Last modified: 2022-12-30 by martin karner
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image by António Martins-Tuvalkin,
3 January 2006
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According to Crampton "The Complete Guide to
Flags", the Swiss army flag is "as national with gold fringe and cravat in the national colors" (p. 57).
Randy Young, 11 February 2001
Concerning the colour system of Swiss army flags, like other modern armies
who need fewer and fewer people today, the Swiss army has reduced its troop
stocks in the recent reform which went into effect on January 1, 2004. Before,
there were some sorts of troops (e.g. the infantry) which still had cantonal
units. The name of the canton was written on one side of the flag, the unit
designation on the other side. Additionally there was attached a cravat in
cantonal colours (see T.F. Mills' notes). After the
reform there aren't any more enough people from each canton to build their own
cantonal units. Now there are only federal units. The unit designation is
written (in fact stitched) now on both sides of the flags and the cravat has the
national colours. The discarded cantonal flags are stored now in the different
cantonal armouries and the federal flags in the Federal Armoury in Bern. There
are proposals for a museum for the old federal flags, and maybe also for the
cantonal flags. For these informations I thank Mrs. Sturm from the Federal
Armoury in Bern who is in charge of mending and storing the army flags.
Martin Karner, 8 July 2004
The Joint Operation Command of the Swiss Armed Force is composed of four
Territorial Divisions (until 1 January 2018, Territorial Regions):
-
Division territoriale 1, headquartered in Morges, covers
Geneva, Vaud, Valais, Fribourg, Neuchâtel, Jura, and Bern.
- Territorialdivision 2, headquartered in Aarau, covers Lucerne, Obwalden, Nidwalden,
Solothurn, Basel Land, Basel Stadt, and Argau;
- Territorialdivision 3,
headquartered in Altdorf, covers Uri, Schwyz, Zug, Graubünden and Ticino.
-
Territorialdivision 4, headquartered in St. Gallen, covers Schaffhausen,
Zurich, Thurgau, St. Gallen, Appenzell Ausserrhoden, Appenzell Innerrhoden,
and Glarus.
Ivan Sache, 4 December 2019
image by Ivan Sache,
4 December 2019
The flag of Territorial Division 1, hoisted in Morges (Vaud) in front of its
headquarters, is white with the division's emblem.
[It is highly probable that the the other divisions also have a white flag with
their respective emblem, which is the same but the respective number and "Territorialdivision"
instead of "Division territoriale", since they cover the German-speaking part of
Switzerland.]
Ivan Sache, 4
December 2019