At almost 800 years old, the flag of Austria is one of the oldest flags used by an independent, sovereign state. Legend says that the flag was created during the violent Crusades, when Duke Leopold V of Austria was involved in the bloody Battle of Acre in the Holy Land. Following the battle, the duke's battle tunic was completely drenched in blood. As he removed his belt, he realized that the cloth underneath was protected from the blood bath and remained in its prestine state. Thus, the duke was left with the colors of the land for which he fought - red with a white stripe around the center. In this manner, the Austrian flag was revealed to the duke. Or so says legend.
Reality points approximately 40 years later for the birth of the Austrian flag. Perhaps inspired by the story of his grandfather's experience at Acre, the last Brabenburg ruler of Austria before the Hapsburgs took over, Duke Frederick II, is credited with the actual design. Duke Frederick is said to have been in a dispute with the Holy Roman Emperor and the duke wished to remove the emperor's influence over his realm. During the Middle Ages, the best way for a person to exert his political and military authority was to have heraldric charges established for himself. The Austrian flag was a part of these charges as a personal standard for the duke. The flag was used at different points during the long Hapsburg era, but as a civil flag for the people they ruled. The Hapsburgs themselves had an extensive and rich vexillological history of their own, and Hapsburg flags served official status particularly during the years of the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, the golden years of the Hapsburg history. But even on the civil flag of the empire that flew from 1869 - 1918, the Austrian tri-band was incorporated into the banner to represent the Austrian section of the pan-national empire. (The tri-color of Hungary was incorporated on the other side of the flag, as illustrated below.) When the Empire was dismantled following its defeat in World War I, the Austrian tri-band returned, only to be replaced by the Swastika flag after Austria's annexation into the Third Reich by Adolph Hitler. When Austria was liberated in 1945, the tri-band was one of the first things for which Austrians reached with their new liberty. It has flown over Austria ever since. |
