Flags with Crosses

The cross is the oldest enduring motif in European vexillology. Most cross flags trace to the medieval crusades, when each Christian kingdom adopted a distinctive cross color to identify its troops on shared battlefields — England the red cross of St.

George, Scotland the white saltire of St. Andrew, Denmark the white cross of the Dannebrog.

The Dannebrog, in continuous use since at least 1370, is the oldest national flag still flown today. The off-center Nordic cross — vertical bar shifted toward the hoist — defines a regional family of its own.

Denmark's pattern was copied by Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Finland, and the Faroe Islands, each substituting national colors but preserving the cross's exact proportions and offset. Outside Scandinavia, crosses appear on Switzerland's bold square white cross on red, Georgia's five-cross flag derived from medieval Georgian heraldry, and the British Union Jack — itself a layered combination of three crosses representing the union of England, Scotland, and Ireland.