Austria Flag

A bit of History 

Along with the flag of Denmark, the Austrian flag is one of the oldest in the world.According to a legendary account, the flag was invented by Duke Leopold V of Austria (1157-1194) after the tough battle of Acre in 1191, during the Crusades, when their white robes were completely stained with blood, except the part hid his belt, which was white. In fact, the flag was designed in the thirteenth century by the Duke Frederick II of Austria (1210-1246), the last of the dynasty Babenberg, who sought greater independence from the Holy Roman Empire. The earliest representation of this design is a shield preserved in the monastery of Lilienfeld, which dates from November 30, 1230. Since 1804, when the Austrian Empire was formed led by the House of Habsburg, the flag adopted used the colors of the House of Habsburg: yellow and black. In 1869, after the Compromise of 1867 the Emperor Franz Joseph I which led to the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Austria adopted the old imperial emblem as its own, while Hungary adopted a flag of its own. For matters concerning both states, the Empire used two special flags: the flag of war was a triband albirroja with a shield centered on the left half, while the merchant flag added to the lower right side shield Hungarian, and the lower band was red on the left side and green on the right. After the end of the Empire, the Republic of Austria readopted the emblem red-white-red on October 20, 1918 to the Anschluss, when Austria was annexed to the Third Reich. After the Nazi defeat in World War II, the flag was reinstated on May 1, 1945.