Flag of Ærø

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The old unofficial flag of Ærø

The unofficial flag Ærøs ( Danish : Ærøs flag or Ærø-flaget ) represents the Danish island of Ærø as one of the few regional flags in Denmark .

In addition to Ærø, Bornholm and Vendsyssel also underline their regional identity with their own flag, using the flag of Bornholm or the flag of Vendsyssel ("Vendelbrog").

Origin and use

Initially, in contrast to the flags otherwise widespread in Nordic countries , it was not a Scandinavian cross flag , but a horizontal yellow-green-red tricolor . The flag was used all over Ærø in the 20th century; It has spread as a symbol of the island, especially among sailors and motorists. There is a similarity with the flag of Lithuania , also a yellow-green-red tricolor, but in slightly different colors.

The three colors were borrowed from the banner of Duke Christian von Ærø (1570–1633, Duke from 1622), a cousin of Christian IV of Denmark and Norway . The colors were later interpreted in such a way that the yellow stripe symbolized the House of Gottorf , the middle green stripe the island itself and the red stripe the Danish king.

After the death of Duke Christian on June 14, 1633, his possessions were distributed to the other lines of Gottorfische. His nearly square banner, which was given to the island's council, was also found in his personal estate. Ærø was then divided from 1634 to 1721: Marstal belonged to the Dukes of Gottorf, while Ærøskøbing belonged to the royal Danish part of Schleswig .

Redesign 2015

In 2015, Ærø's head of tourism presented the public with a redesigned island flag. It was designed in collaboration with the Ærø Museum and is based closely on the historical model: nine horizontal stripes are arranged three times, alternating yellow, dark green and red, on an approximately square cloth. The “ relaunch ”, which was true to the original , was promptly criticized, including from the director of the Marstal Maritime Museum.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. Magnus Nørtoft: Tourist manager om Ærøs nye flag: Vi vil have vores egen identitet. In: DR.dk Fyn. Danmarks Radio , July 31, 2015, accessed on August 1, 2015 .
  2. Andrea Bisgaard: Ærø shall not have a flag. In: fyens.dk . Fynske Medier, July 29, 2015, accessed August 1, 2015 .
  3. Ærø shall have "nyt" flag. In: mitfyn.dk. July 28, 2015, accessed August 1, 2015 .