Last modified: 2023-12-09 by martin karner
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![[Swiss peace flag]](../images/c/ch_pea.gif)
image by Evan Rolfe![[Flag of Switzerland-Iceland Association]](../images/c/ch_chisa.gif)
The Switzerland-Iceland Association (Association Suisse-Islande) was founded
in 1988 in Geneva (Switzerland) by Léonard Pierre Closuit. Sent in 1978 to
Iceland by the Botanical Garden of Geneva, Closuit fell in love with Iceland and
founded an association "to promote cultural and artistic exchanges between the
two countries". On 25 October 2008, the association held its 19th General
Assembly in Martigny (Valais, Switzerland). Reporting the event on 27 October
2008, the newspaper "Le Nouvelliste" shows a photograph of the board members of
the association, with the association's flag hanging on the wall. The flag is a
combination of the symbols of the two countries. The perspective does not allow
to restore the specification of the flag, which appears to be made of an
Icelandic flag with the cross centered and a Swiss "cross" superimposed in the
middle. The Swiss "cross" is indeed disk-shaped, even if the disk seems to have
been "cut" along the outer edges of the cross arms.
http://www.lenouvelliste.ch/fr/news/valais/sur-un-meme-drapeau_9-114114
More on the banker-explorer Léonard-Pierre Closuit (b. 1931) in the
Encyclopaedia of Valais:
http://www.vs.ch/encyclo/navig.asp?mnu=know&idRubrique=1771&idLangue=1
Ivan Sache, 3 November 2008
![[Decorative Swiss flag]](../images/c/ch-fla.jpg)
![[Decorative Swiss cantons flags]](../images/c/ch-cantons.jpg)
![[Decor. Swiss cantons flags - postcard]](../images/c/ch_fla2.jpg)
Aleksandar Nemet noted photographs of the Swiss flag with flames along one
edge (picture [source],
picture [source]). This is a decorative Swiss
national flag, which is (as far as I know) only hoisted on a bridge in Geneva
city. On this bridge all the [cantonal] flags fly together with the Swiss flag for a mere
decorative purpose. All these flags on this specific bridge over the Rhodan
river, at the outflow from Geneva Lake, show a special pattern, which consists
of little flames along one or more borders of the flag [see also postcards from 1950s,
1960s and 1970s with cantonal flags]. Flames, though also sometimes seen
in 17th and 18th century military flags all across Europe, are a specific Swiss flag design element since
the 17th century until today. Flames may be placed across the flag or in the four areas separated by a
white cross in varied ways, or at the edges of a flag or at the edges of a cross, or in any other possible
way (like for instance in our case here).
[The referenced pictures here show both the same kind of flag. The flags may be wrapped around the
pole like in the second picture and thus give the wrong impression to have the flames only on one side.]
Emil Dreyer, 21 November 2008
The bridge is the famous Mont-Blanc bridge ("pont du
Mont-Blanc"), built in 1902–1903 and enlarged in 1964–1965. Photo
showing the flag display here (picture). The
mountain in the background is Mont Salève, known as the Genevans' Mountain, but
located in French territory; when they dug the Lake, the Genevans dropped all
the waste in France :-) During the last football European championship the
flags were replaced by the official UEFA Euro 2008 Genève flags.
Ivan Sache, 22 November 2008
![[Rhine River Police]](../images/c/ch_rhp.gif)
image by Željko Heimer
Browsing around the old vex-journals, I found a text by Gerhard Dumke: "Rhein-
und Donau-Flaggen", Deutsches
Schiffahrtsarchive 2, 1978, pp. 195–206,
available here:
http://ww2.dsm.museum/DSA/DSA02_1978_195206_Dumke.pdf in periodical form.
Dumke provides legal sources for those flags with inscription RHENUS,
and then he shows various subsequent Rhine River Police flags as used in
Germany, Netherlands,
France and Switzerland.
Željko Heimer, 6 July 2017
image by Antonio Martins-Tuvalkin, 6 November 2016
based on image submitted by
Dominique Cureau, 14 July 2009
I saw this flag in Lucerne (Luzern). It represents the head of a man with a
cap to 3 balls in yellow on a red background.
Dominique Cureau, 14 July 2009
This is the flag of a Lucerne carnival (mardi gras) guild: The "Maskenliebhaber"
guild, formed in 1819 to further friendship and liberal ideas and to support
Lucerne carnival and the wearing of masks. You may want to check the
Luzerner Fasnacht website for more information (Swiss).
Philippe Macherel, 27 December 2009
This leads us to http://web.mlg.ch, the website of the Maskenliebhaber-Gesellschaft der Stadt Luzern ("Society of lovers of masks of the city of Lucerne", but the German has
more of a ring to it). This basically tells us that they are a carnival guild from 1819, and thus that they are 200
years old this year [2019] (It tells us more, but this is a carnival guild; hence: Caveat Lector).
Here [retrieved] you see the flags flying from the guild's building
(source, retrieved) and here you see the banner (source).
Note that the banner, being a banner, has the name on it. Obviously, the flag that served as our source, being a flag, would not have that. Other guilds definitely also have banners.
The festive ferret might find the links on this page listing the Guilds and
Clubs of Lucerne interesting: Zünfte & Vereine Stadt Luzern.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 22 April 2019
![[Swiss flagge]](../images/c/ch_oly1948.jpg)
image located by Martin Karner
A Swiss newspaper published an article about the use of airplanes at the Winter Olympic Games of 1928
and 1948 in St. Moritz. One photo from 1948 shows a so-called "Flagge" (vertical banner) with the Swiss cross on red, a
vertical flag hoisted from a crossbar in the manner of a gonfanon. The lower end of the flag is not
visible. The special thing about the flag is the cross, which is not centered or placed in the hoist as
usual with these flags, but offset towards the upper end. It has neither the design of "Flaggen" we
present on FOTW with the cross in the hoist and a bicolour fly part. The airplane with the
HB-ARU marking is a "Fieseler Storch" Fi-156. These planes could fly very slow and were well suited
for photography.
(Source: Südostschweiz am Wochenende/Bündner Zeitung, suedostschweiz.ch, 25 February 2023)
Martin Karner, 3 March 2023
![[Regioboot flag]](../images/c/ch_regioboot1.jpg)
![[Regioboot logo]](../images/c/ch)regioboot.jpg)
images located by Martin Karner
Regioboot is a private club of small ship owners, located in Basel, Switzerland. They represent the
interests of the small tenants in Basel marina and take care of a coordinated appearance with the
canton of Basel-Stadt, the Swiss Rhine ports and the Rhine police. Among the
photos of the club's website there
are also pictures of their flag and logo (see above).
In the webshop a
pennant is offered, among other things with the logo.
Flag and logo (both square) show on a white field a blue stripe that makes a right angle arc from the top left corner
to the bottom right corner. The stripe has the white inscription "Regioboot". In the right upper corner
of the emblem is a ship's propeller whose three blades are designed as the flags of the countries of the
tri-border region: France, Germany and Switzerland. The blue stripe represents the "Rheinknie" (knee
of the Rhine) as the club's territory (In Basel the Rhine makes a 90-degree right turn to the north).
The three-blades propeller stands for the triborder-region as the members' home.
Martin Karner, 4 March 2023
See also: Sailing and Yacht Clubs of Switzerland (index)
![[FSM flag]](../images/c/ch_fsm.jpg)
![[FSM pennant]](../images/c/ch_fsm_penn.jpg)
![[FSM logo]](../images/c/ch)fsm.jpg)
images located by Martin Karner
The Swiss Motorboat Association FSM (French: Fédération Suisse Motonautique; German: Schweizerischer
Motorbootverband; Italian: Associazione svizzera per tutti i conducenti di barca a motore) is committed
to the interests of private shipping on all Swiss waters. It is committed to sustainable and free
shipping, and defends itself against an escalating flood of laws that threatens free navigation. It was
founded in 2007 from a merger of the Swiss Association of Motorboat Clubs and the Swiss Alliance for
Boating.
Their flag, which is offered in the webshop, is a
rectangle Swiss flag with the logo in the upper left
corner. The logo shows a yellow ship's propeller on a white ship's steering wheel which makes it not very
distinctive. On the right side of the logo are the yellow letters FSM, the lettering runs from bottom to
top.
The pennant, which is part of the logo and also offered in the webshop, has a completely different design:
on a blue field a Swiss flag in the upper left corner. Three horizontal white stripes are placed on the
upper half of the pennant, the lowest one running along the Swiss flag. The Swiss cross on the pennant
displayed in the shop is offset to the right, on the logo it's centered.
The logo shows on a white field a black drawn anchor with a rope behind the coloured pennant, surrounded
by two concentric circles in which the letters FSM are written on the top. On the sticker, also offered
in the shop, there is additionally the inscription "FÉDÉRATION SUISSE MOTONAUTIQUE" at the bottom of the
circles. (website)
Martin Karner, 12 March 2023
See also: Sailing and Yacht Clubs of Switzerland (index)
![[Polizeimusik Basel 1]](../images/c/ch_pmbs1.jpg)
![[Polizeimusik Basel 2]](../images/c/ch_pmbs2.jpg)
images located by Martin Karner
The Polizeimusik Basel (website) was founded in 1909, it is the representative orchestra of the Cantonal Police
of Basel-Stadt. It consists of about 40 musicians who don't have to be members of the police. The range of
repertoire contains classical literature to original compositions for wind orchestra, big band
arrangements and modern hits. Since 1970, the Polizeimusik Basel has also been active in the field of
marching music formations. They had several appearances at home and abroad, e.g. at the Basel Tattoo,
the Rose Parade in California (U.S.), the International Police Tattoo in Adelaide (Australia) and divers
other police music festivals. One of the greatest events was the participation in the Steuben Parade
in New York, followed by a concert at the UN headquarters. The orchestra performs both in a historical
uniform, which is faithfully reproduced from an old police uniform from 1909, and in the official
representation uniform of the Cantonal Police of Basel-Stadt.
The square flag was created in 2009 for the centenary, it emerged from a competition among the members.
It shows the club logo (the black Basel staff covered with an organ pipe) on a white background and a
blue-yellow colour ray growing from the bottom right, tapering upwards (The colours blue and yellow do
not have an official meaning). At the hoist side is the vertical inscription "POLIZEIMUSIK BASEL", which
can be read on the obverse and the reverse (see pictures). In this music video
the flag can be seen during a concert alongside the Swiss national and the Basel-Stadt cantonal flag.
This picture shows a variant of the logo on a drum, the organ pipe
is white instead of black.
Martin Karner, 11 April 2023
See also: Marcia Vexillum – vexillology and military marches (by Lars C. Stolt, ICV 20, 2003 / For audio file and music sheets see here)
![[ATVAS]](../images/c/ch-ti}atvas.jpg)
image located by Martin Karner
The Associazione Ticinese volontari antifascisti di Spagna was an association of former volunteer fighters in the Spanish Civil War
and friends. It existed from 1976 to 1991. Around 80 citizens of Ticino had joined the Republican forces (over 800 from whole Switzerland). After its dissolution
the association's documents were transferred to the Fondazione Pellegrini Canevascini, which is dedicated to the social history of
Italian speaking Switzerland. The flags came into the care of the Cantonal Library in Mendrisio.
The association's flag is presented on the website of the mentioned foundation.
It adopts the colours of the Spanish Republic: purple, yellow and red in a vertical tricolor. The black inscription on the upper half
reads: "ass. Ticinese volontari / antifascisti di Spagna / 1936 – 1939". The the first two lines are arranged in an upward arc. The flag has golden fringes
on three sides. Measurements: 145x100 cm.
Martin Karner, 18 July 2023
![[watchmaker flag]](../images/c/ch-ne$fordrf.jpg)
image located by Martin Karner
This flag from 1898 is of the "Federation of sharpeners, dismantlers, refitters and bolt makers in the watch industry" (Fédération des ouvriers
repasseurs, démonteurs, remonteurs et faiseurs d'échappements de l'industrie horlogère), Neuchâtel canton. This federation was still a professional
fraternity, not a trade union. It was not until 1915 that the watchmakers organized themselves into a trade union at national level, the
Swiss Metalworkers' and Watchmakers' Union.
The square flag shows on a light blue or grey field a golden pocket watch, surrounded by a ring on which the zodiac is depicted in similar colours as the clock.
The clockwork is visible. A few laurel branches peek out from behind the ring. In front of the ring at the bottom a winged sand glass is depicted. Above and below the
watch the motto is arranged in two bows: "L'INTELLIGENCE ET L'ADRESSE / FONT L'EXCELLENT OUVRIER" (Intelligence and skill make the excellent worker).
The flag has golden fringes on three sides. Location: Musée d'histoire, La Chaux-de-Fonds (source).
Martin Karner, 24 July 2023
![[Swiss rectangle flag/banner]](../images/c/ch_weloveisrael.jpg)
(mirrored) image located by William Garrison
A Swiss national flag/banner with special rectangle shape and square arms of the cross. With dark
Hebrew writing "We love Israel" (ohavim Israel) and the Latin lettering "we love".
The picture is from a pro-Israel demonstration, probably in Israel (no date and
location indicated).
(picture, source)
located by William Garrison, 25 November 2023
images located by Martin Karner
At the beginning of the 20th century, flamed flags were still in use, with the white cross replaced by
a (baroque) shield in the centre of the flag. These decorative flags had been used until WWII and then
somewhat forgotten in preference of the current cantonal flags. Not only cantonal flags were made with
this design, but also the Swiss national flag.
The left and middle photo above show a flamed Swiss national flag, used by playing school children near
Wabern and Köniz (Bern canton), ca. 1914 (picture, source /
picture, source).
Today this kind of flags are being produced and sold
again (see right image above [source]).
Pascal Gross/Martin Karner, 30 June 2002/6 December 2023
See also: - Cantonal flags with "Early 20th century flag design":
AI, AR, BE,
BS, FR, GE, GL,
GR, LU, NE,
NW, OW, SG,
SH, SO, SZ, TG,
TI, UR, VD,
VS, ZH
- Modern flamed flags
![[Flag of Artillery Club BL]](../images/c/ch_av-bl.jpg)
image located by Martin Karner
On an auction platform this b/w photo from the 1940s is
offered, showing a group of military personnel and the square flag of the Artillery Club Baselland
(Artillerie-Verein Baselland). The colours of the upper part must be red and white, corresponding
to the cantonal colours. The lower part probably has golden lettering on red. (source)
The purpose of the Artillery Clubs is to increase skill in using the weapons outside of regular military
service. The first of those clubs in Switzerland have been founded in the first half of the 19th century.
There are cantonal as well as local clubs. The Baselland club was founded in 1888, in the same year the
national Association of Swiss Artillery Clubs (Centralverband Schweizerischer Artillerievereine) was
founded (later Verband Schweizerischer Artillerievereine). In 1890 the first Artillery Day
(Artillerietag) was organized, with shooting competitions and presentation of the weapons for the
public. (source)
![[Flag of ASSA]](../images/c/ch_assa.jpg)
image located by Martin Karner
The flag of the national Asscociation (introduced 1937), French version (Association suisse des
Sociétés d'Artillerie).
Martin Karner, 6 December 2023
pmbs.jpg){kind=link}
