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Croatia in the Habsburg Empire: Military flags

Military Border Hussar Troop of the Karlovac Regiment (1746-1749)
Croatia Central Bransk Troops (1797)
Zagreb National Guard (1848)
96th Karlovac Infantry Regiment (1859-1916)
Imperial Royal Hungaro-Croatian Home Guard Regiment (after 1868)
Požega Riflemen (19th century)

See also:

Military Border Hussar Troop of the Karlovac Regiment (1746-1749)

Flag of the Military Border Hussar Troop of the Karlovac Regiment, reverse and obverse - Images by courtesy of Jelena Borošak-Marijanović, Croatian History Museum (website)

Yellow silk damask, braids, flat stitch embroidery with silk and silver metal thread, fluted wood, silvered finial. 55 x 88 cm, length of staff 299 cm.
Double-edged cavalry standard richly embroidered and edged with fringes.
Obverse: in the centre of the field, richly decorated with floral motifs, is the embroidered Austrian dynastic coat of arms.
Reverse: the field holds an embroidered medallion in the Baroque manner, depicting a set of Roman military trophies.
The flagstaff, fluted like a tournament lance, ends in a finial, which has on one side the incised coat of arms of the Prince of Sachsen Hildburgshausen, and on the other the figure of St John Nepomucene.
The standard was donated by the parish office of Slunj.

Source: Jelena Borošak-Marijanović, Zastave kroz stoljeca [bor96]

Željko Heimer, 20 August 2000

Croatian Central Bransk Troops (1797)

A cavalry guidon of a Croatian domobran (home defenders) company is preserved in the Croatian Historical Museum. The reverse show in the pannel the Hungarian corwn sitting on a red cussion. The flag was supposedly originally red, but the colour seems faded away.

Source: Rhea Ivanuš, Stoljeće promjena [ivr00]

Željko Heimer, 16 March 2000

Zagreb National Guard, 1848

Flag of the Zagreb National Guard - Image by Željko Heimer, 13 March 2000

The first Croatian tricolors were used by military units organized in Zagreb area during the 1848 unrest. Two flags of this pattern are preserved in the Croatian Historical Museum, differing somewhat in the details of the picture in the cartouche.
The obverse is always the coat of arms of the Triunited Kingdom, on reverse are some allegorical pictures, on one flag, Madonna with child, on an other flag a bee-hive, books and owl, for laboriousness, knowledge and wisdom, respectively. In the red stripe are embroidered mottos, different on each side. On the two aforementioned flags the mottos say: Za Slavjanstvo (For Slavicness) / Za Slobodu (For Freedom), Za ustav i narodnu slobodu (For Constitution and National Freedom) / Za bratinstvo slavjansko (For Slavic Brotherhood).

Željko Heimer, 13 March 2000

96th Karlovac Infantry Regiment (1859-1916)

Flag of the 96th Karlovac Infantry Regiment, reverse and obverse - Images by courtesy of Jelena Borošak-Marijanović, Croatian History Museum (website)

White silk, multicoloured silk embroidery, wood, brass studs, brass, embroidery, painting (staff). 127 x 154 cm, length of staff 303 cm.
A rectangular flag with a border of alternating red, gold, red and silver triangular flames.
Obverse: in the centre of the field a heraldic depiction of the coat of arms of the Austrian Empire.
Reverse: painting of the Immaculate Virgin Mary.
The flagstaff ends with a foliate finial with the crowned initials "FJ I" (Francis Joseph I) carved on both sides.
The staff is painted spirally in red, yellow, black and white.
The flag was donated to the National Museum by the 96th Karlovac Regiment in 1916.

Source: Jelena Borošak-Marijanović, Zastave kroz stoljeca [bor96]

Željko Heimer, 20 August 2000

Imperial Royal Hungaro-Croatian Home Guard Regiment (after 1868)

Flag of the Imperial Royal Hungaro-Croatian Home Guard Regiment, reverse and obverse - Images by courtesy of Jelena Borošak-Marijanović, Croatian History Museum (website)

White silk, multicoloured silk embroidery, wood, brass, embroidery. 128 x 136 cm, length of staff 299 cm.
A rectangular flag with a border of alternating triangles in the colours of the Croatian tricolour.
Obverse: in the centre of the field the coat of arms of the Hungarian crown lands surmounted by the Crown of St Stephen; the coat of arms is held by two angels.
Reverse: in the centre of the field the embroidered initials of the ruler "FJ I" (Francis Joseph I), surmounted by the Hungarian crown.
The flagstaff ends with a foliate finial with the crowned initials "FJ I" carved on both sides.
The year 1874 is engraved on the staff.
The flag belonged to the 84th Bjelovar Regiment.

Streamer.
Blue silk, tassels, gilt metal tassels, silk embroidery, gold embroidery. Length of bands: a) 120 cm, b) 160 cm; width 20 cm.
Streamer with two bands in the centre, fashioned into a loop with a rosette and a bought cord with tassels for tying it to the staff. The inscriptions on the bands: "Ljudevita Grofica Jankovic Montbel" with family coats of arms on the end of the band; "Bog, Kralj i Dom!"; "Sreca i pobjeda"; "Belovarskoj 84. domobranskoj ceti" with the coat of arms of the town of Bjelovar.

Source: Jelena Borošak-Marijanović, Zastave kroz stoljeca [bor96]

Željko Heimer, 20 August 2000

Požega Riflemen, 19th century

Flag of the Požega Riflemen, obverse and reverse - Images by courtesy of Jelena Borošak-Marijanović, Croatian History Museum (website)

White silk, painting, wooden flagstaff, gilt bronze finial. 126 x 182 cm, length of flagstaff 302 cm.
Rectangular flag sewn of four pieces of silk, the edges decorated with alternating gold, blue, silver and brown flames.
Obverse: In the centre of the flag field an Austrian Imperial double-headed eagle bears a square shield with the elements of the coat of arms of the Kingdom of Slavonia and the initials of the ruler, "F II" (Francis II).
Reverse: In the centre of the flag field a depiction of the Mother of God with the Infant Christ. Above the image the motto reads "PRO DEO REGE ET LEGE" (For God, King and Law).
The flagstaff is spirally coloured in white, blue, yellow and brown, ending with a foliate filial with the carved initials "F II" (Francis II). The flag was the so-called Leibfahne of the Pozega Jaeger battalion.
The flag was donated to the Museum by Teodor Kraljević, parish priest in Požega in 1906. The flag was restored by Iva Cukman (textile) and Alma Orlić (painting) in 1990.

Streamer 1801
Yellow silk atlas, while silk, silver acupiction embroidery, sequins. Length of streamer 258 cm, width 14 cm.
A simple streamer decorated with a simple silver border along the edge and an embroidered inscription along the ends of the streamer edged with stylised branches. The inscriptions on the ends read "MARIA.THERESIA / AVG / VEXILUM.HOC.ET / FASCIAM.ADNEXAM / ACV.PHRYGIA.A.SE / PICTAM." and "PROVINCIAE.POSE / GANAE.MILIT.VE / NATORIBVS BENIG / NITATIS.SVAE.DO / CVMENTVM.DONAT / MDCCCI."

Source: Jelena Borošak-Marijanović, Zastave kroz stoljeca [bor96]

Željko Heimer, 20 August 2000