Jutland: was Jylland ever a duchy in its own right? or even the name of a dukedom, as a title?

The crown is a symbol of the monarchy and in that roundabout way a symbol of the nation. The crowns themselves mean very little to me personally as symbols. It's merely a badge of authority in my eyes. - All laws and public decisions and functions by the civil service is done in the name of the monarch.

The Parliament is of course the democracy in practice and as such the basic pillar in the running of the country. It's an administrative base, but as a symbol it has little to do with the national symbols of the DRF and the flag. The Constitution is an important symbol, the politicians...well...

The current Danish Constitution is directly decended from the Danish version of Magna Carta in 1282, called Håndfæstningen. It is basically a copy of Magna Carta, but it is also the first genuine Danish constitution.

No Jutland has never been a duchy. The only duchies we have had are Schleswig, Holstein and Lauenborg, and that was only bacause they initially were border regions, which served as a buffer under a military governor, an earl (jarl).
Jutland was a province in it own right, or rather a region with it's own law. That law, Jydske Lov, was replaced by a national law, Danish Law, by the end of Medieval times.
There was never a single governor in Jutland. Jutland, like the rest of Denmark (*) was divided into fiefs, run by the nobillity, or owned by the monarch, or the church. With a number of yeoman farms and towns here and there.

(*) Keep in mind that the Danish realm until 1864 was multinational, with Denmark being the largest and most important of the nations. In a sense it still is. If you count the Faroe Islands and Greenland as nations - and they do!

[MarcosFenn]

Well, this is very interesting! Thank-you.

So Jutland has traditionally been more of a 'geographical expression' (to quote Metternich) than somewhere that already had a distinct Medieval identity.

I'm wondering about Bornholm; does it have its own flag as well? and do they speak standard Danish there?

[Muhler]

Well, if we go far enough back, i.e. pre 600 AD we Jutlanders weren't even Danes. We were Jutes and Angles and Cimbrians. When the Romans left Britain, quite a number ended up there. At the same time the Danes moved in from the east, we mixed and eventually we all ended up as Danes.
The Danish tribe originated in what is now southern Sweden and probably Zealand as well.

Bornholm opted in the 1600's after yet one more of the Danish-Swedish wars to remain a part of Denmark.
They have no less than three more or less official flags and they speak a distinct dialect of Danish.
This is the most common of the Bornholm flags: http://www.aalborgflagfabrik.dk/uplo...-str-40.wm.jpg

[MarcosFenn]

I think some of the Jutes ended up also in Kent, England.

There used to be an airline known as Cimber Air, I think.

Three flags for Bornholm! I suppose they must fly the Dannebrog higher than whatever Bornhomer flag they like to fly.

(I must say I like the idea of Moens Klint. Rather like Beachy Head in England. Don't tell me Moen has a flag of its own as well...)

[Muhler]

Summary of a Q&A in Billed Bladet #18, 2014.

Where a Helle T. Nielsen would like to know what has priority in case QMII's birthday falls on Good Friday.
I.e. should Dannebrog go to the top or fly from half mast that day.

I believe FasterB has already answered that, but here we go:

In DK clerical flagdays take precedence before everything else. So on Good Friday Dannebrog must fly from half mast all day, regardless of QMII's birthday.

It's the Ministry for Justice that defines the guidelines for flagdays.
It is not allowed to fly the flags of other nations without permission from the police. (That one is taking fairly lightly nowadays. As companies who have foreign visitors often fly their flag as wellas Dannebrog. But it stems back from a time where a flag was a direct identification and a direct symbol of sovereignty. Like embassies, viviting royals, navy ships and so on. So as to simply not confuse things).
The exceptions, because there is always an exception, are: The national flags of the Nordic countries, EU, UN, Greenlands and the Faeroe Islands. These flags you can fly without permission from the police.

Only government institutions, including the military can fly a Dannebrog with a swallow tail. Even though some campanies can get special permission to do so.
Everybody else, including private citizens can only fly a normal rectangular Dannebrog.
The swallow tailed/dove tailed Dannebrog is a sign of authority.

[MarcosFenn]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Summary of a Q&A in Billed Bladet #18, 2014.

Where a Helle T. Nielsen would like to know what has priority in case QMII's birthday falls on Good Friday.
I.e. should Dannebrog go to the top or fly from half mast that day.

I believe FasterB has already answered that, but here we go:

In DK clerical flagdays take precedence before everything else. So on Good Friday Dannebrog must fly from half mast all day, regardless of QMII's birthday.

It's the Ministry for Justice that defines the guidelines for flagdays.
It is not allowed to fly the flags of other nations without permission from the police. (That one is taking fairly lightly nowadays. As companies who have foreign visitors often fly their flag as wellas Dannebrog. But it stems back from a time where a flag was a direct identification and a direct symbol of sovereignty. Like embassies, viviting royals, navy ships and so on. So as to simply not confuse things).
The exceptions, because there is always an exception, are: The national flags of the Nordic countries, EU, UN, Greenlands and the Faeroe Islands. These flags you can fly without permission from the police.

Only government institutions, including the military can fly a Dannebrog with a swallow tail. Even though some campanies can get special permission to do so.
Everybody else, including private citizens can only fly a normal rectangular Dannebrog.
The swallow tailed/dove tailed Dannebrog is a sign of authority.

Interestingly, the flag of Ohio is swallow tailed, and Americans are strongly republican.

I wonder whether the swallow tail custom comes from?

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by MarcosFenn

Interestingly, the flag of Ohio is swallow tailed, and Americans are strongly republican.

I wonder whether the swallow tail custom comes from?

Good question.

My guess is that it's a navy thing. A swallow tailed flag is elegant to look at.
But it's been around for centuries. Here is a picture of a battle in 1677, where swallow tailed flags were common: http://www.buyundsell.com/cgi-bin/ha...2149&typ=large

[MarcosFenn]

Originally Posted by Muhler

Good question.

My guess is that it's a navy thing. A swallow tailed flag is elegant to look at.
But it's been around for centuries. Here is a picture of a battle in 1677, where swallow tailed flags were common: http://www.buyundsell.com/cgi-bin/ha...2149&typ=large

The other ships withe swallow tailed flags in the picture are Swedish.

Strange to think of Denmark and Sweden at war...

[Muhler]

Originally Posted by MarcosFenn

The other ships withe swallow tailed flags in the picture are Swedish.

Strange to think of Denmark and Sweden at war...

Yes, nevertheless Sweden versus Denmark and England versus France compete about who has been most often at war.

According to Wikipedia we've fought 11 wars between 1521-1814.
The number of wars before that is uncertain.