Flags and coat-of-arms

I’m working quite a lot with Dutch ships at the moment and I always noticed a small but not exactly invisible detail in the paintings (Strictly speaking even very prominently above the stern ) : the blood red flag.

Battle at Elseneur in the Sound between the Dutch and Swedish fleets, 8 November 1658, by Peter van de Velde, around 1670 (detail below)

After some research I only got the Nazi flag from the second world war, well not really what I was looking for but then I found it - it is the so called Bloedvlag- the blood flag.

Another special work is the painting by Jan Molenaar (1682) in which the Edam shipbuilder Jacob Mathijsz Oosterlingh is proudly portrayed alongside 92 ships, built by him and his family, and here we can see the bloedvlag on the left.

This flag has been hoisted since the beginning of the 17th century during the Eighty Years War on Dutch ships as a signal for certain tactical actions.  It is uncertain that the red color was used because of its visibility, or because it is related to the color of the blood as a sign of a fierce battle. Originally, the blood flag was a red flag depicting an arm armed with a sword, but it can vary.

This type of depiction was also used on other flags but was particularly popular with the Barbary pirates.

This flag was used until the Second World War where it was hoisted as a sign for the opening of the fire, only in the Second World War it became black.

Happy International Heraldry Day!

Pirate flag (Jolly Roger) now at the Åland Maritime Museum, one of two pirate flags that are considered authentic. The flag is about 200 years old and came to Åland from the North African Mediterranean coast, where piracy occurred right into the 19th century. It is made of cotton and was once dark brown almost black. Now it is faded by the ravages of time, weather and wind.

Yes eg, 🇦🇺 🇬🇧

No, but it has two of these colours, eg 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 🇨🇦

No, but it has at least one of these colours and others, eg 🇪🇪🇨🇴

No none of these colours, eg 🇯🇲🇨🇨

** I don’t know what some of these countries are btw

Holy Roman Empire 1444 flag map

Orange pennant (in combination with a Dutch flag) 

The pennant shows the connection between the Netherlands and the royal house (the Oranje-Nassau family)

The orange pennant is flown, always in combination with the Dutch flag, connected at the hoist.  The pennant must be at least the length of, or slightly longer then, the diagonal of the flag. a pointy end, a swallowtail or a brush at the end it’s all allowed. The pennant is flown on birthdays of the King, Queen and other important members of the Royal House*, and on Kingsday (27 Apr. nationa holiday). and when a member of the royal house gets married.  The pennant isn’t flown when someone of the royal house dies or at the funeral. 

The orange pennant (or Oranje wimpel in Dutch) has its origin at the start of the United Kingdom of the Netherlands (after French occupation).  At first King Willem I wanted to reinstate the Orange-White-Blue as the national flag, but diplomatically that wasn’t wise as the french were still a strong nation, and the Netherlands was not.  Therefore the orange pennant was /put back in use  to show that the Netherlands was now a kingdom ruled by the Oranje-Nassau family.  As with alot of things in the Netherlands it took until 1948 before the use and protcols about orange pennant was put in to actual law.

thereare paintings from 1768 of a Prince Willem V (steward) and his wife Wilhelmina from Preußen, that toured the Republic (of the Netherlands) by boat. The boat flies the VOC-flag (red-white-blue with a badge) and an orange pennant from the hoist. The pennant was used to show that the boat carried the Steward.

The use of pennants is believed to be of a origin.The Dutch Royal Navy still uses a war pennant to differ themselves from merchant ships as the Dutch navy ensign is the same as the civil ensign. But that is more for another post.