Last modified: 2019-02-02 by klaus-michael schneider
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Hannover became the 9th electorate of the Holy Roman Empire in 1692. In
1714 Queen Anne (Stuart) of Great Britain died without
heir, and was succeeded by George, the elector of Hannover. George's grandmother
on the maternal side was Elizabeth Stuart, the second child of James I
Stuart. Britain had already deposed James II in 1688 because he threatened
to tear Britain apart in another religious civil war. James II's son and
grandson made attempts to claim the throne in 1715 and 1745, but the Hannoverian
dynasty remained solidly in place even if George I was thoroughly German
in orientation and not very popular in England. When Victoria became queen
of Great Britain in 1837, the Hannoverian succession passed to another line.
T. F. Mills, 31 May 1999
On a red field a white horse. Illustrated in Wilson
1986 p. 70. Reported as Royal Flag 1842, 1848 and 1862.
Norman Martin, 1 Mar 1998
According to the Hannoverian
monarchists' website, prior to the end of the union with Great
Britain in 1837, the running red horse (the banner of arms of Hannover
proper), was often unofficially used as Hannoverian flag. According
to the material, this was normally with a green field under the rear legs,
but I find this surprising since every version of the Hannoverian arms that
I can recall has this field - recall that it formed part of the British
coat of arms since George I - has the horse without the green field.
Norman Martin, 26 June 2000
According to H. Grote, Geschichte der Welfischen Stammwappen,
Leipzig 1863, until 1727 Hannover (House of Braunschweig-Lüneburg) used
the flag with the white horse - often erroneously depicted
as a pegasus. Thereafter the British flag was used
with the horse. The old flag never came out of use however and was officially
tolerated again during the French occupation of the
Hannover harbours 1810-1813 when the British flag was
forbidden.
Theo van der Zalm, 2 July 2001
Editor's note: see also the discussion about the Westphalian
Coat-of-Arms (white horse on red).
The colours of the [Prussian] province adopted
in 1887 were the same as the ones of the former kingdom: yellow over white.
This flag can still be seen today, but is rarely
used.
Pascal Vagnat, 9 Sep 1996
According to the Hannoverian
monarchists' website, after the end of the union with Great
Britain in 1837, king Ernst August officially introduced the yellow-white
bicolor, (though there were many variants) in three forms:
- plain, like the Civil Flag in FOTW (later adopted
by the Prussians as Landesfarben, and
nowadays
allowed as official flag of Hannover),
- with coat of arms like the Hannover Province
Official Flag in FOTW, but according to the text with the green ground,
and finally and most commonly
- the same as type 2), but with a royal crown.
Norman Martin, 26 Jun 2000
According to H. Grote, Geschichte der Welfischen Stammwappen,
Leipzig 1863, on July 22nd 1837 the yellow and white colours (flag) were
introduced by law. These colours were first used in the plumes of cavalry
helmets 1790.
Theo van der Zalm, 2 Jul 2001
Originally there was a green land under the white horse - this was changed
by the Prussians finally in 1881 after they annexed the Kingdom of Hannover
in 1866 to remark the loss of the Welf house's territorial independence.
See for more detail the information on Prussia/Hannover war and following
broad Hannoverian civilian protests mainly paid by the Welf house from
their exile in Vienna until the death of King George V in Paris in 1878
and finally the marriage of the youngest child of crown prince Ernst August
of Hannover to the daughter of Emperor Wilhelm II, which more or less solved
the heritage questions between Prussia and Hannover regarding the Duchy
of Braunschweig und Lüneburg (Brunswick and Luneburg). nonetheless the
Welf dynasty never abdicated their throne in Hannover which makes them
the only German royal family still officially claiming for their crown
and lands.
Johannes, 6 Apr 2003
The British red ensign (pre-1801)
with the white horse at the intersection of the St. George cross. From
c.1720 until 1801. N.B. the red panel with horse should only cover the
intersection of the St. George cross.
Norman Martin, Mar 1998
According to H. Grote, Geschichte der Welfischen Stammwappen,
Leipzig 1863, after 1727 Hannover (House of Braunschweig-Lüneburg) used
the British flag with the horse and the red cross of St. George. In 1801
Hannover placed the British flag - with horse - in the canton of a red flag.
Theo van der Zalm, 2 Jul 2001
Jaume's depiction, with large rectangle but visible saltire tips, based
on 1858 US flag chart, [hbl58]
Antonio Martins-Tuvalkin, 26 Aug 2008
The British red ensign with the white horse
at the intersection of the St. George cross. Illustrated in Wilson
1986 p. 70. N.B. the red panel with horse should only cover the intersection
of the St. George cross.
Norman Martin, Mar 1998
I think that the proportions were more likely to have been 5:9. The
proportion 1:2 was not introduced until about 1837 which was the year that
the connection between Hannover and the British
monarch ended with the accession of Queen Victoria.
David Prothero, 30 Jun 1998
This would be the actual flag, according to Norman Martin and
David Prothero, based on 1858 US flag chart, [hbl58]
Antonio Martins-Tuvalkin, 26 Aug 2008
Kingdom of Hannover, ensign 1801 -1867
Description of flag: It is a red ensign. In the centre of its canton
is a white rectangle with the white prancing horse of the Saxons in a red
field. But on this flag the horse is prancing upon a white terrace.
According to www.koenigreich-hannover.de this ensign was used between
1801-1867. Before 1801 it was used without the St.Patricks cross.
The red within the canton of this flag is clearly darker and the canton
takes nearly one quarter of total flag.
Source: I spotted this flag in Helmsmuseum in Hamburg-Harburg on 29
August 2008.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 Feb 2009
It is a plain red flag, charged with a prancing horse Or, probably mistaken, as the horse should be Argent instead.
Norie and Hobbs reprint 1971, plate XIV image 164
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 31 Jan 2019
British red ensign with Hannover arms on the UJ, but in this source (1858
US flag chart, [hbl58]) the saltire tips
are not present and the Hannover horse is on a red patch much larger than
the cross arm.
Antonio Martins-Tuvalkin, 26 Aug 2008
Recently, David Prothero forwarded me a scan of an article which deals
with the flags of The Electorate/Kingdom of Hannover. The document is in
German, and unfortunately neither of us can translate this to English.
I have produced 3 gifs from black and white illustrations, and can give
some information on these.
The first image would appear to be the personal yacht flag of King
George V of Hannover.
A 4:5 union canton with horse of Hannover on a 4:5 flag.
No dates given.
Martin Grieve, 22 Feb 2005
Post flag of Hannover to 1866, no adoption date given. I am guessing
yellow bands top and bottom with yellow garland surrounding the postal
horn which is ensigned with what appears to be a Hannoverian crown, but
these colours could very well be all wrong!
Martin Grieve, 22 Feb 2005
Flag of Quarantine station in Bremerhaven, 1829.
We have the colours for this - Green 1:2 flag with a 2:3 union emblazoned
with Hannover horse and the (former?) flag of Bremen at 3:5 proportions.
Both flags are separated by a green vertical band and offset slightly
to the hoist.
Martin Grieve, 22 Feb 2005
The [central] coat of arms of the first electorate, then since 1814
Kingdom of Hannover, was divided into three fields:
- Gules two lions passant guardant Or [Brunswick];
- Or a lion Azure [Lüneburg]; and
- Gules a horse Argent [Westphalia].
Inescutcheon: Gules a traditional crown of Charlemagne or. The shield
was surmounted by an electoral cap for the electorate until 1814, and a
crown for the kingdom after that. The coat of arms of the Prussian
province 1866-1945 and later Land
1945-1946 was Gules a horse Argent. It can still be used.
Sources for the Hannoverian royal banners and arms: the chapter on Britain
in Smith 1975, Official Bulletin of
Lower Saxony 1952, p. 169 (Nieders. GVBl. S. 169, 1952) and
Rabbow
1980.
Pascal Vagnat, 13 Nov 1996
The Arms of Hannover were the tierced arms of Brunswick, Lüneburg and
Westphalia.
The arms of Westphalia (Duchy of Westphalia and Archbishops
of Cologne or
Köln) had for centuries been the white
horse on a red field. With the accession of George I to the throne
of Great Britain, the Royal
Arms were changed to accommodate the arms of Hannover in the fourth
quarter. The position was altered a couple of times, and then disappeared
completely [from the
British royal arms] in
1837 when Victoria became queen and the Hannoverian succession passed to
another line.
T. F. Mills, 31 May 1999
The house of Brunswick or Guelph [Welf] family (...) was divided in
1546 into two branches, the senior line
of Braunschweig-Wolfenbüttel that ruled over the duchy of Brunswick
and the younger line of Braunschweig-Lüneburg-Calenberg which ruled
over Hannover. Both branches used in their arms the two lions of Brunswick
(said to be granted by the English king to
his son in law, the duke of Brunswick in the thirteenth century), the blue
lion of Lüneburg and the white horse [on red]
of (Lower) Saxony.
Theo van der Zalm, 4 Sep 2000
A picture of Charlemagne's crown can be found here.
Santiago Dotor, 16 Jan 2001
The image of the arms of Hannover was drawn by me from a 2-Thaler coin
of that kingdom. Details were taken from Siebmachers
Wappenbuch 1878 and a plate in Archiv des Hannoverischen Königshauses
im Niedersächsische Staatsarchiv Hannover, reproduced in Dietmar Storch,
Die
hannoversche Königskrone, Hildesheim (1982) 1995. Note that the crown
resembles that of Great Britain but is not
the same. The greater shield is the British one. The smaller shield shows
the arms of Brunswick, Lüneburg and the duchy of Saxony - the horse
is supposed to be Widukind's emblem. The inescutcheon bears the crown of
the Holy Roman Empire and points to the Erzschatzmeisteramt
or office of the imperial treasurer.
Theo van der Zalm, 22 Jun 2001
Lower Saxony
Description of banner: The banner is vertically divided into yellow
and white. The coat of arms of Lower Saxony is shifted to the top.
Source: I spotted this flag in front of the pub 'Land Niedersachsen'
in Amelinghausen( Lüneburg county) on 25 October 2007.
A small image of this flag can also be found here.
.
Though this pattern is exactly the same as that of a shield of a Bundeswehr
unit, the flag has definitely nothing to do with our army (information
given by Col. Dr. Rudolf Kinzinger).
Note that this flag is not the official one. It is based on the old
flag of the kingdom of Hannover, which existed until 1866.
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 16 Feb 2009
I would not read this flag as a flag of Lower Saxony, but as one version
of the Hannover flag. As described here: the flags
of the former states constituing Lower Saxony are still used, including
(to a lesser extent) the flag of Hannover.
And why then the Lower Saxon arms on the Hannover flag? Well, the differences
between the two coats of arms are minor, to the normal observer, so it
is not surprising that flag manufacturers just take the normal Lower Saxon
arms instead of one of several versions of the old Hannover arms. This is
also mentioned at [2]:
"Der Einfachheit halber (und weil günstiger in der Herstellung)
wird häufig das normale Niedersachsenwappen auf gelb&weiß verwandt."
(my translation: For the sake of simplicity, and because of cheaper
manufacture, the normal Lower Saxon arms is often used on the yellow&white.)
As a sidenote to my earlier remark today on the Hannover flag variant:
The website at [1] does contain a short reference to a supposed early,
semi-official flag of Lower Saxony [2]:
"Nachdem am 1. November 1946 die Länder Braunschweig, Hannover, Oldenburg
und Schaumburg-Lippe zum Land Niedersachsen zusammengefaßt wurden, galt
jedoch bis 1953 eine gelbweiße Fahne als Symbol Niedersachsens. Dies kann
man in zahlreichen Dokumentarfilmen über die Gründungszeit der Bundesrepublik
Deutschland sehen."
(my translation: "After the fusion on 1 November 1946 of the states
Brunswick, Hannover, Oldenburg and Schaumburg-Lippe to form the state Lower
Saxony, a yellow-white flag was applied as symbol of Lower Saxony. This
can be seen in many a documentary film about the years of foundation of
the Federal Republic of Germany."
This is most probably a misinterpretation of the red-white flag with
arms, originally discussed by Rabbow [3] and shown here.
Photographs and movies of the time were black-and-white only, so the
difference betwen red-white and yellow-white was not clearly visible.
Sources: [1] This website.
[2] This
website.
[3] This FOTW-page.
M. Schmöger, 3 Mar 2009
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