Did You Know, Denmark Flag Is The Oldest Flag In The World

If you are history-curious like me I’m sure you would have been wondering which country has the oldest flag in the world? well for your information, the country with the oldest flag in the world is that of Denmark.

The Danish Flag dates back to the 13th century A.D. It is believed that the Flag has been in existence since June 15, 1219, though it was officially recognized as the National flag in 1625 and was remolded into a square shape in 1748. In Denmark, it is known as the ‘Dannebrog’ or ‘Danish cloth’.

According to legend, the flag came into Danish possession during the Battle of Lyndanisse in 1219. The Danes were on a failing crusade in Estonia, but after praying to God, a flag fell from the sky. After this event, Danish King Valdemar II went on to defeat the Estonians. The first recorded use of the flag appeared less than 100 years later. This legend has no historical or factual record, though many hold it to be true.

Sources note that while Denmark was never part of the Roman Empire, similar designs were used by the Empire to represent provinces, as the white cross is symbolic of Christianity. The cross design was later adopted by other Nordic countries such as Sweden, Norway, Finland, and Iceland.

History of Flags

Flags were believed to be invented in the Chinese Zhou dynasty around 1046-256 BCE. In the  17th century, it was customary for ships to fly flags designating their nationality; these flags eventually evolved into the national flags and maritime flags of today.

Why Most countries don’t have Purple on their flag

Most countries did not use the color purple on their flag because it is because purple dye was very expensive in the past.  The Purple dye was made from collecting the mucus from thousands of sea snails. It would take thousands of snails to produce even a small amount of purple dye, making it a labor-intensive process.