June 15, 1219: A really really really old flag

On this day in 1219, according to legend, the flag of Denmark fell from the sky during battle, leading the way to victory. The Danish flag is commonly referred to as Dannebrog, meaning “the Danish cloth” in Old Danish. It is the oldest national flag that is still in use today.

According to legend, the Danish flag fell from heaven during the Battle of Lyndanisse as a divine sign from God of his support for King Valdmar II’s crusade against the pagan Estonians. With the flag in hand, the battle was won. However, a legend is a lend.

The earliest source that indisputably links the red flag with a white cross to a Danish King, and to the realm itself, is found in a Dutch armorial, the Gelre Armorial written between 1340 and 1370 (it's pictured). The book displays some 1,700 coats-of-arms from all over Europe. On page 55 verso we find the Danish coat-of-arms with a banner, displaying the white cross on red. The text to the left of the coat of arms says "die coninc van denmarke" (The King of Denmark). This is the earliest known undisputed color rendering of Dannebrog.

The flag was not unique to Denmark. It was also used in several other small states, including Switzerland and Savoy. The design was that of the war flag of the Holy Roman Empire, as well, its red field symbolizing battle and its white cross suggesting the holy cause for which the battle was being fought.

The flag was first associated exclusively with the state and military. It was not until the middle of the 19^th century that the common people started to make used of it. The first time it was considered belonging to the citizenry as well as the government was when the Danes rallied under the flag during the struggle for a constitution in the 1850s.

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June 12, 1665: New what?

On this day in 1665, the English renamed New Amsterdam, New York.

New Amsterdam was the first permanent European settlement in the area, founded in 1624 by the Dutch East India Company at the mouth of the Hudson River on the southern part of Manhattan Island. The city would be the capital of New Netherland from 1626 till its capture by the British in 1664.

When England and Holland’s vie for economic supremacy spread to the American colonies it was no mystery that New Amsterdam, the pearl of the New Amsterdam Colony, would be a target. Five hundred professional soldiers, aboard four English warships arrived at the harbor on August 18, 1664. The current governor of New Amsterdam, Stuyvesant, wanted to prepare for battle and fight but the citizens had something else in mind. Resentful of his autocratic rule and with the best navy in the world at the time at their doorsteps they refused to fight and surrender. New Amsterdam was conquered quickly and without a fight.

In 1665 the English renamed the city (or more like a large town at the time) New York in honor of the Duke of York, brother of King Charles II of Britain. The name was later applied to the entire colony.

Consolidated in 1898, New York City now consists of five boroughs: Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Staten Island. The city has become a major economic and cultural hub for the country hosting (to name just a few) the New York Stock Exchange, 40 Fortune 500 companies, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and an array of sports teams such as the Yankees, Mets, Rangers, Giants, and Knicks. NYC is the largest city in the United States, with a current population of over 8.2 million people (excluding its metropolitan areas), which is more than double that of L.A., the second largest city in the U.S. (bet the Dutch wish they fought a little harder for it now).