Flag of Switzerland

How to read it

The Wappenschutzgesetz (coat of arms protection act) of 21 June 2013, in force since 1 January 2017, defines the Swiss cross as an upright, free-standing white cross in a red field, its equal arms each one sixth longer than they are wide, and says the Swiss flag shows the cross in a square field. The pattern in the act’s annex decides the shape, colour and proportions, and gives the red as Pantone 485 C, CMYK 0/100/100/0, RGB 255/0/0, hex #FF0000. Store norske leksikon gives the construction: each side is 32 units, each arm 6 units wide and 7 long, and the ends of the cross 6 units from the edges. The act replaced the federal decree of 12 December 1889 on the federal arms, the first to fix the arms one sixth longer than they are wide.

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A square flag, and a 2:3 flag at sea

The flag has been square in law only since 1 January 2017. Before that, the outline was not fixed and the square form was simply the popular one, Skenderovic writes, and a shipping law of 1941 required Swiss ships on the high seas to fly a rectangular flag. The 2013 act still leaves the flags of shipping, aviation and the army to their own laws; Store norske leksikon gives the ensign’s proportions as 2:3. Vatican City’s flag is square as well.

Where the white cross came from

The Historical Dictionary of Switzerland gives three explanations for the cross, a Christian symbol to begin with: the Theban Legion, whose cult was strong in the kingdom of Burgundy; the imperial war banner, recorded from the 12th century; or the instruments of Christ’s Passion, which the original cantons were said to be allowed to sew onto their red banner from 1289. The Bernese first wore a white cross, as two bands sewn across their clothes, at the Battle of Laupen in 1339. A white cross on red was already the sign of Vienna, Savoy, the Knights of Malta and Denmark, Skenderovic notes. The free-standing white cross on a red field became the flag of all Swiss troops in 1840, at the urging of Guillaume-Henri Dufour.

The Red Cross emblem

The Red Cross emblem is often explained as the Swiss flag reversed. The archive blog of the International Committee of the Red Cross quotes an early ICRC text saying the red cross on white has no religious meaning, as it is the inverted heraldic colours of the Swiss federal flag, adopted as a tribute to Switzerland. The blog adds that the real story is more complicated: the starting point was the white ground, used as a sign of peace, and the Swiss cross itself refers to Christianity.