A red crozier looking to the left on a white field: the staff of Basel that the countryside turned round when it split from the city in 1832.
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 field —the cloth of the flag —with a 1:1 ratio, white, with a red crozier in the centre: a crozier is the hooked staff of a bishop.
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.
In 1832 the countryside broke away
The new canton took the coat of arms of its capital, Liestal, in 1834, removed the red border…
Seven ornaments: the government proclaimed in 1851 that they are the seven districts the city…
The resolution of 9 March 1948 fixed the simplified design of 1947
How it was born, how it has changed and what it means.
The flag of Basel-Country is a red crozier on a white field, with the crook looking to the left, away from the flagpole. That turn is a declaration of independence.
The countryside around Basel was subject to the city: with 40 % of the population, the urban inhabitants held 60 % of the seats in the parliament. In 1832 the countryside broke away, and after the Battle of Frenkendorf (1833) the Confederation ratified the division. The new canton took the coat of arms of its capital, Liestal, in 1834, removed the red border and deliberately turned Basel’s crozier round: drawing it backwards was turning its back on the former lord.
The left-facing crozier was used from the start, but with no regulation: in the nineteenth century the ornaments of the crook were usually drawn as dots floating without touching it. The resolution of 9 March 1948 fixed the simplified design of 1947, by the painter Otto Plattner.
Red crozier
the crook of the prince-bishop of Basel, ancient lord of the region.
Turn to the left
the break with the city.
Seven ornaments
the government proclaimed in 1851 that they are the seven districts the city ruled before.
People call the canton’s crozier Siebedupf, “seven dots”, after the ornaments that used to float loose around the crook.
A popular explanation links the seven dots with seven peasants executed after the revolt of 1653: no document confirms it.
Test what you have read about the flag of Basel-Country.
Sources consulted:
Flag image: Original: Otto Plattner Vector: SpinnerLaserzthe2nd, Wikimedia Commons · Public domain.
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