Join the new world

Today, June 15th, is the 800th birthday of our national flag, Dannebrog or ”Danish cloth”.

This day is also called ”Valdemarsdag” or the day of King Valdemar II who was king of Denmark from 1202 to 1241. The king got the nickname "Sejr" (Victory) somewhere around the 1500's because he was and still is seen as the great conquer and expander of the Kingdom of Denmark – He ended up widening our borders to various areas in the Baltic Sea such as Estonia and Pomerania.



Above is a map of the Kingdom of Denmark in the 1200's.

According to the legend, Dannebrog is supposed to have fallen from the sky during a battle on June 15th, 1219 in Tallinn, the capital of Estonia – 800 years ago, which led to 127 years of Danish rule of the city as well as creating the Duchy of Estonia (Present day northern part of Estonia). The Danes were about to lose the battle when this sign from above gave the warriors new energy, which lead them to victory. It has since been the flag of of the Kingdom of Denmar and it is said to be the oldest, continuously used national flag in the entire world.



In reality though, one could argue that the Dannebrog of 1219 was most likely a crusade banner, which had fallen from one of the towers situated around the city – either blown off by the wind or perhaps cut off during a fight. The whole legend was in fact written years after the battle. The white cross on red background which the flag consists of has been seen through previous centuries - Although Denmark was never part of the Roman Empire, similar designs to Dannebrog were used by the Empire to represent provinces, as the white cross is the symbol of Christianity. The same design has also been seen on some crusader knights chests and shields.

In some countries the flag is a symbol of the state. In today's Denmark the Dannebrog is very much a symbol of the people, and the flag is used for all kinds off private celebrations - such as birthdays, weddings and Christmas. For Danes the Dannebrog is a sign of happiness and celebration and unlike other countries - not of patriotism.



The original flag, which may have fallen from the skies if you believe in the legend, is said to have been hung in the choir section of a cathedral in Schleswig (Present day Germany) where the fragile and decaying old cloth was accidentally ripped down in 1660 by children playing under it. Thus what was believed to be the original Dannebrog no longer exists.

Every year on this day, the Danish Airforce usually paints the tail of an F-16 jet, however, 800 years is a long time – This year an entire jet has been painte😛