Amazon actually sells flags (sic), so I took the opportunity to show off my wide knowledge of Swedish history at the product page of the Stockholm City flag.
This is the flag of Stockholm City (or Stockholm
Municipality). The design is somewhat wrong, though. The flag actually used in
Stockholm, while very similar to this one, differs in some finer details.
Therefore I will only give this product two stars.
Stockholm is the national capital of Sweden. Its flag shows a portrait of St Erik, the unofficial patron saint of Sweden before the Reformation, still seen as a national hero for centuries afterwards. Erik was king of Sweden during the 1150's. He supposedly organized a crusade to Finland to convert the recalcitrant heathens. The pious king was murdered (martyred) at Uppsala and his remains are kept at the local cathedral in a voluminous golden casket.
Of course, Erik probably never visited Stockholm, since the town hardly even existed during his reign. Today, historians strongly suspect that he never visited Uppsala, either! Indeed, king Erik (whose full name Erik Jedvardsson indicates an English pedigree) probably only ruled the Västergötland region in southwestern Sweden, far from Stockholm (at least by 12th century standards). Nor did he organize a crusade. At least, there are no contemporary sources mentioning such a feat. But yes, the person buried in the Uppsala cathedral and claimed to be Erik did die a violent death, so it's always possible that Erik's remains were transferred there from Västergötland at some point. The Erik cult seems to be a late 13th century invention. It's interesting to note that Stockholm had become important by that time, and that the 13th century ruler Birger jarl did organize a crusade to Finland…
From at least 1376, St Erik's portrait has been used in the seal of Stockholm, presumably because he was by that time venerated all over Sweden. Thus, by this strange process a virtually unknown local ruler in Dark Age Sweden has become a symbol of a thriving modern city, a city whose geographical location he probably never visited, nor even cared about…
But then, that's how all history looks like, isn't it?
Stockholm is the national capital of Sweden. Its flag shows a portrait of St Erik, the unofficial patron saint of Sweden before the Reformation, still seen as a national hero for centuries afterwards. Erik was king of Sweden during the 1150's. He supposedly organized a crusade to Finland to convert the recalcitrant heathens. The pious king was murdered (martyred) at Uppsala and his remains are kept at the local cathedral in a voluminous golden casket.
Of course, Erik probably never visited Stockholm, since the town hardly even existed during his reign. Today, historians strongly suspect that he never visited Uppsala, either! Indeed, king Erik (whose full name Erik Jedvardsson indicates an English pedigree) probably only ruled the Västergötland region in southwestern Sweden, far from Stockholm (at least by 12th century standards). Nor did he organize a crusade. At least, there are no contemporary sources mentioning such a feat. But yes, the person buried in the Uppsala cathedral and claimed to be Erik did die a violent death, so it's always possible that Erik's remains were transferred there from Västergötland at some point. The Erik cult seems to be a late 13th century invention. It's interesting to note that Stockholm had become important by that time, and that the 13th century ruler Birger jarl did organize a crusade to Finland…
From at least 1376, St Erik's portrait has been used in the seal of Stockholm, presumably because he was by that time venerated all over Sweden. Thus, by this strange process a virtually unknown local ruler in Dark Age Sweden has become a symbol of a thriving modern city, a city whose geographical location he probably never visited, nor even cared about…
But then, that's how all history looks like, isn't it?
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