Flag of Denmark

Facts about the Flag of Denmark

1. The Dannebrog is generally recognised as the oldest continuously used national flag in the world, documented from the late fourteenth century.
2. Danish law restricts flying foreign flags without permission, a rule taken more seriously here than in most countries.
3. The splitflag, a swallow-tailed version, is reserved for the state and the royal house; private citizens fly the rectangular version.
4. The off-centre cross was copied by every other Nordic country, making the Dannebrog the ancestor of an entire regional family of flags.
5. The flag of Denmark was officially adopted on 1625.
6. The design is older than its adoption. It was already in use in 1219, 406 years before it was formally made the flag of Denmark.
7. The flag in its present form is 401 years old as of 2026.
8. Design type: Red field with a white Nordic cross.
9. The flag is known as Dannebrog, a name used far more often than the formal "flag of Denmark".
10. The official proportions are 28:37. No other national flag in the world uses it.
11. The flag uses 2 colours: red and white.
12. The red on the flag stands for the field, known as Dannebrog red.
13. The white on the flag stands for the cross.
14. Dannebrog: By legend it fell from the sky during a battle in Estonia in 1219.
15. Oldest flag: Widely recognised as the oldest continuously used national flag in the world, and the origin of the Nordic cross.
16. The design belongs to the "Nordic cross" family, shared with 8 other flags in this reference.
17. Flags most often confused with it: Bouvet Island, Faroe Islands and Iceland.
18. Denmark has been a sovereign kingdom for more than a thousand years and was never colonised; its constitution dates from 5 June 1849.