page_title: Flag of Switzerland
section_title: Modern Switzerland
hierarchical_section_title: Flag of Switzerland / History / Modern Switzerland
caption_attribution_description: Deutsch: 1.August-Rede von Elisabeth Kopp, Schwyz (SZ), 2007 Français&#160;: Discours du 1er août 2007 d'Elisabeth Kopp à Schwytz
context_page_description: The flag of Switzerland displays a white cross in the centre of a square red field. The white cross is known as the Swiss cross. Its arms are equilateral, and their ratio of length to width is 7:6. The size of the cross in relation to the field was set in 2017 as 5:8.
  The white cross has been used as the field sign of the Old Swiss Confederacy since its formation in the late 13th or early 14th century. Its symbolism was described by the Swiss Federal Council in 1889 as representing "at the same the Christian cross symbol and the field sign of the Old Confederacy". As a national ensign, it was first used in 1800 during the Hundred Days by general Niklaus Franz von Bachmann, and as regimental flag of all cantonal troops from 1841. The federal coat of arms was defined in 1815 for the Restored Confederacy as the white-on-red Swiss cross in a heraldic shield. The current design was used together with a cross composed of five squares until 1889, when its dimensions were officially set.
  The civil and state ensign of Switzerland, used by Swiss ships, boats and non-governmental bodies, is rectangular in shape and has the more common proportions of 3:2.
context_section_description: The Swiss constitution of 1848 did not name a national flag, but it prescribes the federal flag for all federal troops.
  The last flammé flags still used by Landwehr units were replaced by the modern design in 1865.
  In November 1889, the Federal Council published a "communication regarding the federal coat of arms", detailing the history of the use of the Swiss cross since the 15th century.
  Seals produced from 1815 onward, and cantonal coins minted from 1826 showed the arms of the cross in the 7:6 length to width ratio. Later in the 19th century, there was a trend of depicting the cross as composed of five equal squares.
  The two competing designs were controversially discussed in the late 19th century, especially after the introduction of the
  new design for the five franks coin, which showed the Swiss coat of arms in a Baroque-style heraldic shield.
  The Federal Council in 1889 introduced the 7:6 ratio as official. The associated communication explains that 
  "our heraldic cross is not a mathematical figure, but at the same the Christian cross symbol and the field sign of the Old Confederacy". The 1889 law explicitly avoids specification of the shape of the shield, which was to be left to the "tastes of the current time and practical necessity".
  The proposed legislation defining the Swiss federal coat of arms was passed on 12 December 1889 (SR 111).
  The rectangular variant of the flag is used as a naval ensign only, officially introduced with a federal law passed 23 September 1953.
  The current flag law of the Swiss Confederacy is the Wappenschutzgesetz (WSchG, SR 232.21) of 2013 (in force since 2017).
  This law replaced the flag law 1931 (last revised 2008).
  The 2013 law for the first time defines both the Swiss flag and the Swiss coat of arms based on an image, declared as authoritative in the text.
caption: Former Federal Councillor Elisabeth Kopp speaking on 1 August 2007. The federal flag displayed here has a narrower margin than recommended in the flag regulation, with a ratio of cross to flag width of about 5:7 instead of the recommended 5:8.
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