legend-dannebrog-history-3.html
107996 Infopjece Dannebrog UK
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we do not know with any certainty when the kings of denmark started to use a red
banner
with a whi- te
cross
on it, but most indications are that it must have been in the middle of the 14th century. the oldest depiction known to us today of a red flag with a white
cross
in connection with denmark is in the dutch gelre
armorial
, which appeared in the years after 1370. under the designation ?die co- ninc van denmarke?, the king of denmark, can be seen a gold shield with three blue lions or leopards between scattered red hearts, a coat of arms borne by the danish kings since the 12th century. the reproduction of the coat of arms shows that the
banner
shown may have been in use for some time before 1370. in another dutch
armorial
, the bellenville
armorial
, from roughly the same time, the danish coat of arms can be seen, but without the
banner
. but on one side of the danish coats of arms in this
armorial
, the word denenbroce appears next to a shield featuring a
cross
. this could be the word that became ?dannebrog?, which is what we call our flag. we can see the term danebroka in a swedish text from 1439 and in a danish text from 1478. the meaning of the word is un- certain, but it probably means ?cloth or
banner
of the danes?. it was probably valdemar iv atterdag, who reigned 1340-1375, who began to use the
cross
flag as a
banner
. the oldest mention of the dannebrog 4 the history of the dannebrog is the history of denmark
dannebrog-history-cross-5.html