Parliamentary flag
The parliamentary flag , also parliamentary flag or white flag , is a monochrome white flag that identifies the parliamentary as such and obliges the combatants to maintain his inviolability guaranteed under international law. It is one of the symbols of the international martial law and is laid down in Article 32 of the Hague Land Warfare Regulations.
The inviolability of those wielding the white flag and the prohibition of abuse result in the frequently used function as a sign of surrender or renunciation of resistance. Hanging out white flags in cities often means handing them over to enemy troops without a fight.
history
Even if the white flag has only enjoyed contractual protection under international law since the Hague Land Warfare Regulations of 1907 , it has been used for a long time and respected under customary law . As a sign of surrender it was used in China during the Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD). The Roman historian Publius Cornelius Tacitus also reports about the use of a white flag in the surrender of Roman legionnaires around AD 109.
Other meanings
- In Austria in particular, the white flag is hoisted in schools when all the students who have passed the Matura .
- In 1996, the Taliban initially used a white flag as the national flag of Afghanistan . On October 27, 1997, the Shahada in black was added.
- In May 2012 the white flag flew from the big tower for the last time at Burgdorf Castle . This as a sign that the prison is empty. The prisoners had previously been transferred to the new regional prison.