Trade flag
The trade flag is the flag that is hoisted as the national flag by merchant ships and other privately owned ships . An outdated name for the trade flag is Kauffahrteiflagge .
Alongside the war flag, the trade flag is one of the two original versions of the national flag. In most countries, all ships originally flied the same flag, regardless of whether they were privately or state-owned, and regardless of whether they were armed or unarmed. In the course of time, however, in many countries (initially Great Britain in particular ) a distinction developed between the flag for the armed ships of the state (the navy and other armed forces) and the flag for private, unarmed ships. Some countries, such as B. France and the USA still have only one flag for all purposes of shipping (national flag).
Today the merchant flag is the flag for all ships registered in a country , unless they are authorized to fly a different flag. The right to use them is given by a state flag certificate .
The German trade flag
The German trade flag is the simple federal flag (black-red-gold). As such it has been used in the Federal Republic of Germany since 1950 and in reunified Germany since 1990.
Trade flag of Germany |
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Historic German trade flags
Germany
1848–1849Occupation zones
1946–1949 / 1950 ( identification flag for German merchant ships )GDR
1959–1973
The Austrian trade flag
The trade flag of Austria has been the Austrian federal flag red-white-red in the proportions 2: 3 since 1919 . It is carried by both seagoing and inland waterway vessels.
Trade flag of Austria |
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Historic Austrian trade flags
The trade flag of Switzerland
As a landlocked country, Switzerland had no maritime shipping and therefore no special trade flag until the Second World War. The inland waterway vessels carried (and mostly still carry today) the flag of Switzerland in a square format. For the few seagoing ships, a flag in the proportions 2: 3 was introduced in 1941.
Trade flag of Switzerland (seagoing ships and partly inland waters) |
Trade flag of Switzerland (inland waters) |
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Trade flags of other countries
In many countries the trade flag is identical to the general national flag , e.g. B. in France , the USA , Russia , the Netherlands .
Trade flags , which differ from the general national flag , can be divided into five categories:
- British-style Red Ensigns , d. H. red flags with (mostly) the respective national flag in the Obereck. This model is used across a number of former British colonies. The trade flags of territories that are still British colonies today are Red Ensigns with the respective coat of arms in the flying end.
- Trade flags that differ significantly from the national flag, e.g. B. Malta or Luxembourg.
- National flags with an additional emblem, e.g. B. the Polish coat of arms or the inscription DIOS UNION LIBERTAD in the Salvadoran merchant flag.
- Simplified national flags, d. H. the simpler execution of the national flag without the national coat of arms. In many Latin American states, it is the practice to use the simpler flag as a trade flag (and in some cases also the civil flag on land), while state agencies and the military use the version with the coat of arms.
- Commercial flags that differ only in proportions from the national flag: some former British colonies use the proportions 3: 5 for flags on land, but 1: 2 on the sea; in the successor states of Yugoslavia it is the other way round, there is 2: 3 on the sea and 1: 2 on land.
Red Ensigns based on the British model
Clearly different from the national flag
Albania | Israel | Luxembourg | Malta | Singapore |
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National flag with an additional emblem
El Salvador | Italy | Colombia | Morocco | Poland | Saudi Arabia | Taiwan |
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Simpler execution of the national flag
Andorra | Argentina | Bolivia | Costa Rica | Dominican Rep. | Ecuador | |
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Guatemala | Haiti | Peru | San Marino | Serbia | Spain | Venezuela |
Different from the national flag only in the proportions
Belgium | France | Grenada | Guyana | Croatia | Switzerland | Slovenia | Trinidad and Tobago |
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Remarks
- ↑ With the flag order of May 20, 1951, Lake Constance ships carry the flag hoisted at the stern in a rectangular shape.
- ↑ The Red Ensign without further emblem is also used in Jersey , Anguilla , BIOT , Montserrat , Pitcairn Islands , St. Helena
- ↑ the national flag of Australia is carried by smaller ships
- ↑ The national flag of the UAE is also reported as the trade flag
- ↑ The national flag of Morocco is also reported as the trade flag
- ↑ The national flag of Taiwan is also reported as the trade flag
- ↑ The flag of Spain with a coat of arms is also used as a trade flag
- ↑ the Swiss flag in a square format is used on most inland waters
literature
- Smith, Neubecker: coats of arms and flags of all nations . Munich 1981, ISBN 3-87045-183-1
Web links
- Flags of the World (English)