Stralsund (Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, Germany)

Hanseatic City of Stralsund, Hansestadt Stralsund

Last modified: 2011-06-13 by german editorial team
Keywords: mecklenburg-west pomerania | stralsund | hanseatic | arrowhead (white) | cross (white) |
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3:5  image by Stefan Schwoon

• Description

See also:

• Stralsund 17th-19th Centuries
• County and Municipal Flags (Mecklenburg-West Pomerania / Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany)
• Mecklenburg-West Pomerania (Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, Germany)
• Germany

Stralsund is a north German city, in the Land Mecklenburg-West Pomerania, population about 76,000. The flag they used [for the Hansa festival in Bergen, Norway], was red with a white cross and arrowhead.

Jan Oskar Engene, 14 May 1996

A flag version of the arms, canting for German Strahl (=ray), Slavic stral (=arrow). Sources: Staack 1997 and Günther 1999a.

Stefan Schwoon, 13 February 2001

From Ralf Hartemink's International Civic Arms website:

Stralsund was founded as Stralow and the arrow (Stral in German) is a canting symbol. (...) The arrow as a symbol already appears on the first known seal of the city, which is known from 1265 and 1274. It shows a small boat under the arrow, as well as two swimming fish. (...) Until the 18th century (...) the arrow is (...) used as arms of the city, but the colours are uncertain. Similarly, the arrow, sometimes accompanied by a cross, is used on the coins of the city.

Literature: O. Hupp, Königreich Preussen, Wappen der Städte, Flecken und Dörfer, reprint from 1896 and 1989, Kulturstiftung der deutschen Vertriebenen, Bonn, 1993; H. Ewe, Schiffe auf Siegeln, Hinstorff, Rostock, 1972.

Santiago Dotor, 27 November 2001