View source for Hanseatic flags

{{Expand German|date=May 2022}}
{{short description|Banners of Hanseatic cities}}
[[File:Hanse Lübeck.svg|thumb|150px|13th-century Hanseatic flag of [[Lübeck]].]]
'''Hanseatic flags''' are the [[banners]] of [[Hanseatic cities]] that were flown by [[cog (ship)|cogs]] and other ships of the [[Hanseatic League]] from 13th to 17th centuries.

==History==
Originally, Hanseatic ships displayed red [[gonfalone]]s on their masts, which had a cross at its peak to denote the protection of the sovereign. Red was also the colour used by [[Denmark|Danish]] and [[Kingdom of England|English]] shipping, the English later adopting the [[St George's Cross]]. From the second half of the 13th century, the individual Hanseatic cities created various banners to distinguish themselves from other member cities. The red gonfalone remained in use in addition to these flags. The oldest Hanseatic flag is the plain red banner used by [[Hamburg]]. Hanseatic flags were mostly red-white and some featured symbols, such as crosses.

Many cities that were members of the Hanseatic league continue to use red and white as their city colours today.

== Hanseatic pennant ==
In addition to these banners, ships also flew a Hanseatic pennant (''Hanseatenwimpel'') where the upper half is white (silver) and the lower half is red.

[[File:Hanseatenwimpel.svg|thumb|center|700px|Hanseatic pennant (1:16)]]
{{clear}}

== Banners ==

=== 13th century ===
<gallery>
File:Hanse_Hamburg.svg|[[Hamburg]]
File:Hanse_Riga.svg|[[Riga]]
File:Hanse_Lübeck.svg|[[Free City of Lübeck|Lübeck]]
</gallery>

=== 14th century ===
<gallery>
File:Hanse_Bremen.svg|[[Bremen]]
File:Hanse_Danzig.svg|Danzig ([[Gdańsk]])
File:Hanse_Elbing.svg|Elbing ([[Elbląg]])
File:Hanse_Rostock.svg|[[Rostock]]
File:Hanse_Stralsund.svg|[[Stralsund]]
</gallery>

=== 15th century ===
<gallery>
File:Hanse_Königsberg.svg|Königsberg ([[Kaliningrad]])
File:Hanse_Wismar.svg|[[Wismar]]
File:Hanse_Stettin.svg|Stettin ([[Szczecin]])
</gallery>

=== Other seals and coins ===
<gallery>
File:Siegel Elbing 1350.jpg|1350 seal of Elbląg (Elbing), depicting the ship flying city banner
File:Siegel Stralsund 1329.preview.png|Seal of Stralsund (1329)
</gallery>

==Flags of Hanseatic cities today==
{{See also|Lists of German municipal flags|List of city flags in Europe}}
<gallery>
VlagArnhem.svg|[[Arnhem|Arnheim (Arnhem)]]
Flagge Arnsberg.svg|[[Arnsberg]]
Flagge Beckum.svg|[[Beckum, Germany|Beckum]]
Flag of Berlin.svg|[[Berlin]]
Hissflagge Bielefeld.svg|[[Bielefeld]]
Flagge Bocholt.svg|[[Bocholt, Germany|Bocholt]]
DEU Bochum Flag.svg|[[Bochum]]
Banner Borgentreich.svg|[[Borgentreich]]
DEU Braunschweig Flag.svg|[[Braunschweig]]
Flagge Breckerfeld.svg|[[Breckerfeld]]
Flag of Bremen.svg|[[Bremen]]
Flagge Köln.svg|[[Cologne|Köln (Cologne)]]
Deventer vlag.svg|[[Deventer]]
Flagge Dinslaken.svg|[[Dinslaken]]
Flag of Doesburg.svg|[[Doesburg]]
Flag of Dortmund.svg|[[Dortmund]]
Flagge der Stadt Duisburg mit Wappen.svg|[[Duisburg]]
POL Elbląg flag.svg|[[Elbing]]
Flagge Emmerich.svg|[[Emmerich am Rhein]]
Flagge der kreisfreien Stadt Erfurt laut Hauptsatzung.svg|[[Erfurt]]
Hissflagge der Stadt Frankfurt an der Oder.svg|[[Frankfurt an der Oder]]
POL Gdańsk flag.svg|[[Gdańsk]]
Flagge Geldern.svg|[[Geldern]]
Flagge Geseke.svg|[[Geseke]]
Flagge Goslar.svg|[[Goslar]]
Flagge Goettingen.svg|[[Göttingen]]
Hissflagge der Stadt Greifswald.svg|[[Greifswald]]
Flag of Groningen City.svg|[[Groningen]]
Flagge der Stadt Hagen.svg|[[Hagen]]
Flag of Halle (Saale).svg|[[Halle (Saale)]]
Flag of Hamburg.svg|[[Hamburg]]
Flagge der Stadt Hamm.svg|[[Hamm, North Rhine-Westphalia|Hamm]]
Flagge Hannover.svg|[[Hanover|Hannover (Hanover)]]
Banner Haseluenne.svg|[[Haselünne]]
Hattem vlag.svg|[[Hattem]]
Flagge Hattingen.svg|[[Hattingen]]
Flagge Herford.svg|[[Herford]]
Flagge Hildesheim.svg|[[Hildesheim]]
Flagge Kamen.svg|[[Kamen]]
Flag of Kampen.svg|[[Kampen, Overijssel|Kampen]]
Flagge der kreisfreien Stadt Kiel.svg|[[Kiel]]
Klaipeda City Flag.svg|[[Klaipėda|Memel (Klaipėda)]]
POL Kołobrzeg flag.svg|[[Kołobrzeg|Kolberg (Kołobrzeg)]]
Flag of Kaliningrad.svg|[[Kaliningrad|Königsberg (Kaliningrad)]] 
POL Koszalin flag.svg|[[Koszalin|Köslin (Koszalin)]]
Flag of Kraków.svg|[[Kraków]]
Flagge der Hansestadt Lübeck.svg|[[Lübeck]]
Flagge Magdeburg.svg|[[Magdeburg]]
Flagge Minden.svg|[[Minden]]
Flagge der kreisfreien Stadt Münster (Westfalen).svg|[[Münster]]
Flagge Neuss.svg|[[Neuss]]
Flag of Nijmegen.svg|[[Nijmegen]]
Flag of Oldenzaal.svg|[[Oldenzaal]]
Flag of Ommen.svg|[[Ommen]]
Hissflagge der Stadt Osnabrück.svg|[[Osnabrück]]
Flagge der Stadt Paderborn.svg|[[Paderborn]]
Flag of et-Parnu.svg|[[Pärnu|Pernau (Pärnu)]]
Flagge Ratingen.svg|[[Ratingen]]
Flag of Riga.svg|[[Riga]]
Roermond vlag.svg|[[Roermond]]
Flagge Rostock.svg|[[Rostock]]
POL Słupsk flag 1.svg|[[Słupsk|Stolp (Słupsk)]]
Flagge der Stadt Soest.svg|[[Soest, Germany|Soest]]
Flagge Solingen.svg|[[Solingen]]
Flag of Stockholm.svg|[[Stockholm]]
Flag of Stralsund.svg|[[Stralsund]]
POL Szczecin flag.svg|[[Szczecin|Stettin (Szczecin)]]
Flag of Tallinn.svg|[[Tallinn|Reval (Tallinn)]]
Tartu flag.svg|[[Tartu|Dorpat (Tartu)]]
Flag of Toruń (colors).svg|[[Toruń]]
Flagge Unna.svg|[[Unna]]
Flag of et-Viljandi.svg|[[Viljandi|Fellin (Viljandi)]] 
Vreden vlag.svg|[[Vreden]]
DEU Warburg Banner.svg|[[Warburg]]
Flagge Warendorf.svg|[[Warendorf]]
Flagge Werne.svg|[[Werne]]
Flagge Wesel.svg|[[Wesel]]
Flagge Winterberg.svg|[[Winterberg]]
Flagge Wipperfuerth.svg|[[Wipperfürth]]
Flag of Wismar.svg|[[Wismar]]
DEU Wolgast flag.png|[[Wolgast]]
POL Wrocław flag.svg|[[Wrocław|Breslau (Wrocław)]]
Flag of Zutphen.svg|[[Zutphen]]
Flag of Zwolle.svg|[[Zwolle]]
</gallery>

==External links==

* [http://www.ngw.nl/ International Civic Heraldry]


{{German flags}}
{{Polish flags}}
{{Lists of city flags}}

[[Category:Hanseatic League|Flags]]
[[Category:Lists and galleries of flags]]
[[Category:Historical flags]]
[[Category:Flags of Germany]]
[[Category:Flags of Poland]]
[[Category:Flags of Russia]]
[[Category:Flags of Latvia]]