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Denmark Civil Service

Danish Civil Service Flags

Danish Post
State Ensign
Marine Ministry
Masthead Pennant
Danish Water Works
Danish State Railways
Danish Ministry of Agriculture
Harbour Police Launches
Greenland Administration Ships
Icebreakers
Swedish-Danish Icebreaker Service
Store Nordiske Telegrafselskab

Danish Post

by Jan Oskar Engene 15 January 2001

This flag was introduced by Royal resolution of 21 November 1898. The emblem was changed to a new one in 1939 and the version of the flag charged with that new emblem is still in use. Christian Fogd Pedersen notes that the post ensign is only used by vessels actually carrying mail. When they are not, they do not have the right to fly the ensign. He also notes that the flag is used on land by postal authorities. One interesting fact mentioned by Pedersen is that only larger mail carrying vessels use the swallow-tailed post flag. Smaller boats use a rectangular ensign with the emblem in the canton.
Jan Oskar Engene 15 January 2001

Flaggenbuch notes 'Cable ships of the Post and Telegraph Administration and the postal ships over 20 BRT. In the latter case, civil ensign with this emblem.'
Ivan Sache, 11 June 2001

The ferry-captains (and first officers in some cases) I spoke with, told me that the flag they are allowed to fly because of the Royal Privilege for the Danish mail service, is flown on the ferries for being the mail-boats. (Some of the smaller ferries are actually known as, e.g. the mail-boat to Birkholm, but place allowing they also carry passengers.) It's not limited to boats that actually have mail on board, and they couldn't switch it if they wanted to, for lack of a different Danish flag on board. It's correct that smaller vessels use a stutflag as base for their mail-flag. This is not, by choice of the boats/captains, but of the Mail-service. "We fly what the Mail gives us."; "Yes, it ought to be a splitflag but we have a 'square' flag because the splitflags aren't made small enough for our boat.' (Since yacht-flags are in fact made that small, I assume it's the Mail that doesn't make the split-flags small enough, but I didn't realize this in time to ask.) The emblem is stitched on to the flag (rather than painted in some way), but it's still hoist-equal. It is really yellow, which means Politikens Flagbog should have coloured in the emblem, instead of leaving it white.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 27 August 2001

Emblem detail:
by Jan Oskar Engene, 15 January 2001

I have now checked the question of the colour of the emblem directly with the Post Danmark. The answer I was given is clear: No change. The emblem is still yellow (golden) as it has been since the post flag/ensign was introduced. I was informed that the question of the error in the flag plate at http://www.um.dk/english/danmark/danmarksbog/kap1/1-2-2.asp has been raised with the Royal Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs so that a correction can be made. I have made an image of the post flag here using the emblem as it appears in the current logo of the Post Danmark. I also made an image of the emblem itself. so that it can be studied in more detail.
Jan Oskar Engene, 15 January 2001

Incorrect version

by Jaume Ollé 11 June 2001

I've found some notes about this flag. It was included in Flaggenbuch 1905 (and 1925) in which only the badge was shown but it was reproduced by others with the badge in the center instead of in the canton. Correct flag was adopted 1898 and remained unchanged until 1939 (when it was slightly retouched).
Jaume Ollé 11 June 2001

State Ensign

56:107 by Paige Herring 23 April 1998

The Flaggenbuch lists this as the ensign of the training ship "Danmark". It is the state ensign, though the crown now seems to be simplified compared to the Flaggenbuch illustration. The state ensign is used by many government departments and services (sometimes in conjunction with a departmental pennant).
Paige Herring 23 April 1998

This ensign uses the normal red shade, no doubt, as is correctly shown in Album.
Zeljko Heimer, 10 June 2001

Harbour Police Launches

by Paige Herring, 23 April 1998

This flag has the same basic pattern as the Water Works and Ministry of Agriculture flags. All of these should be of normal red, of course.
Zeljko Heimer, 10 June 2001

Copenhagen Free Harbor

by Paige Herring, 23 April 1998

The flag of the Free Harbor of Copenhagen was introduced by Royal resolution of 5 November 1894 and is still listed in Pedersen's (1979) Verdens flagg i farger (Oslo, 1979) (Norwegian edition).

Paige Herring 23 April 1998

Masthead Pennant

I would expect this to have a construction sheet. It is of dark red, of course, as it is to be hoisted by commissioned ships only.
Zeljko Heimer, 10 June 2001

Danish Water Works

by Paige Herring 23 April 1998

Ministry of Agriculture

by Paige Herring 23 April 1998

The letters 'LM' is for Landbrugsministeriet, that is Ministry of Agriculture. The flag was used by ships belonging to various services sorting under the ministry, for instance Fisheries Inspection, Biological Station, the Danish Commission for Fisheries and Oceanographic Research, and Maritime Rescue ships (to quote those mentioned in the caption in the Flaggenbuch). As far as I can see, ships belonging to these institutions now fly the state ensign (with the white crown in the canton).
Paige Herring 23 April 1998

Greenland Administration Ships

by Paige Herring 23 April 1998

This is a flag with a very interesting history. It was originally the flag of a trading company, but evolved into the ensign used by ships belonging to the Ministry for Greenland. The flag was first introduced in 1781, and had two white harpoons in saltire in the canton. From 1795 the letters "K.G.H.", meaning Kongelig Grønlandske Handel (Royal Greenland Trading Company) in gold/yellow were added to the centre of the cross. The letters later disappeared and a Royal resolution of 28 June 1846 confirmed the harpoons only. Closer to our time, the flag was used by the Ministry for Greenland and its subdivisions (for instance the Royal Greenland Trading Company). Presumably it became obsolete when Greenland got its own flag and the home rule authorities took over the responsibility for the services formerly run by the Ministry for Greenland and the Royal Greenland Trading Company.
Paige Herring 23 April 1998

Icebreakers

2:5 by Jaume Ollé 27 June 2001

Described in Album des Pavillons (2000) as a 2:5 red triangular pennant with a golden crowned anchor. A note explains that this pennant is flown in addition to and below the state flag (thus making the state flag also the state ensign in this circumstance).
Zeljko Heimer, 10 June 2001

Swedish-Danish Icebreaker Service

by Ivan Sache, 8 December 1997

Store Nordiske Telegrafselskab

by Jaume Ollé, 20 June 2001, based on Flaggenbuch (1939)

Store Nordiske Telegrafselskab was quite a successful company in its day. In periods, it took care of parts of the Danish foreign policy towards Russia. The company has changed quite a lot since. The core of the company is now GN Great Nordic (at http://www.gn.dk , but the cable and telegraph activities are in GN Great Northern Telegraph Company.
Ole Andersen, 20 June 2001