Dannebrog

In my last post, I mentioned that flags are flying everywhere here in Denmark. While were still starting this blog, we might put in a post about that flag, too:























Dannebrog (The Danish Cloth) is the oldest national flag in the world, according to legend falling from the skies during the Battle of Lyndanisse in Estonia in 1219 AD. The battle took place where the Estonian capital Talinn (the name means "The City of Danes") lies today, and was fought between heathen Estonians and a crusading army under Danish King Valdemar the Victorious. The battle was actually heading for defeat of the Danish(-German-Slav) army until the flag fell from the skies.

Dannebrog spawned a Scandinavian fondness of flags that include the so-called Scandinavian cross - Sweden, Norway, Finland and Iceland have all adopted flags including it, as have autonomous regions like the Faeroe and Åland Islands. There are also proposals for Estonia getting a flag along the same lines, and the British Shetland and Orkney Islands (Scandinavian until the 1200s and 1400s, respectively, and Norwegian-speaking into the 1800s) have local flags along the same lines. On a more curious note, the west-Canadian separatists use flag on the same pattern.

Another small detail: supposedly, Dannebrog is one of only three flags that have a name - Great Britan´s Union Jack and the USA´s Old Glory are the other two.

UPDATE:

While I´m at ie, the US also has a city, founded by Danish immigrants, called Dannebrog. Their site is here.

Henrik