Image: Skibsflaget fra Mariakirken i Lübeck

Description: A medieval ship flag captured from a Danish ship by forces from Lübeck in 1427 displaying the arms of Denmark, Sweden, Norway and Pomerania. The flag remained in this city for 500 years, until destroyed in World War II during an Anglo-American bombardment that damaged St. Mary's Church where the flag was kept. A 19th century copy is exhibited at the Danish Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Palace, Denmark. The saint accompanying the Virgin Mary and infant Christ is Saint James the Greater, identified by his scallop shell emblem. Based on the heraldic images shown, the flag must have dated from the reign of King Eric of Pomerania. It was consequently created no earlier than 1396 and no later than the 1420s. The flag was made of coarse linen. All figures and heraldic insignia were created using oil-based paint, and the flag's two sides were imperfectly painted as mirrors of each other.
Title: Skibsflaget fra Mariakirken i Lübeck
Credit: (Karl Nikolaj) Henry Petersen (20 Mar 1849 - 21 Sep 1896)[1]: Et dansk Flag fra Unionstiden i Maria-Kirken i Lübeck, Copenhagen: C.A. Reitzel, 1882, page 57. Own scan.
Author: Illustration by Professor Julius Magnus Petersen (4 Sep 1827 – 1 Feb 1917).[2]
Usage Terms: Public domain
License: Public domain
Attribution Required?: No