Flag of Brunant

The Flag of Brunant is the national flag of the Kingdom of Brunant. It is one of the official symbols of Brunant, alongside the coat of arms and "The Ambrosian", which is Brunant's national anthem.

History[]

Republican tricolor[]

The first flag used for all of Brunant as a nation was the tricolor flag of the Brunanter Republic, which was first used around 1451. The flag was designed by founding father Jeroen Cuyper.

A 1456 law passed by the Republican Estates stated: "The official flag of the Republic shall be a horizontally aligned tricolor of equal proportions with the colors red, white and gold". This flag design was used until the Republic was dissolved by Leuvis Van Damme in 1475 and a monarchy was proclaimed. The flag stopped being official, since the laws were specific as to it being the Republic's flag. For the next twelve years, the republican tricolor was used as the official flag, although no laws made it official. No flags of this age survive.

The republican flag was the first association of the tricolor flag with republicanism and later inspired many revolution-based flags such as the Prinsenvlag, used during the Dutch Revolt, and the Statenvlag, the flag of the Dutch Republic.

First monarchy flag[]

Flag of Brunant old — The flag in use from the late 15th century until the mid-18th century

In 1477, the government began using another tricolor with a lion rampant in the middle. The colors, however, were switched: the white from the republican flag was removed and another gold stripe was added. Still, no laws made it official, but it was used by the Kingdom for a few centuries, especially by the monarch and his family.

After Karl Van Draak became king and his family became the ruling dynasty, he wanted to replace the lion with a dragon, which is depicted on the Van Draak family's coat of arms. The noble families, however, opposed the idea and the lion flag was used until the mid-18th century.

Current flag[]

The current flag dates from the mid-17th century. It is a flag of "two halves, with the sinister side having a lion rampant on red and the dexter side having a black saltire cross on white". This was the naval ensign of the Realmarine. This was adopted as Brunant's national flag by law in 1762 by King Pieter I.

The legend of the flag comes from the Franco-Brunanter War period. During the Siege of Grijzestad (1758), the fort used a tricolor flag, but the flag did not fly well in the wind. When the flag was replaced by the naval ensign, it flew well in the wind and gave new courage to the defenders, who had new spirits and pushed back the French.

Symbols[]

The black saltire is St. Andrew's symbol, who represents the English-speaking Brunanters. The lion represents Brunant as a whole, but also the Dutch-speaking Brunanters. It is inspired by Gisbert "the Lion" Mengblod, Brunant's most significant folk hero.

Standards[]

Brunant also uses a standard for official reasons. The Royal Standard is the oldest of originally two standards. It was initially Karl Van Draak's battle flag. Following his coronation, the Silver Crown was added to the flag. The standard is used when the monarch is on a visit and to mark when he/she is at one of the royal palaces.

In 1889, the government passed a law authorizing the used of a Presidential Standard, in similar fashion to the royal one. The post of President, however, was abolished in 2014 and the Presidential Standard has not been used since then.

Naval ensign[]

The historic naval ensign was the flag now used as Brunant's. From 1762 to 1771, the new national flag continued serving as an ensign until it was replaced with a new flag. The current ensign consists of a dark blue cross with a black border, and the lion of Brunant on a red background in the top left section of the flag.