Norway - Vice Admiral, 1875-1905

The state flag with the herring salat in canton and two white stars in lower hoist quarter. I don't know if we have covered it, but I just remembered, and this seems the most adequate place to put it - the post-1905 admiral flags probably retained the 1-2-3 stars system until some modern date when they were changed to 2-3-4 (and 1-star was recently added finally). This may be also good spot to ask - where there flags of generals, yacht clubs, postal ensigns etc. before 1905 to match the current usage (at least some of those may have been there)?

Zeljko Heimer, 16 July 2002

I am not sure I understand what you are asking about. The major change in 1905 was the total removal of the union badge from those flags in which it was still retained - that is military flags and the yacht ensign. The union badge was removed from the state, post and customs flags in 1899. The yacht ensign also had a change of cypher, as Oscar II was replaced by Haakon VII. Further, the Royal flag was changed into a heraldic banner of the national coat of arms. Before 1905 the royal flag was the state flag/war ensign with the union coat of arms in the intersection of the arms of the cross. I have not made images of this flag because the coat of arms is too complex to draw (for me at least).

Jan Oskar Engene, 17 July 2002

Sanitago Dotor, 18 July 2002

Right. And with two crowns above the escutcheon to indicate not one united kingdom, but two kingdoms sharing the same king. It was introduced by Oscar I (father of Charles XV) to promote equality within the union, for the same reason that they both got new flags at the time, with the same union badge. The union arms were only used by royals and the foreign service. Both states kept their individual coats of arms for internal use, and the Norwegian lion was removed from the Swedish COA.

Lars Roede, 18 July 2002