Denmark is part of the larger region of Europe known as Scandinavia, the home of the fierce Norsemen or Vikings that terrorized the coasts of Europe as far south as southern Italy and Malta until about the 10th century. At that time, the Vikings seemed to "civilize" and became more concerned about creating for themselves nations rather than plundering and pllaging foreign lands. They coalesced into four nations based largely on language and clan affiliation: Noregians, Swedes Finns, and Danes. The Danes were the southernmost peoples of the Scandinavians, based on the peninsula of Jutland and the surrounding islands off the west coast of Jutland The Jutes were one of three peoples that migrated to what is now known as England and contributed to that country's development. (The Angles and Saxons from Germany were the other two.)
Not long after the Scandinavians began to nationalize, the were evangelized by St. Willibrod into the Christian faith. They, in turn, becan to "evangelize" their neighbors to the east and where they were met with resistence they answered in the typical Viking way with military force. In 1219, the Danes were on such a miltary/religious mission in Lyndannisse, Estonia where they were attempting to "encourage" the Estonians to accept the Christian faith. A battle ensued, during which legend says that Denmark was given its beloved flag, the Dannebrog, directly from God. The legend, in typical Nordic romantic prose, relates how in the heat of the battle, just at the point when the Danes needed a little inspiration to surge forward to win the battle, the Dannebrog descended from the sky in full site of all of the Danes and their pagan foes. Viewed as a miracle of direct intervention on their behalf by God, the Danes went on to win the battle and the Estonians converted to Christianity. So says the legend, and it must be pointed out too that there are several versions of this story, some of which even have the event taking place and smaller, less important, and lesser known battles.
The facts, however, can trace the orgins of the Dannebrog to no earlier than the 14th century, or a hundred years after the Battle of Lynannisse, when the design of the flag appeared on Danish coins. Yet, even these cannot give proof that the flag itself is specifically Danish and not simply Scandinavian. However, from the same century (but a few decades later) comes an illustration in a document known as the Gelre Armorial that depicts ta red flag with a white cross associated with the armorial bearings of the king of Denmark, all in vivid, undesputed color. Therefore, it is very likely that the Dannebrog dates to at least 1300 if not earlier.
The current version of the flag was official described and authorized for use on merchant vessels in 1748. Therefore, the first use of the modern Dannebrog was as a civil ensign. Over time, it beame used as a civil flag as well, the de facto "national" flag. The state flag known as the Splitflag because it is a swallowtail. It is used as a war flag as well. A state ensign is created by adding a crown to the upper canton. The shade of red used fro the state flag is purposefully lighter than the shade used on the civil flag, so that it can be disitinguished from the naval ensign, known as the Orlogsflag, which is identical to the Splitflag except that is uses the same hue of red as is used on the civil flag.
According to Scandinavian custom, it is considered disrespectful to allow a flag staff or mast to remain empty. Though it doesn't evoke quite the same anger, this violation of custom is considered as disrespectful as allowing the flag to touch the ground is to Americans. Likewise, it is just as disrepectful to allow the Dannebrog to remain on the flag pole at night and during inclement weather. So, what is a good, law-abiding Dane to do? The answer is the use of a Vimpel (in English it is called a Wimpel). The Vimpel is a long pennant shaped banner that incorporates the Dannebrog's design. When the flag is lowered, a Vimpel is raised in its place and may be flown at any time of the day or night and in any kind of weather. it is also generally used by civilians instead of the Dannebrog at private residences. |
