A black bear rampant, with red claws and tongue on a white field: the medieval war flag that the Catholic half of Appenzell kept in 1597.
Every fact about the flag, each with what it means.
Normal flagFIAV symbol: the form of the flag.
CivilFIAV symbol: who may fly the flag.YesIt carries the coat of arms on the cloth.The flag in the words of vexillology and heraldry.
It is a square flag —a 1:1 ratio, like all the Swiss cantonal flags— on a white field, with a black bear rampant and nothing else.
Each element and how many of the 1,390 flags in the catalogue carry it. In yellow, the rarest.
Every date in its story, at a glance.
The bear was the emblem of the Abbey of St Gall, lord of Appenzell until 1403
A black bear rampant on a white field, with no ornaments: the flag of Appenzell Innerrhoden…
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
A black bear rampant on a white field, with no ornaments: the flag of Appenzell Innerrhoden is the coat of arms of all of Appenzell before the split, which the Catholic half kept intact in 1597.
The bear was the emblem of the Abbey of St Gall, lord of Appenzell until 1403. According to Flags of the World, when the valley became independent it changed the abbot’s golden ground to white and drew the bear with red claws and erect penis, a challenge turned into a flag. In 1597 the religious reform split the country: the inner Rhoden, Catholic, kept the old war flag, and the outer ones added some letters.
It has not changed since 1597: it is still a medieval armorial banner, with no modern rule governing it.
Rampant bear
the animal of the Abbey of St Gall, ancient lord of the valley.
White field
it replaced the abbot’s gold when they broke away from him.
Red claws and tongue
the bear, always male; a symbol of strength and courage.
According to the legend, the Irish monk Gall found a hungry bear and gave it bread: the animal, grateful, brought him firewood for his hut, and the monastery of St Gall grew up around it.
The earlier flag of Appenzell, documented from 1377, showed a bear on four legs on a honeycomb ground.
As a half-canton, Innerrhoden sends a single representative to the Council of Cantons instead of two, even though it governs like an entire canton.
Test what you have read about the flag of Appenzell Innerrhoden.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Autor desconocido, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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