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Luxembourg: Grand Duke's standard

Grand Duke's standard
Erroneous reports of the Grand Duke's standard

Grand Duke's standard

by Zeljko Heimer

The standard was adopted in 1897 and has as dimensions 22 x 28 cm. It shows on an orange background the middle coat of arms of the dynasty.

The coat of arms shown on this flag is stylised and doesn't look like the drawings of the Grand Duke's coat of arms you could find in books. Moreover, the present Grand Duke changed the Grand Duke's coat of arms. Pictures are available on the website of the Mémorial du Grand Duché (official gazette), year 2001).

It seems that there isn't and there won't be any flag to represent the Grand-Duke. The former coat of arms can still be used by former Grand Duke Jean. The difference of the present Grand Duke arms with the former ones is a change of the position of the arms of Nassau, which took the position of the arms of Luxemburg proper, and vice-versa.

Pascal Vagnat, 17 May 2002

Erroneous reports of the Grand Duke's standard

Several authors (e.g. Smith [smi75b], Barraclough & Crampton [bcr81] & Pedersen [ped80]) show a square blue flag with the lesser national arms with the Order of the Oaken Crown around it, and seven golden 'billets'. According to Barraclough & Crampton, it was adopted soon after 1964, and according to Pedersen, it is only used on means of transport (car, but maybe also boat and/or plane?).

Mark Sensen, 17 May 2002

According to a letter of the Maréchal de la cour grand-ducale that I read in Michel Lupant's archives, this flag never existed and was only a proposal of flag in the1960s (that's why we have the year 1964). It should have never been published, but someone (who?) knew this and books copied all together the same thing.
The Maréchal sent also to Michel a photography of the real flag of the Grand-Duke.

The late 1960s are also know for the law proposal made by the heraldist Robert Matagne for the officialization of the emblems of Luxemburg, law which came to existence in 1972. Probably the Grand Duke's car flag was an idea of Matagne or an other heraldist. I say probably, because there were also attempts to make the Grand Duke adopt an other personal coat of arms than the one from the 1890s. Jean became Grand-Duke in 1964. A new coat of arms was never adopted, and the blue car flag never existed.

Now, Grand Duke Henri has adopted the coat of arms chosen by the heraldists in the years 1960s.

Pascal Vagnat, 18 May 2002