According to the legend, the Danish flag (‘Dannebrog’ or ‘the cloth of the Danes’) fell from heaven during a battle in present-day Estonia, helping the Danish army to an unexpected victory: the Danes were on the defensive when suddenly a red banner with a white cross fell from the sky. As a result, the luck changed, the Danish army won, and Denmark got its flag. It was June 15, 1219: 800 years after that battle the red-and-white flag has gained widespread use among the population of Denmark, for birthdays, funerals and practically everything in between. Still today, in Denmark many parents tell their children the legend of how the Danish flag came about: in doing so, they become part of a tradition of people who have told this story for centuries. The legend was first mentioned by historians in the early 16th century, and since 1913 the flag (and the legend of its origin) is celebrated annually on June 15, named Valdemar’s Day after the late king: that day the flag is raised across the country. The story of the falling flag obviously has no basis in reality: that, however, does not make it any less powerful. It’s a good story, with mythological and religious elements that, together with its old age, only make it better. During the European crusades from the 11th to 13th centuries, a red flag with a white cross was used frequently, without connection to Denmark. It became a Danish flag around the mid-14th century, which makes it one of the world’s oldest national flags in continuous use. Back then, the flag was carried by the Danish king Valdemar Atterdag (Valdemar “Another Day”), probably taking inspiration from the Holy Roman Emperor Louis IV of Bavaria who used a similar flag. For centuries, the Danish flag was a royal flag: in 1834, the king even prohibited ordinary citizens from using it. This changed, however, in the mid-19th century, in connection with The First Schleswig War, a Danish-German military conflict. When the Danish soldiers returned home after winning the war, they were met with the sight of red-and-white flags hanging from private homes across the country. A few years later, the ban was formally lifted. During the First Schleswig War (1848-1850), the Dannebrog shows up also on Christmas trees in Denmark: an increased sense of national identity arose, and ever since, the flag has been part of the tree-decorations at Christmas. Today, the Danish flag is still used frequently by the royal family and state institutions. In addition, use among the general population has grown significantly: the flag is practically everywhere, on very different occasions with equally different meanings. One of the most popular uses is to decorate birthday cakes and buns with small paper flags. Other uses include sewing it on backpacks for journeys abroad, raising it over allotment gardens at weekends or printing it on packaging of vegetables to show they’re locally grown. Everyone uses and interprets the Danish flag in their own way: paradoxically, this is what makes it a uniting symbol.
The population of Denmark probably use their national flag more than people in most other countries do: one reason for this is that no laws, but only guidelines, regulate the use of the most common version of the Danish flag. Actually, the possibility of a flag law was discussed in the early 20th century, but there was no political majority for it. Today, it would be impossible, because it has been used by the general population for a very long time, and then you can’t suddenly start regulating: people would not back it.
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