The Austrian Independence Treaty (complete form: Treaty for the re-establishment of an independent and democratic Austria, signed in Vienna on the 15 May 1955), more commonly referred to as the Austrian State Treaty (German Staatsvertrag), was signed on May 15, 1955 in Vienna at the Schloss Belvedere between the Allied occupying powers: France, the United Kingdom, the United States and the Soviet Union, and the Austrian government and officially came into force on July 27, 1955.
As a result of the treaty the Allies left Austrian territory on October 25, 1955. October 26 is celebrated as a national holiday (called the Day of the Flag until 1965). It is sometimes thought to commemorate the withdrawal of Allied troops, but in fact celebrates Austria's Declaration of Neutrality, which was passed on October 26, 1955
Together with the Danish flag, the Austrian flag is said to be among the oldest national flag designs in the world.
According to legend, the flag was invented by Duke Leopold V of Austria (1157-1194) while he was involved in a fierce battle during the Crusades. After the battle of Acre, his white battledress was completely drenched in blood, but when he removed his belt the cloth underneath was untouched by it. So taken was he by this singular sight that he adopted the colours and scheme as his banner.
In fact, the flag was designed in the 13th century by Frederick II, Duke of Austria (1210-1246; known as 'Frederick the Quarrelsome'), the last of the Babenberg dynasty. Frederick sought greater independence from the Holy Roman Emperor. To this end, he had a new coat of arms designed: a red field with a silver fess. The oldest source for the new flag is contained in a seal kept in the monastery of Lilienfeld (Lower Austria), dated November 30, 1230.
Celebrations on the National Day in Vienna / Heldenplatz:
Tank Leopard II
Garde
Black Hawk
9 commentaires:
Happy National Day to Austria and to all the lovely Austrians!
Chris, from now on, you are the new master of the blog :)))
Land der Berge, Land am Strome,
Land der Äcker, Land der Dome,
Land der Hämmer zukunftsreich!
Heimat bist du großer Söhne,
Volk begnadet für das Schöne,
Vielgerühmtes Österreich,
Vielgerühmtes Österreich!
national anthem
L.S.,
Clearly someone is taking full advantage of living in Vienna!
As far as history lessons go, the Dutch flag dates back to the 16th century, because it honours the Orange-Nassau family. (It used to be orange, white and blue, where the Organge represented Orange, the principality in the Provence, and Blue represented Nassau.)
As far as I know, the flag of Cataluña, which is yellow with red stripes, dates back to their first duke, Charles the Hairy, and his king Louis the Pious, the son of Charlemagne. But I'm not sure if that counts as a national flag.
The UK Union Jack dates back to the Act of Union, in 1800, because obviously it consists of the flags of England, Scotland and Ireland superimposed on one another. That takes care of the Irish flag, because the current Irish flag refers to Orange, i.e. the protestants in the North, for the same reason that the Netherlands used to have orange in their flag, and green, the ultimate colour of Ireland. Anyway, they made it up in the 19th century, to replace the St. Patrick's cross which they'd been using until then.
This concludes my knowledge of European flags, meaning that I can't think of a single one that is older than the 13th century.
By the way, I wish you a nice:
Ден на народните будители - неприсъствен за всички учебни заведения
Chris
thanks chris :)))
L.S.,
I only noticed now: Austria has helicopters! Real helicopters that you can use to air lift people out of valleys that are about to be covered by avalanches, etc...
Martin
Re the flag of Cataluña: In fact it's especially problematic because it's the flag of the Crown of Aragon -that you may remember from the Spanish Royal Arms and the Shield on the Spanish flag. (Troy Mclure style)
In four (slightly) different forms is the official flag of Baleares, Valencia, Cataluña and Aragón
So it's a royal flag that dates from somewhere around the 13th century, although some Catalan freaks try to link it to the Count of Barcelona in the 12th century. Cataluña or Barcelona never had a Duke.
Ha ha ha, Miguelito tu me fais rire!
Tu reviens quand?!
Ou alors j'avais raison et tu vas y rester!
L.S.,
I just checked the story on Wikipedia. The story I had in mind is this one: "The legend tells that the four red bars were drawn on Wilfred I the Hairy's (Count of Barcelona) golden shield by king Charles the Bald's fingers drenched with blood from the Count's war wounds."
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