The Flags of the World Part 8

The War Ensign of the Empire is represented in Fig. 207. The colours of Prussia, black and white, and the Prussian Eagle enter largely into it, and perhaps it may at first sight appear that these symbols of the Prussian State are even a little too conspicuous, but it must be borne in mind that it is to the Sovereign of this State the heads.h.i.+p of all is given, and that the vital interests of Prussia in the matter may be further ill.u.s.trated by the fact that while she has a population, in round numbers, of thirty millions, Bavaria has but five, and Saxony three, while the Wurtemburgers and Badeners between them make up about another three millions, and no other State in the Empire comes at all near these figures. Prussia has over 130,000 square miles of territory to fight for, while Bavaria has but 29,292, and the next largest, Wurtemburg, has only an area of 7,531; in every way, political, commercial, or what not, the interests of Prussia are overwhelmingly predominant.

The flag of West Prussia is the black, white, black, shewn in Fig. 211, while the East Prussian flag is made up of but two horizontal strips, the upper black and the lower white. Hence the well-known war song, "Ich bin ein Preussen,"[63] commences,

"I am a Prussian! Know ye not my banner?

Before me floats my flag of black and white!

My fathers died for freedom, 'twas their manner, So say those colours floating in your sight."

{99}

The black, white, and red canton in the staff-head corner of the flag is also made into an independent flag, as at Fig. 208, and used as a "Jack" in the Imperial Navy, while this same flag, Fig. 208, minus the cross, is the flag of the Mercantile Marine. On the 25th of October, 1867, on the establishment of the North German Confederacy, at the conclusion of the Austro-Prussian campaign, the King of Prussia sanctioned a proposal for a flag common to all. We find in this decree that "the confederate flag henceforth solely to bear the qualification of the national flag, and as such to be exclusively on board the merchantmen of the Confederacy, shall be composed of three equilateral stripes horizontally arranged: the colour of the top one being black, the middle stripe white, and that of the bottom stripe red." On the inclusion of the South German States on the formation of the German Empire, the latter still more potent and august body retained the Confederacy Flag for its mercantile marine. Up to the year 1867 no German national flag had ever flown on the ocean, as the various States and free cities had their special colours of merely local value.

The responsible Minister of the Crown, in a speech delivered in the Diet in 1867, stated to the members that the combination of colours was emblematic of a junction of the black-white Prussian flag with the red-white ensign of the Hanseatic League. This league of the sea-ports of Germany was organised in 1164 for their mutual defence and for the interchange of commercial advantages. As its strength and reputation increased, many other cities sought to be admitted, but international jealousies disintegrated the League, and by the year 1630 it was reduced from sixty-six cities to three--Lubeck, Hamburg, and Bremen. These three Hanse towns still retain special privileges. The red and the white in the German flag represents the commercial prosperity of the nation, while the black and white symbolises the strong arm of the State prepared to protect and foster it. The flags of these three cities still retain the old colours, Lubeck being half white and half red, Bremen red and white stripes, and Hamburg a white castle on a red field.

The arms of the Hohenzollerns are quarterly arranged. The first and fourth quarters are themselves quartered, black and white for Zollern, while the second and third quarters are azure with a golden stag for Sigmaringen.

Friedrich VI., the first of the Hohenzollerns, the Burggraf of Nurnberg, became Friedrich I., Elector of Brandenburg, in 1417. There were twelve in all, of these Hohenzollern Electors, and Friedrich III., the last of these, became in 1701 the first King of Prussia. All the succeeding Sovereigns have been of the same house, so that the black and {100} white in the flag of to-day is the black and white that for over five hundred years has been emblazoned in the arms of the Hohenzollerns.

The cross on the flag (Figs. 207 and 208)--the "iron cross" so highly prized as the reward of fine service--is the cross of the Teutonic Order, and dates from the close of the 12th century. The history of the Teutonic Order, in its connexion with Prussia, is dealt with very fully in the first volume of Carlyle's "Frederick the Great."

The Imperial Standard of Germany has the iron cross, black with white border, on a yellow field, in the centre of all being a s.h.i.+eld bearing the arms of Prussia, surmounted by a crown and surrounded by the collar of the Order of the Black Eagle. The yellow groundwork of the flag is diapered over in each quarter with three black eagles and a crown. The arms of the cross stretch out to the four edges of the flag.

The Admiral's flag in the Imperial German Navy is square, and consists of the black cross on a white ground--the cross, as in the standard, extending to the edges of the flag. The Vice-Admiral's flag is similar, but has in the upper staff-s.p.a.ce a black ball in addition, while the Rear-Admiral has the same flag again, but with the addition of a black ball in each of the quarters nearest the mast. The Chief of the Admiralty has a white flag again with the cross in the centre, but in this case there is a considerable margin of white all round, and four red anchors are placed so that they extend in a sloping direction from the corners of the flag towards the inner angles of the cross. We get the characteristic black and white again in the burgee of the Imperial Yacht Club, which is thus quartered, an upright line meeting a horizontal one in the centre of the burgee, and thus giving a first and fourth black quarter and a second and third white one. The signal for a pilot again is a white flag with a broad border of black; if our readers will take a mourning envelope with a good deep margin of black to it, they will see the effect exactly.

German vessels engaged in trade on the East African coast fly the black, white, red, but in the centre of the white stripe is a blue anchor placed erect, while the Imperial Governor in East Africa subst.i.tutes for the anchor the black eagle. The German East Africa Company's flag is white cut into quarters by a narrow and parallel-edged cross and a red canton with five white stars on it in the quarter nearest the masthead.

While we find amongst the minor States of Germany Oldenburg, Fig. 204, with a cross-bearing flag, the greater number are made up of stripes disposed horizontally, and either two or three in number. Thus Fig. 199 is the white-green of Saxony, Fig. 200 {101} the black-red-yellow of Waldeck, Fig.

202 the blue-white of Pomerania, Fig. 203 the black-red of Wurtemburg, Fig.

205 the red-yellow-blue of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Fig. 206 the blue-yellow of Brunswick, Fig. 209 the green-white of Saxe-Coburg Gotha, Fig. 210 the blue-red-white of Schomberg Lippe, Fig. 212 the red-white of Hesse. Others that we have not figured are the red-yellow of Baden, the white-blue of Bavaria, the yellow-white of Hanover, the yellow-red of Elsa.s.s, the red-yellow of Lothringen.[64] To these, others might be added: Sleswig-Holstein, Brandenburg, Posen, Silesia, etc., all agreeing in the same general character.

The Imperial Standard of the Austro-Hungarian monarchy is yellow, and has in its centre the black double-headed eagle and a bordering all round composed of equal-sided triangles turning alternately their apices inwards and outwards; the first of these are alternately yellow and white, the second alternately scarlet and black. On the displayed wings of the eagle are the arms of the eleven provinces of the empire.

The war-ensign of the monarchy in represented in Fig. 213; it is composed of three equal horizontal bands of red, white, red, and bears in its centre beneath the Imperial crown a s.h.i.+eld similarly divided. This flag originated in 1786, when the Emperor Joseph II. decreed its introduction. This s.h.i.+eld was the heraldic device of the ancient Dukes of Austria, and is known to have been in existence in the year 1191, as Duke Leopold Heldenthum bore these arms at that date during the Crusades.

The "Oesterreich-Ungarische Monarchie," to give it its official t.i.tle, is under the command of one Sovereign, who is both Emperor of Austria and King of Hungary, but each of these great States has its own Parliament, Ministry, and Administration. Austria had long held the Hungarians in most unwilling subjection, and the disastrous outcome for Austria of the war with Prussia made it absolutely essential to make peace with Hungary, the Magyars seeing in the humiliation of Austria the opportunity that they had long been awaiting of becoming once again an independent State. A compromise was effected in February, 1867, by which the Hungarians were willing to remain under the rule of the Emperor of Austria, but only on condition that he submitted to be crowned King of Hungary, and that in the dual monarchy thus {102} created they should have absolutely the same rights and freedom as the Austrians. The Austrian flag, as we have seen, is red-white-red, while the Hungarian is red-white-green, and a commission being appointed to consider how these two flags could be blended into one, introduced on March 6th, 1869, as the result of its deliberations, the Austro-Hungarian national flag that we have represented in Fig. 214.

The Austrian provinces have chiefly bi- or tri-color flags, the stripes being arranged horizontally. Thus Bohemia is red-white; Tyrol is white-red; Dalmatia is blue-yellow; Galicia is blue-red; Croatia is red-white-blue; Istria yellow-red-blue.

We are so used in England to the idea that cheering is a spontaneous product that it seems strange to find that the official welcome by the Austrian fleet to their Emperor is a salute of twenty-one guns, followed by fifteen hurrahs. Each rank has its special limit of honour; thus a minister of State or field-marshal is saluted by nineteen guns and eleven hurrahs; a general by thirteen and seven, while a commodore drops to eleven and three; amba.s.sadors, archbishops, consuls, all have their definite share of gunpowder and such specified amount of shouting as is held to be befitting to their position.

The Imperial Standard of the Czar of all the Russias is the brilliant yellow and black flag represented in Fig. 226. The introduction of the black two-headed eagle dates back from the year 1472, when Ivan the Great married Sophia, a niece of Constantine Palaeolagus, and thence a.s.sumed the arms of the Greek Empire. On the breast of the eagle is an escutcheon bearing on its red field in silver the figure of St. George slaying the dragon, the whole being surrounded by the collar of the Order of St.

Andrew. On the displayed wings of the eagle are other s.h.i.+elds, too small for representation in our figure, bearing the arms of Kiow, a silver angel on an azure field; of Novgorod, two black bears on a golden s.h.i.+eld; of Voldermirz, a golden lion rampant on a red s.h.i.+eld; of Kasan, a black wyvern on a silver ground, and so forth. The flag of the Czarina is similar, except that it has a broad blue bordering to it.

A new Standard is made for each Czar. It was originally borne before him in battle, but this custom has fallen into disuse, and it is now deposited with the rest of the regalia. On the heavy gold brocade is embroidered the black eagle, and around this the arms of the provinces of the Empire. From the eagle that surmounts the staff are pendant the blue ribbons of the Order of St. Andrew, embroidered in gold, with the dates of the foundation of the Russian State in 862, the baptism by St. Vladimir in 986, the union of all Russian possessions under the sceptre of John III. in 1497, and the {103} proclamation of the Empire by Peter the Great. Its dedication is a great religious function, and its sacred character and its appeal to a lofty patriotism duly enforced. Thus we find the Imperial Chaplain addressing the present Czar before the consecration of the standard as follows:--

"Divine Providence has resolved, by the right of succession to the Throne, to entrust to thee, as Supreme Head and Autocrat of the Peoples of the Empire of all the Russias, this Sacred Banner, an emblem of its unity and power.

"We pray the Heavenly Father for the union of all thy subjects in loyalty and devotion to their Throne and Country, and in the unselfish fulfilment of their patriotic duties.

"May this Banner inspire thy enemies with dread, may it be a sign to thee of Divine a.s.sistance, and in the name of G.o.d, of the Orthodox Faith, of Right and of Justice; may it help thee, in spite of all obstacles, to lead thy people to prosperity, greatness, and glory."

After the Benediction, holy water was sprinkled upon the standard, and the Czar, as the embodiment of the Nation, was again addressed:--

"The Almighty has been pleased, in the course of the law of inheritance, to enthrone you as the Sovereign Ruler of all the peoples of the Russian nation; this sacred Standard is a token of unity and power. We pray it may unite all thy subjects in unquestioning loyalty to the Throne and Country, and in unselfish fulfilment of each duty of a subject. May it be to thee a sign, terrible to the foes of Russia, of the help given by the Lord G.o.d to the glory of His Holy Name, that, through Orthodox Faith, notwithstanding all limitations, thy people may be led to prosperity, greatness, and glory; so shall all nations know that G.o.d is on our side."

The Russians venerate St. Andrew as their patron Saint, believing that it was he who carried the doctrines of Christianity into their midst. Origen a.s.serts that he preached in Scythia. Peter the Great inst.i.tuted under his name and protection, in the year 1698, the first and most n.o.ble order of Knighthood of the Russian Empire as a reward for the valour of his officers in the war against the Ottomans. The badge is the X-like cross of St.

Andrew displayed upon the Imperial Eagle and pendant from a broad blue ribbon. We have already seen that St. Andrew is the Patron Saint of Scotland also, but in Scotland the cross, Fig. 92, is white upon a field of blue, while in Russia, Fig. 217, it is blue upon a field of white. This flag, Fig. 217, is the war ensign, the flag of the Imperial Navy.

The creed of the Russian Church extols the wors.h.i.+p of Saints, and amongst the numerous subjects of veneration St. George takes {104} rank next to St.

Andrew himself. Hence we see his presentment on the Standard of the Czar, and hence Catherine II., in 1762, inst.i.tuted an order of knighthood in his honour. The badge is a cross of gold, having in its centre a medallion with a figure of the saint slaying the dragon; the ribbon being yellow and black. St. George, we need scarcely remind our readers, is the great warrior-Saint of England too, but while we place his scarlet cross, Fig.

91, on the field of white, the Russians reverse the arrangement and place his white cross on scarlet.[65]

Fig. 215 is the Russian Union Jack that combines the crosses of St. Andrew and St. George. Fig. 73 is the British Union Jack that deals with precisely the same combination.

The flag of the Russian merchant service is represented in Fig. 218. This was originally instead of being white, blue, red, a flag of blue, white, red. Peter the Great borrowed this from the Dutch, amongst whom he learnt s.h.i.+p-building. The Dutch flag, Fig. 237, it will be seen is a tricolor of red, white, blue. Peter simply turned this upside down, and afterwards, for greater distinction, charged the central white s.p.a.ce with a small blue St.

Andrew's Cross, as we see in Fig. 219, which represents this early form of flag. Later on, for still greater clearness of distinction, the blue and the white strips changed places, and so we get the modern Russian mercantile flag, as shown in Fig. 218. It was evidently undesirable that the flag of the great Empire of Russia should be the same as that of a reversed Dutch ensign--a signal of distress and disaster.

Based upon these two simple forms, the government Cross of St. Andrew, Fig.

217, and the commercial tricolor, Fig. 218, we get a great variety of official flags. Thus Fig. 220 is a very happy blending of the two forms in the flag of a Consul-General, since he is an official of the State, and at the same time his duties deal largely with commercial interests; and much the same ground may be taken as regards the blending of the two flags in Fig. 221, the flag of a Russian Charge d'Affaires. Fig. 223 is the ensign of a Russian transport; if of the second division the field of the flag is blue, and if of the third it is red, in each of these cases the crossed anchors being white. The Russian signal for a pilot is the Jack shown in Fig. 215, but with a broad white border to it. {105}

A Russian Amba.s.sador or Minister Plenipotentiary flies the flag shown in Fig. 222. In the Imperial Navy we find a considerable variety of flag types. While the full Admiral flies the Imperial Naval Flag, Fig. 217, that of the Vice-Admiral has along its bottom edge a horizontal strip of blue, and that of the Rear-Admiral in the same position a strip of red. The flag of the Minister of Marine is the official flag, Fig. 217, except that instead of the four plain white s.p.a.ces there seen these triangles hold each of them a golden anchor, the fluke end outwards. There are many other modifications that we need not here particularise.

Fig. 216 is the official flag of Poland; the device in the canton in the upper corner, the white eagle on the scarlet field, is the ancient Polish flag, when Poland was yet a nation.

The early history of the French flag is lost in obscurity, and it is not always easy to trace the various modifications that it has undergone. At the earliest date of which we have record we find the kings of the Franks marshalling their forces under the plain blue flag known as the Chape de St. Martin. Later on the red flag of St. Denis, known as the oriflamme, came into use, and was held in great popular esteem, until by the tenth century we find it accepted as the national flag, though the blue flag still held its ground as a recognised flag. We may, in fact, a.s.sume that as the Russians placed themselves beneath the protection both of St. George and also of St. Andrew, so the French felt that a double claim on saintly a.s.sistance would be by no means amiss.

The Chape de St. Martin was originally in the keeping of the monks of the Abbey of Marmoutiers, and popular belief held it to be a portion of the actual blue cloak that the legend affirms the Saint divided with the beggar suppliant. The Counts of Anjou claimed the right to take this blue flag to battle with them. We find it borne by Clovis in the year 507 against Alaric, and again by Charlemagne at the battle of Narbonne; and time after time it led the hosts of France to victory. When the kings of France transferred the seat of government to Paris, the great local Saint, St.

Denis, was held in high honour, and the scarlet flag of the Abbey Church of St. Denis gradually ousted the blue flag of St. Martin, and "St. Denis"

became the war-cry of France.[66] Fig. 179 is a representation of the oriflamme from some ancient stained gla.s.s, but the authorities differ somewhat; thus the "Chronique de Flandre" describes it as having three points and ta.s.sels of green {106} silk attached thereto, while an English authority says, "The celestial auriflamb, so by the French admired, was but of one colour, a square redde banner." Du Cange gives no hint of its shape, but affirms that it was simple, "sans portraiture d'autre affaire." All therefore that seems quite definite is that it was a plain scarlet flag.

The last time that the sacred ensign was borne to battle was at Agincourt on October 25th, 1415, when it certainly failed to justify the confidence of its votaries.

The precise date when the golden fleurs-de-lys were added to the blue flag is open to doubt, but we find the form at a very early date, and from the first recognition of heraldic coats of arms this blazon was the accepted cognizance of the kings of France. We see this represented in Fig. 184.

Originally the fleurs-de-lys were powdered, as in Fig. 188, over the whole surface, but in the reign of Charles V., A.D. 1365, the number was reduced to three.[67]

The meaning of the fleur-de-lys has given rise to much controversy; some will tell us that it is a lily flower or an iris, while others affirm that it is a lance-head. Some authorities see in it an arbitrary floral form a.s.sumed by King Louis,[68] and therefore the fleur-de-Louis; while others are so hard put to it that they tell us of a river Lys in Flanders that was so notable for its profusion of yellow iris that the flower became known as the fleur-de-Lys. The ancient chronicles gravely record that they were lilies brought from Paradise by an angel to King Clovis in the year 496, on the eve of a great battle fought near Cologne. Clovis made a vow that if he were victorious he would embrace the Christian faith, and the angel visitant and the celestial gift were a proof that his prayers were heard and his vow accepted. As the belief that France was in an especial degree under Divine protection was a very flattering one, the lilies were held for centuries in great favour; and the fleur-de-lys did not finally disappear from the flag of France until the downfall of Louis Philippe in the year 1848, a date within the recollection, doubtless, of some of our readers.

Finality, indeed, may not even yet have been reached in the matter. As the bees of Napoleon I. reappeared in the arms of Napoleon III., so the fleur-de-lys may yet again appear on the ensigns of France. By virtue of a Napoleonic decree in 1852 against factious or treasonable emblems, it was forbidden to introduce the fleur-de-lys in jewellery, tapestry, or any other decorative way, lest its introduction might peril the position of a {107} sovereign who rose to power by lavish bribery, and the free outpouring of blood. Napoleon the First, and at least by contrast the Great, when at Auch enquired the reason why many of the windows of the cathedral were partially concealed by paper, and he was informed that it was because it was feared that he would be offended at the sight of certain ancient emblems there represented. "What!" he exclaimed, "the fleurs-de-lys? Uncover them this moment. During eight centuries they guided the French to glory, as my eagles do now, and they must always be dear to France and held in reverence by her true children."

The white cross frequently appears on the early French flags. Fig. 188, the flag of the French Guards in the year 1563, is a good example of this. We find Favyn, in a book published in Paris in 1620, "Le Theatre d'honneur et de Chevalerie," writing: "Le grand estendard de satin bleu celeste en riche broderie de fleurs de lys d'or a une grande croix plein de satin blanc, qui est la croix de France." Figs. 180 and 181 are taken from a MS. executed in the time of Louis XII., A.D. 1498, ill.u.s.trating a battle scene; these two flags are placed by the side of the fleur-de-lys flag, Fig. 184. When Louis XI., in 1479, organised the national infantry we find him giving them as the national ensign a scarlet flag with white cross on it; and some two hundred years later we find the various provincial levies beneath flags of various designs and colours, but all agreeing in having the white cross as the leading feature. Fig. 182, for example, is that of the Soissonois.

Desjardins, in his excellent book on the French flag,[69] gives a great many ill.u.s.trations of these. In the Musee d'Artillerie in Paris we find a very valuable collection of martial equipments from the time of Charlemagne, and amongst these a fine series (original where possible, or, failing this copies) of the flags of France from the year 1250.

The Huguenot party in France adopted the white flag, and when King Henry III., 1574 to 1589, himself a Protestant, came to the throne, the white flag became the royal ensign, and was fully adopted in the next reign, that of Henry IV., the first king of the house of Bourbon, as the national flag.

The whole history of the flag prior to the Great Revolution, is somewhat confused, and in the year 1669, which we may consider about the middle of the Bourbon or white flag period,[70] we find the order given by the {108} Minister of the Marine that "the ensigns are to be blue, powdered with yellow fleurs-de-lys, with a large white cross in the middle." Merchant s.h.i.+ps were to wear the same flag as the s.h.i.+ps of war except that in the canton corner was to be placed the device of their province or town. Before the end of the year a new order was issued to the effect that "the ensigns at the stern are to be in all cases white," while the merchants were to fly the white flag with the device of the port in the corner. The white flag was sometimes plain, as in Fig. 183, and at other times provided with yellow fleurs-de-lys. On the restoration of the Bourbons in 1814, after the Republic, Consulate, and Empire, the white flag was again the flag of the nation, and remained so until 1830, its last appearance in France, unless or until the house of Bourbon again arises to the throne, when the restoration of the _drapeau blanc_ would probably follow. The white flag has therefore been the national ensign of France for over two hundred years.

In a book in the library of the Science and Art Department, South Kensington, we found the flag represented in Fig. 185 figured as the French Standard, with Fig. 187 apparently as an alternative, while the National flag of France is represented as the tricolor with bordering shown in Fig.

189, and the Admiral's flag is given as pure white. The book is ent.i.tled "A Display of Naval Flags of all Nations." It was published in Liverpool; no date is given, but we can arrive approximately at this, as the British Standard is represented as including the arms of Hanover; this limits its publication to between the years 1714 and 1837.

The well-known tricolor of France, Fig. 191, dates from the era of the Revolution and came into existence in 1789. It has, with the exception of the short Bourbon Restoration, been the flag of France for over a century, and it remains so to this day, though it underwent some few modifications ere it settled down to the present form. Thus, for instance, on October 24th 1790, it was decreed that the colour next the staff was to be red, the central strip white and the outer blue, but on February 15th, 1794, it was ordered that "the flag prescribed by the National a.s.sembly be abolished.

The national flag shall be formed of the three national colours in equal bands placed vertically, the hoist being blue, the centre white, and the fly red." On the Revolution of 1848, the provisional government ordered on March 5th that the colours were to run thus--blue, red, white, but the opposition to this was so strong that only two days later the order was cancelled. In 1790 the tricolor was made the Jack, and the ensign was as shown in Fig. 190. This ensign was to be common to both the men-of-war and the flags of the merchant navy, but the arrangement was not of long continuance. The spirit of change that was felt in every department affected the flags {109} likewise, and some little time elapsed before the matter was satisfactorily settled.

The arms of Paris are a white galley on a red ground, and above this are three golden fleurs-de-lys on a blue band or strip. On July 14th, 1789, it was determined that a civic guard of forty thousand men should be raised, and that its colours should be those of the city, the gules and azure of the groundwork of the escutcheon, to which, on the proposal of Lafayette, the white of the royal _drapeau blanc_ was added.