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Rapperswil-Jona commune (St. Gallen canton, Switzerland)

Rapperswil-Jona
Rapperswil (until 31 December 2006)
Rapperswil flag with unusual proportions
Jona (until 31 December 2006)

See also:

See-Gaster constituency
St. Gallen canton
Switzerland
Die Grafen von Rapperswyl (by Ferdinand Gull, 1892, German)
Rapperswiler Siegel (by Dietrich W.H. Schwarz, 1993, German)

Rapperswil-Jona

image located by Martin Karner

On white two red roses with yellow blossoms on red stems, each with three thorns (arranged symmetrically) over a blue wavy bar.
On 1 January 2007, the town of Rapperswil and the municipality of Jona merged. The previous Rapperswil emblem was supplemented with the Jona river. The roses come from the coat of arms of the counts of Rapperswil.
Martin Karner, 25 May 2023

Rapperswil (until 31 December 2006)

image by Pascal Gross

Argent, two roses gules, pistils or.

[Julius Banner (1512), dedicated from pope Julius II to the city of Rapperswil for its support in the Pavia campaign. The augmentation in this banner consists of the two roses being rendered in gold instead of red. The Zwickelbild shows the baptism of Jesus (source). –
The roots of today's Rapperswil are on the opposite side of the lake, in Altendorf SZ – read why]

Rapperswil flag with unusual proportions

image by Martin Ruppert

Do you know what is this flag? I bought it on internet, but nobody knows what it is.
Martin Ruppert, 4 April 2012

Judging by the very iconic design of the rose that is present on this flag (and may I say how beautiful it is?), I could speculate that this is either a military flag from the House of Lancaster, or some early Tudor flag. You probably know the origin of the Tudor crest, and how the Yorkist and Lancastrian roses were mixed up to create one super Tudor rose? Well, perhaps this could be an attempt at this sort of flag. Alternatively, this could be a military flag from the house of Lancaster (judging by the red rose), thus being used by battle re-enactors and the like.
Ben Felix, 16 June 2012

Definitely not of original Lancaster design, and the rose stems reminds one more of the Cross of Burgundy used by Spain. Does it even have hoist mounts?
Pete Loeser, 21 June 2012

It looks like the flag of Rapperswil commune, Switzerland. Apart from the rectangular shape instead of the square one, it looks exactly the same.
Ben Felix, 16 November 2012

Ben Felix is correct. An image of the Rapperswil's Juliusbanner can be seen in Wikipedia. The description (in German) is as follows:

Deutsch: Juliusbanner der Stadt Rapperswil (1512) Eidgenössische Soldkrieger des Papstes Julius II. hatten im sogenannten «Grossen Pavierfeldzug» 1512 einen schnellen Sieg über die in der Lombardei eingebrochenen Franzosen errungen. Die mitbeteiligte Mannschaft aus Rapperswil erhielt laut Urkunde vom 24. Juni 1512 von Kardinal Matthäus Schiner ein Banner mit "verbessertem" Stadtwappen: Goldene statt rote Rosenbutzen und im Eckquartier Darstellung der Taufe Christi durch Johannes (den Täufer) mit Bezug auf das Johannes-Patrozinium der Pfarrkirche Rapperswil. Der stark geschädigte, 1895 erstmals restaurierte Seidendamast wurde 1993 auftrags der Ortsgemeinde Rapperswil im Atelier der Abegg-Stiftung Riggisberg BE neu montiert und konserviert. Dr. Bernhard Anderes, 1994. 116 x 122 cm, ausgestellt im Rathaus Rapperswil, Beschreibung gemäss Beschriftung im Rathaus. In the abstract, it was a banner granted by Pope Julius II to the commune on June 24, 1512, and it is preserved at the Rathaus Rapperswil (Rapperswil's Council). Sources: 1. Wikipedia page cited above; and 2. Rathaus (Rapperswil).
Additionally Rapperswil "... is often referred to as the 'town of roses' (Rosenstadt) because of its extensive displays of roses" (Source: Rapperswil, see photo of the Rose Garden [Rosengarten] of the Einsiedlerhaus).
The CoA can be seen on the outside of the Rathaus Rapperswil on Wikimedia Commons.
Another picture of the Rapperswil-Jona communal flag and of the old Rapperswil flag.
For additional information on Rapperswil commune go to: 1. From Rapperswil (SG) to Pfäffikon (SZ); 2. Rapperswil-Jona naturnah und zeitgemäss; and 3. Ortsgemeinde Rapperswil-Jona.

Esteban Rivera, 2 February 2013

I agree on with the note that it's Rapperswil (St. Gallen), to distinguish it from Rapperswil (Bern) [and Raperswilen (Thurgau)]. Rectangular flags are occasionally made for Swiss communes, to match non-Swiss flags.
Could someone take a closer look at the local situation, [...] causing a change to the Rapperswil CoA and flag. At Der kleine Unterschied, oder: Kleine Ursache – grosse Wirkung we can see several versions. [The three presented newspaper articles report about the small change of the officially suggested emblem at the last moment, as a result of an initiative by a citizen, who was not a member of the heraldic commission. The two ends of the blue wavy bar symbolizing the Jona river have been bent upwards, giving the emblem a "friendlier face".]
And while we're at it, see the Burgee of the Yacht-Club Rapperswil [retrieved] (just the colours), again shows the flowers; and also at Willkommen beim Yacht Club Rapperswil (with edges to the "yarn").
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 3 February 2013

Jona (until 31 December 2006)

image by Pascal Gross

Argent a bendlet sinister wavy Azure in chief a Semi King clad and crowned and haloed rayony Or and in base two Roses Gules seeded proper and slipped ragully.
Željko Heimer, 5 January 2001

In white, blue, left-slanting wavy bar, in the upper left half an image of Mary with a crown and nimbus, in the lower right corner two red roses with yellow blossoms, red stems and three thorns each (in the manner of the Rapperswil emblem).
The emblem shows references to the Jona river (which formed the border between the communes of Jona and Rapperswil), the pilgrimage church and parish church and the court of the counts of Rapperswil.