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European River Commissions

Danube Commission
Central Commission of the Rhine
Mosel Commission

See also:

Danube Commission

Flag according official specifications

Obverse and reverse of the flag by Željko Heimer

The flag of the Danube Commission is dark blue with a red stripe at bottom fimbriated white and with the emblem in the blue stripe next to the hoist. The emblem consists of a yellow wreath with a ribbon at the base encircling a white field containing the initials of the Commission.

According Flag Institute Specification Sheet 524 the Commission was established in 1949 and the flag on 14 December 1950. The proportions are given as 14:23, while the construction details (which according to the notes "follow official specifications") read as follows: for the hoist 32-2-16, and for the length 75. The emblem is "contained within a square of sides = 30% of flag width which is itself contained within a larger rectangle of sides = 25% of flag length and 35% of flag width". The illustrations show the flag with a symmetrical wreath.

Again according to the notes "these (specifications) provide for the initials to be in the Cyrillic alphabet on the obverse, and in Latin characters on the reverse".

Annexe 1, CD/SES 3/34, (To Article I of the Decision of the Third session of the Danube Commission on the ensign and seal - my translation), and an enlarged illustration of the flag appeared on the original letter from the Director of the Danube Commission to William Crampton. Unfortunately, the date is missing.

The "Description of the Flag" confirms the ('generally accepted' - généralement acceptées) proportions of 14:23 and the stripes at 64-4-32. It further states that the Cyrillic is on the obverse and the Latin inscription on the reverse - the French reads: ...les initiales de la Commission du Danube -"(caractères russes); à l'envers du pavillon la courenne de laurier encadre les caractères latins 'CD'.

The illustration on the letter sets the emblem unevenly as per the Flag Institute specification sheet, and the wreath is regular. The larger of the two rectangles thus alignes with the flag edges top and hoist, while the smaller alingnes with the fly and bottom edges of the first rectangle. This yields the emblem considerably smaller than shown in Album des Pavillons (with other differences there, as the Cyrillic vs. Latin).

The Flag Institute Specification Sheet shows dark blue, but the second Paragraph of the Description du pavillon in Annexe One (on which it was based) says: La partie supérieure de couleur bleu clair. So the matter of light blue verses dark blue remains unresolved.

Christopher Southworth, Ian Sumner & Željko Heimer, 27 December 2003

Flag shown in Album des Pavillons

Obverse and reverse of the flag by Željko Heimer

Source: Album des Pavillons [pay00]

The emblem has Cyrillic letters on the reverse of the flag.

Pascal Vagnat, 7 June 1996

Alternative flag

Obverse and reverse of the flag by Željko Heimer

The alternative flag of the Commission is dark blue flag with the Commission emblem next to the hoist. Since the obverse of the flag is shown with Cyrillic initials, by analogy with the main flag of the Commission, the reverse of the flag might have Latin initials.

Source: Album des Pavillons [pay00]

Željko Heimer, 9 December 2003

Former flag

by Ivan Sache

The flag shown in Flaggenbuch [neu92] (1939) is horizontally divided red-white-blue-white-red (1:1:2:1:1) with C.E.D. in white on the blue stripe.

Ivan Sache, 19 March 2004

Central Commission of the Rhine

by Pascal Gross

The flag is light blue, divided horizontally, in upper half a circle of six five-pointed yellow stars, and in lower half four dark blue stripes (i.e. 7-striped dark-light blue) and a yellow anchor over those.

Source: Album des Pavillons [pay00]

&#xO17D;eljko Heimer, 9 December 2003

Mosel Commission

Active since 1962 (based on a convention dating from 1956), the Mosel Commission aims and organization are comparable to the two other ones. The members of the Commission are France, Germany and Luxembourg. The seat of the Commission is Trier (Germany).

The Commission website carries the Commission logotype, a white anchor and three white five-pointed stars plus a few shadowy waves in front of the member states' national flags.

In answer to a question of mine (their e-mail 23 June 2003), they confirmed the use of a flag with entsprechendem Aufdruck (appropriate image) which I take to be the logotype on their website.

Jan Mertens, 10 December 2003

European River Commissions

Danube Commission

Flag according official specifications

Flag shown in Album des Pavillons

Alternative flag

Former flag

Central Commission of the Rhine

Mosel Commission