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In royal resolution of October 25, 1939 for the Danish Navy, it is stated that the Orlogsflag is a Splitflag with a deep red ("Kraprød" or "dybrød") colour. Especially after 1870 the government generous and with little thought hand out approval to all kinds to institutions. From the mid 1800's to 1899 another bunch of institutions and private companies also received approval to use the Splitflag. From about 1750 to early 1800's a number of ships / companies which the government has interests in, received approval to used the Splitflag.

At the same time it is now allowed the Danish East India Company to use the Splitflag when past the equator. In 1741 it is re-stated that the regulation of 1690 is still very much in effect, that merchants ships may not use the Splitflag. In 1685 an order, distributed to a number of cities in Slesvig, says that all ships must carry the Danish flag, and in 1690 all merchants ships is forbidden to use the Splitflag, with the exception of ships sailing in the East Indies, West Indies and at the coast of Africa. The first regulation regarding the Splitflag dates from 27 March, 1630, where King Christian IV orders that Norwegian "Defensionskibe" (merchants ships with guns) may only use the Splitflag if they are in war-service under Denmark.

Any swallow-tail flag, no matter the color, is called a Splitflag provided it bears additional markings. Furthermore, the Orlogsflag is only described as such if it has no additional markings. Same flag with markings has been approved for a few dozen companies and institutions over the years. A few institutions have been allowed to fly the clean Orlogsflag.

There are though a few exceptions to this. The Orlogsflag with no markings, may only be used by the Royal Danish Navy. The Orlogsflag is a Splitflag with a deeper red colour and is only used on sea. The Splitflag is a Danish flag ending in a swallow-tail, it is Dannebrog red, and is used on land.

The Splitflag or Orlogsflag have similar specifications, but legally, they are two different flags. That some confusion still exists in this matter can be seen from the regulation of May 4, 1927, which once again states that Danish merchant ships have to fly flags according to the regulation of 1748. This regulation is still in effect today and thus the legal proportions of the National flag is today anywhere between 3:1:3 width / 3:1:4.5 length and 3:1:3 width / 3:1:5.25 length. So in May 1893 a new regulation to all chiefs of police, stated that the police should not intervene, if the two last fields in the flag were longer than 6/4 as long as these did not exceed 7/4, and provided that this was the only rule violated.

They also noted that the flag currently used had lengths, of the last two fields, anywhere between 7/4 to 13/6. Any new flag would also quickly become unlawful, due to wear and tear. Some interested in the matter made inquires into the issue and concluded that the 6/4 length would make the flag look blunt. As late as 1892 it was stated in a series of regulations that the correct lengths of the two last fields in the flag were 6/4.

During the next about 150 years nobody paid much attention to actually abide fully to the proportions of the flag given in the 1748 regulation, not even the government. No official nuance definition of "Dannebrog rød" exists. The private company, Dansk Standard, regulation number 359 of 2005, defines the red colour of the flag as Pantone 186c. The only available red fabric colour in 1748 was made of bracken root, which make a brownish red.

According to the regulation of June 11, 1748 the colour was simply red, which is common known today as "Dannebrog rød" ("Dannebrog red"). To the best of knowledge, this regulation has never been revoked, however it is probably no longer done. the Knights Hospitaller). John (a.k.a.

These had to carry the King's cypher logo in the center of the flag, to distinguish them from Maltese ships, due to the similarity of the flag of the Order of St. A somewhat curious regulation came in 1758 concerning Danish ships sailing in the Mediterranean. Both flags are identical. This definition are the absolute proportions for the Danish national flag to this day, for both the civil version of the flag, "Stutflaget", as well as the merchant flag ("Handelsflaget").

The quest to unite them into a specified flag law have been brought forth many times, especially in the 20th century, but it never amounted to anything. Denmark does not have a specified flag law, but various regulations and rules spread out over many documents, from King Christian IV's time till today, can be found. The royal seal of King Erik VII from 1398 - the first combined coat of arms found in Denmark - shows the flag twice; the cross that separates the four coats-of-arms is the cross of the Dannebrog and the coat of arms representing Denmark show the three lions holding a Dannebrog banner. From Queen Margaret I and King Erik VII time we also have a case that undisputedly links Dannebrog to Denmark.

This image from "Wapenboek Gelre" is near identical found in an old coats of arms book from the 15th century now located in the National Archives of Sweden, ("Riksarkivet"). This image has been used to acknowledge a previously disputed theory that the cross found in Valdemar Atterdag's coats of arms located in his Danælog seal ("Rettertingsseglet") from 1356 is indeed the cross from the Danish flag. This is the earliest known undisputed colour rendering of the Dannebrog. The text left of the coat of arms says “die coninc van denmarke” (The King of Denmark).

On the right horn is a Danish banner. On page 55 verso we find the Danish coat-of-arms with a helmet on top with horns. It is now located on the Royal Library of Brussels (the "Bibliothèque royale Albert Ier"). The book displays some 1700 coats-of-arms from all over Europe, in colour.

Most historians claim that the book was written by Geldre Claes Heinen. The earliest source that indisputably links the red flag with a white cross to a Danish King, and to the realm itself, is found in a Dutch register of coats-of-arms “Wapenboek Gelre”, written between 1340 and 1370 (some sources say 1378 or 1386). The national Coat of Arms of Estonia, three blue lions on a golden shield, is almost identical to the Coat of Arms of Denmark, and its origin can be traced directly back to King Valdemar II and Danish rule in Estonia 1219-1346. Efforts to trace it from Estonia back to Denmark have, however, been in vain.

The symbol later became the coat-of-arms of the city. In Tallinn, a coat-of-arms resembling the flag is found on several buildings and can be traced back to the middle of the 15th century where it appears in the coat-of-arms of the "Die Grosse Gilde", a sort of merchant consortium which greatly influenced the city's development. An obvious place to look for documentation is in the Estonian city of Tallinn, the site of the legendary battle. However, if one examines the few existing foreign sources about Denmark from the 13th to 15th centuries, it is apparent that, at least from foreign point of view; the national symbol of Denmark was not a red-and-white banner but the royal coat of arms (three blue lions of a golden shield.) This coat of arms remains in use to this day.

In the 19th and early 20th century, these images were used by many Danish historians, with a good flair of nationalism, trying to date the origins of the flag to 1219. However, several coins, seals and images exist, both foreign and domestic, from the 13th to 15th centuries and even earlier, showing flags similar to the Dannebrog. Whether the flag has its origins in a divine sign, a banner of a military order, an ecclesiastical banner, or perhaps something entirely different, Danish literature is no help before the early 15th century. Danish literature of the 13th and 14th centuries remains suspiciously quiet about the national flag.

Since King Valdamar II was married to the Portuguese princess, Berengaria, it is not unthinkable that the origin of the story, if not the flag, was the Spanish tale or a similar tale, which again might have been inspired by an even older legend. Basically, these are all variations of the same legend. In Estonia it is the Danish colours, and in Jerusalem the English colours. In Spain, the colours of the Pope appears in the sky, in Finland the Swedish colours.

The similarities to the legends is obvious. The English flag, the Saint George's Cross is also claimed to have appeared in the sky during a critical battle, in this case in Jerusalem during the crusades. Probably a later invention to counter the legendary origins of the Danish flags, but never the less of the same nature. Likewise an almost identical Swedish tale from the 18th century about a yellow cross on blue appearing in 1157 during a Swedish battle in Finland.

Bruhn mentions a battle (also mentioned by Fabricius) taking place on September 10, 1217 between Christian knights and Moor warriors on the Iberian Peninsula near the castle Alcazar, where it is said that a golden cross on white appeared in the sky, to bring victory to the Christians. Similar tales of appearances in the sky at critical moments, particularly of crosses, can be found all over Europe. She claims that it is neither the battle nor the banner that is central to the tale, but rather the cross in the sky. A much different theory is briefly discussed by Fabricius and elaborated more by Helga Bruhn in a book from 1949.

All these theories centre on two battles in Estonia, whether it is in Fellin (1208) or Lyndanisse (1219), and thus try to explain the origin in relation to the tale brought forth over 300 years after the event. He repeats the story about the flag being planted in front of Bishop Theodorik's tent which the enemy mistakenly attacks believing it to be the tent of the King. The banner would then already be known in Estonia. That is based on his tireless efforts to expand Christianity to the Baltic countries and that under his initiative and supervision several smaller crusades had already been conducted in Estonia.

P. The Danish church-historian L. The white on red warrior-cloak cannot be traced until later. The Knights Hospitaller is a monk-order and used black dresses.

Adolf Ditlev Jørgensen does not give an explanation how the white Maltese cross on red of the Knights Hospitaller, found its way to the Danish flag of 1219, given the fact that in that time it was a white cross on black. He claims that the origin of the legend of the falling flag comes from this confusion in the battle. Adolf Ditlev Jørgensen explains that it was Bishop Theodorik who carried the flag, well planted outside his tent, thus as an already well-known Knights Hospitaller symbol in Livonia, the enemy thought this was the King's symbol and mistakenly stormed Bishop Theodorik tent. In the contemporary writing of the priest Henry of Livonia from Riga it is said that Bishop Theodorik was killed during the 1219 battle, as the enemy stormed his tent, thinking it was the King's tent.

Furthermore he claims that Bishop Theodorik, already a part initiator of the order in Livonia, the Livonian Brothers of the Sword, had the idea of starting a similar order in Estonia and that he was the original instigator of Bishop Albert of Buxhoeveden inquiry to King Valdemar II in 1218, that set the whole Danish participation in the Baltic crusades in motion. He supports his theory with that the order came to Denmark in the latter half of the 12th century and during the next centuries spread to major cities, like Odense, Viborg, Horsens, Ribe and their headquarters in Slagelse, so by the time of the Baltic crusade, the symbol was already a known symbol in Denmark. A theory brought forth by the Danish historian Adolf Ditlev Jørgensen in 1875 in his book Danebroges Oprindelse, is that the Danish flag is the banner of the Knights Hospitaller. Moreover, it is unlikely that the pope would send such a banner, given the fact that they already had one, namely the banner of the Knights Hospitaller (Danish: "Johanitterne").

It is unlikely that the very fair and loyal archbishop would do such a thing behind the king's back. He suggested that it was not a pope banner to the King but a pope banner to the Churchly legate in the North, more specifically to archbishop Andreas Sunesøn, which he - without the knowledge of the King – brought with him on the King's crusade in the Baltic countries, in an effort to make the army take on a Christian symbol (over the king's symbol) and thereby strengthen the power of the church. A similar theory was suggested by Danish explorer, adventurer and Captain Johan Støckel in the early 20th century. On the other hand, the letter in question might simply have been lost.

Being granted a banner by the Pope would have been a great honour, but despite the many letters of the popes relating to the crusades, none of them mentions granting a banner to a King of Denmark. One would though imagine that if this story was true, some kind of record ought to exist of the event and presumably Danish historians would not have failed to mention it in some way. Other kings and lords certainly received such banners. The Danish historian Caspar Paludan-Müller in 1873 in his book "Sagnet om den himmelfaldne Danebrogsfane" put forth the theory that it is a banner sent by the Pope to the Danish King to use in his crusades in the Baltic countries.

Other origin theories have been put forth in the late 19th and early 20th century. Many of these legends are apparently built on earlier ones. If the flag of 1208 or 1219 ever existed. Historically, it is of course impossible to prove or disprove that these records speak of the same flag.

A historian from Slesvig, Ulrik Petersen (1656-1735), wrote in the late 17th century that the flag hung in Slesvig cathedral till about 1660 until it simply crumbled away, thus ending its more than 400-year-old story. Henrik Rantzau states in his writing of 1576 that the flag was brought to Slesvig city and placed in the cathedral, following its return. A priest and historian from Dithmarschen, Johan Neocorus, wrote in 1598 that the banner captured in 1500, was brought to the church in Wohrden and hung there for the next 59 years, until it was returned to the Danes as part of the peace settlement in 1559. This is however not the end of the story.

This "Danmarckis Hoffuitbanner" was probably nothing short of the "Banner of the Realm'" (Rigsbanner), the Dannebrog.. This young man was Peder Skram. It was saved only by the combined efforts of the banner-carrier Mogens Gyldenstierne, taking multiple wounds, and a young man coming to his rescue. He writes that the "Danish head banner" ("Danmarckis Hoffuitbanner") was nearly captured by the Swedes.

An indication that we are dealing with multiple flags, are the 1570 writings of Niels Hemmingsøn regarding a bloody battle between Danes and Swedes near the Swedish town of Uppsala in 1520. In fact, the entire letter gives the impression that the lost battle was noting more than an "unfortunate affair". In a letter dated 22 February 1500 to Oluf Stigsøn, King John describes the battle, but does not mention the loss of an important flag. However, it is more questionable if he indeed was carrying the "original" flag.

It is quite plausible that the king’s personal banner as well as the leading banner of the army were both lost, as the battle was led by the King himself. Sources from Dithmarschen, written shortly after the battle of 1500, do mention banners, including the Royal banner, being captured from the Danes, but there is no mention of Dannebrog or the "original" flag. He notes that the flag was in a poor condition when returned. In 1576, the son of Johan Rantzau, Henrik Rantzau, also writes about the war and the fate of the flag.

Both claims that this was the original flag, and consequently both writers knew the legend of the falling flag. This legend is found in two sources, Hans Svanning's History of King John from 1558-1559 and Johan Rantzau's History about the Last Dithmarschen War, from 1569. In the capitulation terms it is stated that all Danish banners lost in 1500 were to be returned. In 1559, King Frederik II recaptured it during his own Dithmarschen campaign.

The flag was lost in a devastating defeat on 17 February 1500. According to tradition, the original flag from the Battle of Lyndanisse was used in the small campaign of 1500 when King Hans tried to conquer Dithmarschen (in western Holstein in north Germany). The story of the original flag has a continuation that many Danes are not aware of. Some historians believe that the story by Petrus Olai refers to a source from the first half of the 15th century, making this the oldest reference to the falling flag.

Whether or not these records describe a truly old oral story in existents at that time, or a 16th century invented story, is not currently determined. In another record by Petrus Olai called "Danmarks Tolv Herligheder" (Twelve Splendours of Denmark), in splendour number nine, the same story is re-told almost to the word, however a paragraph has been inserted correcting the year to 1219. The Danes were all but defeated when a lamb-skin banner depicting a white cross falls from the sky and miraculously leads to a Danish victory. This record describes a battle in 1208 near a place called "Felin" during the Estonia campaign of King Valdemar II.

The second source is the writing of the Franciscan monk Petrus Olai (Peder Olsen) of Roskilde, from 1527. He also mentions that this flag, falling from the sky during the Russian campaign of King Valdemar II, is the very same flag that King Eric of Pomerania took with him when he left the country in 1440 after being deposed as King. It is not mentioned in connection to the campaign of King Valdemar II in Estonia, but in connection with a campaign in Russia. The first is found in Christiern Pedersen's "Danske Krønike", which is a sequel to Saxo’s Gesta Danorum, written 1520-1523.

This story originates from two written sources from the early 16th century. Though no historical support exists for the flag story in the Fellin battle either, it is not difficult to understand how a small and unknown place is replaced with the much grander battle of Reval from the Estonia campaign of King Valdemar II. The first record of the legend dates from more than 300 years after the campaign, and the first record connects the legend to a much smaller battle, though still in Estonia; the battle of Fellin (Viljandi) in 1208. No historical record supports this legend.

The legend says that during the Battle of Lyndanisse, also known as the Battle of Valdemar (Danish: "Volmerslaget"), near Reval (Tallinn) in Estonia, on 15 June 1219, the flag fell from the sky during a critical stage, resulting in Danish victory. The legend of the flag is very popular among Danes, but most consider it to be a legend though a beautiful one. . The royal Danish yacht is named after the flag.

During the Danish-Norwegian personal union, the Dannebrog was also the flag of Norway and continued to be, with slight modifications, until Norway adopted its current flag in 1821. The cross design of the Danish flag was subsequently adopted by the other Nordic countries: Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Iceland. The national flag of Denmark, the Dannebrog, is red with a white Scandinavian cross that extends to the edges of the flag; the vertical part of the cross is shifted to the hoist side. DS 359:2005 ’Flagdug’, Dansk Standard, 2005.

Hagerups, Copenhagen 1919. Lund, Forlaget H. D. Danebrog - Danmarks Palladium, E.

Dannebrog, Helga Bruhn, Forlaget Jespersen og Pios, Copenhagen 1949. Dannebrog - Vort Flag, Lieutenant Colonel Thaulow, Forlaget Codan, Copenhagen 1943.