An essay on the Bornholm flags, originally posted at Amazon.
Bornholm is an island in the southern part of the
Baltic Sea. It's controlled by Denmark, despite being geographically closer to
Sweden. But then, Scania and several other areas in southern Sweden were Danish
until the 17th century. Some Bornholmers apparently still speak an old
fashioned dialect of Scanian. Ironically, Danes don't understand it and
sometimes consider it a separate language! Bornholm is unique in other ways,
too. During World War II, it was the only Scandinavian territory liberated from
Nazi occupation by the Red Army. The rest of Denmark plus Norway was liberated
by the Western Allies. The Soviets landed on May 9, 1945 and didn't leave until
April 5, 1946.
Bornholm has three regional flags, all of them unofficial, but all of them widely used anyway. The most popular design is the red flag with a green cross, available from this product page. It's known as "turistflaget" and is apparently used by pretty much everyone, from Bornholm troops away on maneuver in other parts of Denmark, to visiting German tourists. The flag isn't older than the 1970's, but the local patriots have invented a legend around it, claiming that it was adopted by Christianized Vikings in 1085. The same tall tale claims that the famed Jomsvikings were based at Bornholm and flew a red banner with a green hammer symbolizing the Norse god Thor. With the advent of Christianity, Thor's hammer was simply replaced by the cross!
The second Bornholm flag has the green cross separated from the red field by a white cross, which – as any nerd can tell you – is “heraldically correct”, but apparently less popular, perhaps because flags with this design are more difficult to sew. Finally, Bornholmers sometimes use a red flag with a yellow cross. In Sweden, this banner is usually associated with Scania (Skåne), but it may also symbolize a much larger region, Skåneland or Skånelandene. These are the regions of southern Sweden which used to be Danish, plus Bornholm, which reverted back to Denmark's suzerainty after a short Swedish interlude.
Had the Red Army decided to stay put at Bornholm, we would presumably have a flag of a Danish Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, too, but the good people of the island were spared *this* particular excitement…
Bornholm has three regional flags, all of them unofficial, but all of them widely used anyway. The most popular design is the red flag with a green cross, available from this product page. It's known as "turistflaget" and is apparently used by pretty much everyone, from Bornholm troops away on maneuver in other parts of Denmark, to visiting German tourists. The flag isn't older than the 1970's, but the local patriots have invented a legend around it, claiming that it was adopted by Christianized Vikings in 1085. The same tall tale claims that the famed Jomsvikings were based at Bornholm and flew a red banner with a green hammer symbolizing the Norse god Thor. With the advent of Christianity, Thor's hammer was simply replaced by the cross!
The second Bornholm flag has the green cross separated from the red field by a white cross, which – as any nerd can tell you – is “heraldically correct”, but apparently less popular, perhaps because flags with this design are more difficult to sew. Finally, Bornholmers sometimes use a red flag with a yellow cross. In Sweden, this banner is usually associated with Scania (Skåne), but it may also symbolize a much larger region, Skåneland or Skånelandene. These are the regions of southern Sweden which used to be Danish, plus Bornholm, which reverted back to Denmark's suzerainty after a short Swedish interlude.
Had the Red Army decided to stay put at Bornholm, we would presumably have a flag of a Danish Autonomous Soviet Socialist Republic, too, but the good people of the island were spared *this* particular excitement…
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