Fragment of a Ship Flag

anonymous, anonymous, anonymous, 1570 - 1630

Fragment van een witte scheepsvlag met rood knuppelkruis.

  • Artwork typeship flag
  • Object numberNG-MC-1889-83-1
  • Dimensionsheight 285 cm x width 270 cm
  • Physical characteristicswool

anonymous, anonymous, anonymous

Fragment of a Ship Flag

? Spain, ? Northern Netherlands, ? Southern Netherlands, 1570 - 1630

Provenance

...; transferred from the Ministerie van Marine (Department of the Navy), The Hague, to the museum, 1889

Object number: NG-MC-1889-83-1

Entry

Fragment of a white ship flag with a ragged red cross.

This originally Burgundian flag design was used from 1408 or 1411 onwards, originally with a blue cross, but from emperor Charles V’s reign onwards with a red cross and was used on ships from both Spain and its territories.

Literature

C. King, ‘Flags in Marine Art’, The Mariner’s Mirror 22 (1936), no. 2, pp. 133-61, p. 136; M. van den Brandhof, Vlaggen, vaandels en standaarden van het Rijksmuseum. Een geïllustreerde catalogus, Amsterdam 1977, no. 105; T. Wilson, Flags at Sea, London 1986, pp. 54-55

Citation

J. van der Vliet, 2016, 'anonymous or anonymous or anonymous, Fragment of a Ship Flag, Spain or Northern Netherlands or Southern Netherlands, 1570 - 1630', in J. van der Vliet and A. Lemmers (eds.), Navy Models in the Rijksmuseum, online coll. cat. Amsterdam: https://data.rijksmuseum.nl/20054323

(accessed 9 December 2025 05:08:53).