image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 5 January 2009Last modified: 2009-08-08 by rob raeside
Keywords: ufe | unidentified flags |
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Do you have any insight into what flag consisting of 6 horizontal stripes,
alternating red and white, with white at the top (i.e. w-r-w-r-w-r) would be
related to the destruction of Speyer by Louis XIV's forces in 1689 (Nine Years
War)? Any insight you can provide would be much appreciated.
Christina
Rosati, 3 January 2009
image by Klaus-Michael Schneider, 5 January 2009
Unknown flag, probably New Zealand
It is a blue ensign of unknown ratio
with a squarish canton of unknown ratio. In the lower fly is a white disc with a
coat of arms. Description of coat of arms: In a blue shield are five red 5-point
stars fimbriated white. The shield is topped by a crown.
Source:
Cigarette
Album: „Flags of all Nations“; Richmond, Virginia, 1888, edited by cigarette
manufacturers Allen & Ginter
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 5 January 2009
Idle speculation of course, but I wonder if this was meant to be the
representation (however mistaken) of a square colonial blue jack (that is the
jack which could - theoretically at least - be flown by the civilian-manned
ships owned by a colonial administration)?
Christopher Southworth, 5
January 2009
My guess is that it's a misinterpreted design of the Australian state of
Victoria (which was, at that time, a separate colony). Certainly NZ wasn't using
anything. There was a NZ flag of about that era, which had four red stars on a
white disc in the fly, but nothing like the one shown here. Certainly NZ has
never to the best of my knowledge had a flag of any sort with five stars.
James Dignan, 5 January 2009
image by Lespey, 19 January 2009
From your web site, I can't find this flag. I'm sure is Japanese, probably
from WWII but I can't find any info. I'm a Japanese WWII collector of 31 years
and never seen this one.
Lespey, 19 January 2009
image by Donald Shannon, 30 January 2009
I am the curator of the National WWII PT Boat Museum at www.battleshipcove.org. I am
currently researching the origin of a flag I have attached 2 images of the flag.
If you can provide any information on this flag I would greatly appreciate it.
Donald Shannon, 30 January 2009
I have not been able to identify the flag, but I have located a very similar
emblem on this page - the flag of the Merchant
Marine College as at about 1910. It has the same star emblem in red, but not the
circle. Perhaps it is the flag of the college a few years later. Perhaps this
similar design may help others to identify the actual flag in your museum.
Ralph Kelly, 30 January 2009
image by SB Barbosa, 31 January 2009
Would you happen to know where the following flag label pin is from?
SB Barbosa, 31 January 2009
image by Peter Loeser, 7 February 2009
This flag was posted on eBay and the seller says it came from the Tumbling
Waters Flag Museum. It is 27 x 96 (inches). There also seems to be one that has
the fleur de lis in blue and yellow. After several days of looking the best
conclusion I could come up with was NAVA. The scale is wrong on the V... but
NAVA may be the answer.
Peter Lenagh, 7 February 2009
images provided by Jim Megura, 8 February 2009
I am trying to find someone who may have a general knowledge of flag design from
the 17th C. I own an early painting, believed to be 17th C, and it has British
ships and gunships in a harbor, with a large flag visible on the mainland. It is
that flag on the mainland which I am trying to identify, seemingly a major
European port city. We are also trying to then determine if this painting
represents a rendering of some historical event, perhaps an attack or treaty.
Perhaps you can refer to me someone who might have such knowledge. [Large flag
is shown enlarged as inset in photo above.]
Jim
Megura, 8 February 2009
I think I see red in the saltire of the British Union jacks at the bows of the
two ships; that would place the painting post-1801.
Albert S. Kirsch,
11 February 2009
Definitely 18th century, if not early 19th as Al suggested -- not 17th. The
boats in the foreground do not appear to be warships, so this may not be a
military attack on a town.
T.F. Mills, 11 February 2009
The design of the large vessel at the left-hand edge of the painting is late
seventeenth century, say 1670s or 1680s - it has very prominent quarter
galleries picked out in gold, characteristic of English and Dutch ships of the
period. The flag on the fortress does have a Spanish look, although there is a
slim chance - a very slim chance - that it is a regimental colour belonging to
one of the Irish regiments in French service, but that particular regiment was
not serving in a coastal fortress in the period in question. If it were supposed
to be the Mediterranean, I would expect to see more lateen-rigged vessels, but
that's not conclusive.
Ian Sumner, 11 February 2009
Another possibility is that it's either Russian or eastern European, given that
a lot of naval flags from that region are UJ-like designs.
James Dignan,
11 February 2009
Could it be a wrongly depicted Russian jack
and fortress flag (1700-1917)? The usage matches; could this city be Finnish or
Estonian?
António Martins-Tuválkin, 11 February 2009
image by
David Prothero, 12 February 2009
The flag on land forms the hoist of a pennant in the notebook of William Downman,
1685-6. It is reproduced in 'Flags at Sea' by Timothy Wilson, National Maritime
Museum, 1986. The whole pennant is shown above. There does not seem to be any
available information about Cap Presmant.
David Prothero, 12
February 2009
It need not, of course, be a painting that represents an actual event. Marine
painters of the period often painted 'capriccios' - vessels set against
backgrounds which were typically Mediterranean, or typically Dutch, or typically
East Indies, without intending that it should be identified as a particular
place. So this could be a generic battle painting, which may account for the
confusing (or at any rate, unidentifiable to us) details; for if you were
painting an actual event, you had to get the details right, otherwise survivors
of the battle would be quick to tell you where you went wrong. I suspect that if
it was a generic painting, there would be more action, but you never know ...
Ian Sumner, 14 February 2009
One minor indication as to date is the size of the cantons in the red ensigns,
which tended to be smaller during the interregnum of 1649 - 1660.
Christopher Southworth, 16 February 2009
I was trying (without success) to find which Australian club (likely to be in
the Northern Territory, Singapore or Queensland) which has a triangular pennant
(apex of the triangle to the right) where the top half is yellow, the bottom
half white and a yellow lower case "e" on black background at the base (left) of
the "triangle"/pennant.
Owen, 21 March 2009
image by Nadim El Helw, 13 March 2009
I watched a video on YouTube which featured footage from the evacuation of
British troops from Egypt and celebrations about it. At the celebrations we can
see soldiers holding a flag which was the national flag of Egypt at that time
with stripes around the crescent and three stars arranged in the shape of a
kite. I have attached a screenshot from this video showing this flag and an
approximate image of the flag. I would like to know what this flag is (perhaps
some kind of military flag) and it would be great if you could feature it on the
FOTW website.
Nadim El Helw, 13 March 2009
This flag is a regimental colour.
Mohamed Hossan el Din, 13 July 2009
image by Nadim El Helw, 20 April 2009
As I passed by a military hospital in Cairo I saw a military flag I had not seen
before and which isn't on FOTW. It was green with the national flag in the
canton and crossed swords in the canton like I attached. I do not know what the
flag is.
Nadim El Helw, 20 April 2009
I believe that this is an Army rank flag, I am not sure of the exact rank.
Mohamed Hossan el Din, 13 July 2009
image provided by Ernest Rugenstein, 4 May 2009
What flag is this? Soldier was in Italy in '45.
Ernest Richard Rugenstein,
4 May 2009
image by Monique Rubin, 25 May 2009
I saw this flag today, and I just can't figure out what it means. Can you help
me? I've attached my own drawing of it.
Monique Rubin, 25 May 2009
The colours are those of the flag of Trinidad and similar
to the flag for "diver down", although in both cases
the stripe should be diagonal.
Rob Raeside, 25 May 2009
This is all guesswork, but my first thought is that it looks like some
Soviet-era flags, many of which were red with thin stripes close to the base. I
don't know of any which used black, though there are a huge number of them, so
it's possible. Similar designs are still used in some parts of what was Soviet
Union - the independence movement of Chechnya's flag,
for instance, has similar design elements (though this is clearly not the flag
you saw). Red, white and black are the colours of the Russian republic of
Udmurtia, so maybe there's some connection there.
James Dignan, 25 May
2009
image
provided by Creston Raines, 29 May 2009
I am the Adjutant of VFW Post 7498 in Port Hadlock,
WA and have had a collection of 21 historical flags donated to the post. I have
been able to find descriptions of 19 of these flags, but [this one] seems to be
unknown. I am hoping that you will be able to shed some light on these [it]. We
have these flags on display around the perimeter of the post with a brief
history on each flag. Any history will be greatly appreciated.
Creston
Raines, 29 May 2009
image submitted by Al Kirsch, 3 July 2009
The image above appears in The Economist, as New York commemorates the arrival
of Henry Hudson, then working for the Dutch East India Company. Is the flag in
the painting the artist's fantasy or is it a real flag, vintage 1609?
Al
Kirsch, 3 July 2009
image submitted by Dominique Cureau, 14 July 2009
Do you know what is this flag that I saw in Lucerne (Luzern). It represents
the head of a man with a cap to 3 balls in yellow on a red background. See it
also at http://vexil.prov.free.fr/.
Dominique Cureau, 14 July 2009
Can you identify the flag pictured here? Obviously it is a variation of the
Bonnie Blue, but is there some other significance than a fancy Bonnie Blue? It
was seen on a flag pole in Pontotoc, Mississippi (I think). It was flying just
below the US flag. Maybe a municipal flag?
Kevin Evans, 15 July 2009
image submitted by Alexsandar Nemet, 21 July 2009
I wasn't able to find this flag on the FOTW site. It is hung in the parliament
of Georgia. A small image is found on an
English language web page; a larger image (cropped above) is found on a
Georgian language page.
Alexsandar Nemet, 21 July 2009
image provided by "lancer525", 21 July 2009
I work in a house museum, and on the wall in one of the rooms, we have this hand
drawn image of two flags. According to the files, this image "dates to the late
19th Century" and is "two flags from the Confederacy". I have never seen either
of these two flags before, and while they look like Confederate era flags, they
aren't quite exactly like any I have ever seen. One has a color reversal in the
canton, and the other has a different star pattern. I would deeply appreciate
any and all information anyone might know about either of these two flags.
"lancer525",
21 July 2009
image provided by Ann Meacham, 24 July 2009
Have not been able to identify the following flag pin. Interesting that the
style (note the rope detail wrapped around staff) matches another flag pin
identified as the sport club Slavia Praha Rowing Club. Perhaps another club with
international members?
Ann Meacham, FlagEmporium.com, 24 July 2009
I might be a flag pin showing an erroneous version of the flag, of former
Rudergesellschaft „Nelson“ Halle, before German reunion located in Goslar. The
club meanwhile merged with RC Böllberg Halle and is today part of SC Halle. The
flag of “Nelson” however had only 9-stripes.(I checked it at RA77 and the club’s
website as well). Due to all other parts however it is a perfect match. See:
de@hrvb.html
To be on the safe side, I send
a copy to SC Halle, maybe they can reconfirm my information.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 28 July 2009
Scattered throughout the site are many other unidentified flags. Here is a partial list if you want to test yourself!