List of Swiss flags

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is a comprehensive list of flags used in Switzerland.

National flags

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Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1841–present	National flag of Switzerland	A square flag with a white cross in the centre and background in red.^[1]^[2]^[3]^[4]^[5]^[6]
	1882–present	Civil and state ensign	Red flag with a white cross in the centre and background in red.^[7]^[8]

Ethnic group flags

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Flag	Date	Use	Description
		Flag of the Piedmontese Arpitans	^[9]^[10]
		Flag of the Yenish people	^[11]
		Proposed flag of the Romansh people

Military flags

Rank flags

More information Flag, Date ...

Date	Use	Description
1898	Flag of a Swiss Armed Forces general and Chief of the Armed Forces	^[12]
1898	Flag of a Swiss Armed Forces lieutenant general	^[12]
	Obsolete flag of a Swiss Armed Forces lieutenant general	^[12]
1898	Flag of a Swiss Armed Forces major general	^[12]
	Obsolete flag of a Swiss Armed Forces major general	^[12]
1898	Flag of a Swiss Armed Forces brigadier general	^[12]
	Obsolete flag of a Swiss Armed Forces brigadier general	^[12]

Political flags

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Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1966–1992	Flag of the Autonomous Socialist Party (Ticino)

Canton flags

Municipal flags

Historical flags

Switzerland under the Holy Roman Empire

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Date	Use	Description
800–888	Imperial Oriflamme of Charlemagne	A three-tailed green field with eight golden crosses and six flowers.
800–1300	Banner of the Emperor of the Romans and of the King of Germany	A black Imperial Eagle on a yellow field.^[13]^[14]
1100–1300	War flag of the Holy Roman Empire	A non-rectangular flag depicting a white cross on a red field.^[15]

Historical national flags

More information Flag, Date ...

Date	Use	Description
1291–1422	Old flag of Unterwalden	A horizontal bicolor of red and white.
1291–1422	Old flag of Uri	A yellow field with a black bull, similar to the modern flag.
1291–1422	Old flag of Lucerne	A horizontal bicolor of white and blue.
1291–1422	Old flag of Zurich	A diagonal bicolor of white and blue with a large red horizontal stripe.
1291–1422	Old flag of Glarus	A red field with a monk in the center.
1291–1422	Old flag of Zug	A horizontal triband of white (top), blue, and white.
1291–1422	Old flag of Bern	A diagonal triband of red (top), yellow and red with a bear inside the yellow stripe.
1350–1836	Old flag of Neuchâtel	A yellow field with a red vertical stripe in the center which has three arrowed white stripes.^[16]
1422–1475	First flag of the Old Swiss Confederacy	A red triangular field with a white cross off-centered towards the hoist.^[17]
1475–1798	Second flag of the Old Swiss Confederacy	A square red flag with a white cross in the centre.^[18]^[19]
1628–1798	Flag of the Republic of the Seven Tithings	A square vertical bicolor of white and red with seven six-pointed stars.
1792–1798	Flag of the Republic of Geneva	A square field of two horizontal bands of red and gold with a thin black stripe between them.
1803–1930	Old flag of Argau	A vertical bicolor of black with three rivers, and blue with three five-pointed stars.
1814–1822	Flag of the Restored Swiss Confederacy	A square red flag with a white cross in the centre, with the German words "Für Vaterland und Ehre" which means "For Fatherland and Honor" and a sword intertwined by a laurel plant in the center of the cross.^[20]
1836–1848	Old flag of Neuchâtel	A horizontal tricolor of orange, black, and white.

Swiss territories under Prussian rule

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Date	Use	Description
1707–1772	Flag of Royal Prussia
1707–1750	First flag of the Kingdom in Prussia
1750–1801	Second flag of the Kingdom in Prussia and first flag of the Kingdom of Prussia	A black eagle holding a sword and rod on a white field, a crown on top.
1801–1803	Second flag of the Kingdom of Prussia
1803–1805 1815–1848	Third flag of the Kingdom of Prussia	The same as the previous flag, but the crown in the top of the flag is smaller.

Swiss territories under Austrian rule

More information Flag, Date ...

Flag	Date	Use	Description
	1453–1458	Flag of the Archduchy of Austria	Three equal horizontal bands of red (top), white, and red.^[21]^[22]

Swiss territories under French rule

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Flag	Date	Use	Description
Pre-Napoleonic Era
	1482–1493	Flag of the Kingdom of France	A square blue field with three fleur de lis
	1499–1512	Flag of the Kingdom of France	A rectangular blue field with three fleur de lis
	1604–1790	Flag of the Kingdom of France	A white banner with several fleur de lis and the royal coat of arms in the center.
	1790–1794	Flag of the Kingdom of France and the French First Republic	A vertical tricolour of red, white, and blue.
	1794–1804	Flag of the French First Republic	A vertical tricolour of blue, white, and red.^[23]
	1798–1803	Flag of the Helvetic Republic (German)	A green-red-yellow tricolour with the name of the country in German.^[24]
	1798–1803	Flag of the Helvetic Republic (French)	A green-red-yellow tricolour with the name of the country in French.
	1802–1804	Flag of the Rhodanic Republic	A square vertical bicolor of white and red with 12 five-pointed stars.
Napoleonic Era
	1804–1814	Flag of the First French Empire	^[23]
	1804–1814	Flag of the Napoleonic Valais

Swiss territories under Italian states

More information Flag, Date ...

Date	Use	Description
1093–1329	Flag of the commune of Milan	A white field with a red Maltese cross in the center and a three-tongued fringe at the fly.
1329–1395	Flag of the Lordship of Milan	A white field with a blue snake devouring a child in the center.
1395–1512	Flag of the Duchy of Milan	A white field with centred red cross, similar to the flag of England.
1395–1447 1450–1499	Flag of Milan under the Holy Roman Empire	The Imperial Eagle of the Holy Roman Empire in the first and fourth quarters and the Snake of Milan in the second and third quarters.
1447–1450	Flag of the Golden Ambrosian Republic	A white field with centred red cross, with the republic's seal.
1499–1512	Flag of Milan under the Kingdom of France	The French royal flag in the first and fourth quarters and the Snake of Milan in the second and third quarters.
1416–1536	Flag of the Duchy of Savoy	A red field with centred white cross.

Yacht club flags

More information Flag, Club ...

Flag	Club
	Burgee of Club Nautico Morcote
	Burgee of Cruising Club der Schweiz
	Société Nautique de Genève
	Cruising Club der Schweiz

References

[1]
"List of Swiss flags" in German, French and Italian in the online Historical Dictionary of Switzerland.
[2]
Appendix 2, Wappenschutzgesetz (SR 232.21), 21 June 2013 (effective 1 January 2017) [length of an arm: 7 units, width of the cross: 20 units, width of the flag: 32 units; ratio of cross width to field width: 20:32 = 5:8].
[3]
"The coat of arms of the federation is, within a red field, an upright white cross, whose [four] arms of equal length are one and a sixth times as long as they are wide." ("Das Wappen der Eidgenossenschaft ist im rothen Felde ein aufrechtes, freistehendes weißes Kreuz, dessen unter sich gleiche Arme je einen Sechstheil länger als breit sind") Bundesbeschluss betreffend das eidgenössische Wappen vom 12. Dezember 1889
[4]
Bundesgesetz zum Schutz öffentlicher Wappen und anderer öffentlicher Zeichen vom 5. Juni 1931 (Stand am 1. August 2008).
[5]
Art. 3.3: The following remain reserved: a. the Navigation Act of 23 September 1953 [SR 747.30]; b. the Civil Aviation Act of 21 December 1948 [SR 748.0]; c. the Armed Forces Act of 3 February 1995 [SR 510.10].
[6]
The compound implies genitive plural, "flag of the Swiss"; other national flags are identified with adjectives, as in französische Fahne "French flag" (German standard: französische Flagge). Swiss Armed Forces, Reglement 51.340 d (Fahnenreglement, 2008), section 4.1: "In unserem Sprachgebrauch hat sich der Begriff Schweizerflagge in diesem Sinn nicht eingebürgert. Das Reglement spricht weiter von der Schweizerfahne. […] Das ‹Aufziehen einer Fahne› wird in der Armee aber weiter zur Umgangssprache gehören." ("In our linguistic usage, the term "Schweizerflagge" in this sense ["Flagge" for a flag attached to a pole by means of a cable]. This reglementation will continue to refer to the Schweizerfahne [...] The "raising of a Fahne" will continue to remain in common usage in the army."
[7]
"Swiss yacht flag". flagsforum. 13 September 2010. Archived from the original on 11 March 2012. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
[8]
The square shape is due to the shape of late medieval and early modern war flags carried by infantry regiments, while most other national flags, following the example of the British Union Flag and the Dutch Prince's Flag, hark back to the tradition of rectangular maritime flags used in the Age of Sail. The communes and cantons of Switzerland also have square flags.
[9]
Piemonte, C. S. I. "Città metropolitana - Speciali - A Caprie sventola la bandiera francoprovenzale". www.cittametropolitana.torino.it (in Italian). Retrieved 31 October 2022.
[10]
"Il Francoprovenzale | Planet Cordola" (in Italian). Retrieved 31 October 2022.
[11]
"Yeniche People". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
[12]
"Anhang 3: Fanions als Standortzeichen in der Armee" (PDF). bkmv.ch (in German). p. 62. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
[13]
"Handschriftencensus | Kassel, Universitätsbibl. / LMB, 2° Ms. poet. et roman. 1". handschriftencensus.de. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
[14]
Eschenbach>, Wolfram <von (1334). Willehalm-Kodex. Fritzlar (?).
[15]
"Holy Roman Empire 962-1806 (Germany)". www.fotw.info. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
[16]
"Neuchâtel canton (Switzerland)". www.fotw.info. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
[17]
"Switzerland". www.crwflags.com. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
[18]
Article 41 (of the draft constitution): "Das Siegel der Eidgenossenschaft ist das Feldzeichen der alten Schweizer: ein weißes freistehendes Kreuz im rothen Felde, sammt der Umschrift: Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft."
[19]
"In der Mitte der eidgenössische rothe Schild mit dem weißen Kreuz als gemeineidgenössisches Wappenzeichen; ringsherum eine zirkelförmige einfache gothische Verzierung; außer derselben die Inschrift: Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft, mit der Jahreszahl MDCCCXV; in einem äußern Zirkel alle XXII Kantonswappen in runden Feldern nach ihrer eidgenössischen Rangordnung, und das Ganze mit einem einfachen Siegelkranze in unterschobenen kleinen Blättern geschlossen" (Bd. III, S. 120, G.)
[20]
BBl 1889 IV (12 November 1889), p. 635.
[21]
"Bundesheer - Uniformen und Abzeichen - Dekorationen, Insignien und Hoheitszeichen". www.bundesheer.at. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
[22]
GmbH, Typoheads. "Abzeichen". www.bundesheer.at. Retrieved 3 February 2024.
[23]
"Changement de couleur du drapeau français, ce qu'en pensent les fabricants". Graphiline.com (in French). 17 November 2021. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
[24]
Helvetischer Almanach für das Jahr 1809 (Zürich 1808), p. 194: "So die Schweizer-Fahne: Weisses Kreuz in Roth."

List of Swiss flags

National flags

Ethnic group flags

Military flags

Rank flags

Political flags

Canton flags

Municipal flags

Historical flags

Switzerland under the Holy Roman Empire

Historical national flags

Swiss territories under Prussian rule

Swiss territories under Austrian rule

Swiss territories under French rule

Swiss territories under Italian states

Yacht club flags

See also

References

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