I'm Austrian and the way we were taught the legend of the bloody banner in school was a little bit different namely that a white tunic worn by an austrian nobleman in a battle had turned completely red from blood but when he removed a broad belt he had been wearing, after the battle there was a white stripe left in the middle of the tunic.

"I‏‪magine changing your flag"this post was made by denmark gang

2 points: in 1804 the Austrian Empire was proclaimed, making the last Roman Emperor, also the Emperor of Austria ... not a "King" and not a "Kingdom". Secondly, the 1st Republic ceased to exist with the Anschluss of Austria to the 3rd Reich. After WWII the 2. Republic was proclaimed, which is the state Austrians live in today.

Just for clarification: After the dissolution of the HRE Austria became an empire in which the hungarians weren't treated like they were after the "Ausgleich" in 1867.

it may not be accurate but I always liked the Crusaider legend of the Red and White Austrian flag. The one I have heard is that Duke Leopold V of Austria during the Siege of Acre. After a fierce battle, his white surcoat was completely drenched in blood. When he removed his belt, the cloth beneath remained unstained, revealing the combination of red-white-red. Pretty badass.

What a shame. Gold and black are such nice colors to have on a flag. Too many flags are red and white or red, white, and blue.

The eagle on the Austrian official banner is special. It wears a crown representing the bourgeoisie, and holds a sickle (farmers) and a hammer (workers). There is also a broken chain that symbolizes freedom from the Nazi usurpation and the Allied occupation after the war.

This is the only major inaccuracy I noticed in the new Napoleon trailer. In the brief scene where Napoleon is looking over a giant map of Europe on the floor you can clearly see among the flags of Europe you can clearly see instead of the then black and yellow flag of Austria, it shows the modern red and white of modern Austria. Another inaccuracy in the trailer was the battle of the pyramids actually taking place right at the pyramids and seeing them being hit by cannon fire which never happened and the battle actually took place many miles away from them but that’s a whole different topic for a different video.

Another intersting detail: The yellow color of the black/yellow flag is still part in the flag of Brazil. It's used there since the marriage of Emperor Pedro I. of Brazil with Princess Maria Leopoldine of Austria. It is the yellow of the former Austrian flag and the color of the House Habsburg.

The Babenbergers did not just rule a part of Austria, they ruled the part that is actually the historic core of Austria (later "Marcha Orientalis" or "Ostarici", the Dutchy of Austria, essentially todays Upper and lower Austria including Vienna, later they aquired Styria as well). The rest are mainly other, separate realms that where incoperated later for one reason or the other (usually inheritance), such as Tyrol, Carinthia and much later Salzburg.

Slight correction about the name of Austria. The state's official name isn't First Republic of Austria since it's not in its first republic anymore. This is because Austria was technically refounded after becoming its own country again after World War 2. The names "First Republic of Austria" and "Second Republic of Austria" are used to distinguish between those two eras of austrian history, similar to the Weimar Republic when talking about germany. The official name is just "Republic of Austria" no First or Second present.

the hammer and the sickle are not sus like you missed the symbolism a bit. The eagle has broken chains, which were added in the second republic after ww2 and represent the liberation of Austria. The hammer represents the workers the sickle the farmers and the mural crown the burgers. The austrian coat of arms is added as well. it is pretty standard republican heraldry. you also mixed up the dates a bit. Austria-Hungary as a dual monarchy was created after the austro-prussian war in 1866 following the defeat of austria it managed to stabilize the internal situation in the nationialism plagued empire by granting more rights to the hungarians. In 1806 the Empire of Austria was declared with Franz I of Austria, who previously was Franz II of the Holy Roman Empire, after Napoleon defeated the Hapsburg armies. Overall good video on the flag :)

The coat of arms is even older as the Babenberger got it from Traungauer who ended in 1190, who themselves inherited it from the Eppensteiner (Dukes of Carinthia) at the beginning of the 12th century which places its origin at 10th/11th century PS: and in 1806 you got the Empire of Austria, Austria-Hungary was not until 1866

Austria was an empire not a kingdom

Dude, this question has been in the back of my mind for a while

In 1806 the Austrian Empire was proclaimed and it used the gold black flag, it wasn't until 1867 that Austria-Hungary was proclaimed. And only Hungary was a kingdom while Austria remained an Empire.

A couple of details, when Napoleon demanded the abolition of the Holy Roman German Empire (which traditionally used the gold/black flag), the Emperor Francis II decided to establish the Austrian Empire with all the territories belonging to the Habsburg House and incorporated the black/yellow flag from the HRGE. This was the official flag until the compromise of 1867, when the Austrian Empire became the Austria-Hungarian Dual monarchy using a combined flag (Austria+Hungary). The Habsburg kept the black/gold flag as they see themselves as the true heirs of the old Empire.

To be fair, no Austria-Hungary existed until the compromise of 1867. That which was proclaimed in 1806 was simply the Austrian "Kaiserthum" with no special privileges for anyone except the monarchy itself. There was no constitutionally protected idea of cislethania and translethania until the Compromise, and in fact Austria was in essence an absolute monarchy until the early 1860s. Love your videos, but what you said was pretty inaccurate!

That German Austria wanted unite with Germany after WWI explains a lot of why Hitler, who was Austrian, was accepted as a leader of Germany and the Anschluss that followed.

Your pronunciation of "Flagge Österreichs" was really good.

You missed one thing about the modern flag though that is seen as very important regarding its symbolism: the broken chains were added after WW2 when the second republic was founded in 1945 to symbolize Austrias liberation from dictatorship, fascism and nationalsocialism.

The current flag was also the flag of Bengal sultanate, one of the richest states in it's time

The city of Leuven in Belgium has the exact same flag as the current austrian flag. According to legend it's origins go back to a guy named Arnulf of Carinthia in the 9th century, who was born in present day Austria (Carinthia).

🇦🇹: Im gonna flip my flag *🇦🇹 flips their flag* 🇵🇪: Wow I look cool 🇨🇱: Peru IS THAT YOU?! Im GONNA KICK YO ASS 🇵🇪: Shit

As Austrian let me say that long story a bit shorter : Red White Red = colours of the "Duchy Austria" ever since taken from the coat of arms of the Babenberger dynasty who ruled the Duchy Austria as Dukes since it became a duchy in 1156 and ruled Austria before for almost 2 centuries since 976 as Margraves and who died out in 1246. Black Gold = the imperial colours of the Emperor ..in the HRE + and then since 1805 after the decline of the HRE used in the Austrian Empire/later Austrian-Hungarian Empire... After the decline of the HRE the rest of the "German Lands" (= which way later became Germany/German Reich respectively) had no Emperor from 1805 till 1871 so there was no issue for keeping the "HRE Imperial colours" exclusively for the new founded Austrian Empire. Although as regional colours/part of a regional flag you´ll find "Black+Gold" in Germany as well in those areas which were former so to say "Imperial areas in the HRE" which were areas /towns which weren´t part of an duchy but ruled by a State official of the Empire instead of a Duke. Disclaimer : Today´s Austria has 9 federal states but just 2 of those 9 "in terms of area" = the 2 in the North of the country named "Upper Austria" and "Lower Austria" + Vienna which is a Fed.City State of its own inbedded in "Lower Austria" = "technically 3 Fed. States in terms of Fed. States" are the former "Archduchy of Austria" = Is the actual "Austria" from 10th century till 1918. = which was represented with the Babenberger coat of arms 4 Fed. States were either own duchies inherited by the House of Habsburg, some sooner some later (like Salzburg and Tyrol and Styria) or were just - part - of a duchy inherited by the House of Habsburg = Fed.State "Carinthia" = was part of the "Duchy Carniola" (or Duchy "Krain" in German") which included today´s Slovenia + small parts of Northern Italy from the 10th century till 1918.. The last 2 Fed. States are "Vorarlberg" in the very west which was a Habsburg County (actual several former very small counties kinda like the size of Liechtenstein) since the 14th century at the Swiss border and "Burgenland" in the very east which was part of Western Hungary) All those have and always had their own coat of arms/flags but those are now since 1918 "the flags of the Fed. State" while the "coat of arms" of the former Archduchy Austria became "the national flag" End of disclaimer. Note: In the vlog there was said "Austrian King" but that´s not quite right at all.. "Austria" never had "a King" because it wasn´t "a kingdom" but an "Archduchy" since 1453 till 1918 and therefore ruled by an "Archduke" (who happened to be the Emperor of the Empire meaning both "HRE" and then "Austrian Empire"). Over the centuries the Austrian Archduke from the House of Habsburg managed by the means of clever marriage policy to become "King of Hungary" (= was outside the HRE) + "King of Bohemia" (= was inside the HRE) + uncountable other titels inside and outside the HRE according to the status those inherited realms had = kingdoms, duchies, counties which were all inherited "Habsburg´s crownlands" = additional titels like the already mentioned "King" to "Grand Duke" over "Prince" , "Duke" till down to "Count"....and all those titels with their holdings made "the Austrian Archduke" = "the Austrian Emperor" respresented with the colours "Black+Gold" in the 1805 founded "Austrian Empire" which later became "Austrian-Hungarian Empire" by dividing the executive power = basically since then the Hungarians ruled themselves in Budapest/had an own parliament and was not ruled from Vienna anymore.

Make a video about some of the oldest noble houses that are still present, it's a really cool topic, seing how they were able to keep their power and maybe talk about their lowest points in history.

thanks for your work

Although some Austrians (not all) thought it’s a better idea to merge with Germany in 1918 that’s not why they called it German Austria. The reason for calling it that way was it being the German talking part of Austria remaining from the empire. I know it’s complicated but the therm German is older than today’s Germany and therefore has different meanings.

Thanks for the video Hilbert, it would have been nice to have added the flag of Austria during the Interwar era under the Engelbert Dolfuss government, which was called the "Federal State of Austria". They used the Red-white-red banner with a double headed eagle in the centre. The government lasted from 1934-38 until the "Anschluss" with the Third Reich. The symbolism of that flag is also very inreresting since it fused post-war Republican Austria with the lore of the Habsburg past and Catholicism, which would give Austrians more of an identity seperate from Germany, which the Dolfuss government viewed as industrial, modern and Protestant Germans.

Damn, you posted this video only 1 day after the 219th anniversary of the proclamation of the Austrian Empire. Btw, fun fact: Austria has the second oldest currently used national flag worldwide after Denmark. As someone fascinated by the Habsburg Monarchy, I prefer the black-gold/yellow flag, but the red-white-red flag is fine too.

"One of the oldest flags, dating back to 1230" Damn, it's over two hours old!

The german state of saxony used to have the same black and yellow flag as austria and changed it to the current white and green one to distance itself from austria. However the german state of saxony-anhalt still has the black and yellow in its flag.

Fun fact is that a small ethnic group in northen Poland, the Kasubians are using same looking black-yellow flag as the Austria-Hungary.

Thank you, I was trying to figure this out about 6months ago and couldn't find out why the change happened

Little correction: it's no longer the First Republic of Austria. It ceased to exist after the establishment of Austro-Fascism and later of course with the Anschluss. We are now on the 2nd Republic of Austria.

Hello Hilbert. Interesting to see what happened to the flag I was used to from Napoleonic wargames and to have something to mention to my girlfriend's relatives from Austria to pass the time.

Hi Hilbert, amazing vídeo as always! You should make a video about Dutch Brazil, as a Brazilian living in the Netherlands I’d love to watch it ! * Wilhelmus intensifies *

slight correction: we are now the 2nd Austrian republic not the first anymore

a video about austria? now this is rare

Great Video really liked it. The only thing wrong I noticed was at 5:35. Between WW1 and WW2 there was the First Republic yes. But after the second wolrd war, Austria was occupied by allied forces until 1955. There the State gained it's freedom again, because the last forces left the county therefore not ouccupieng the state anymore, (Thats why the eagle has a broken chain at its feet now) and became the second Republic.

Quite messy video: in short the Austrian flag has always been red white and red. The black and yellow banner represented the Habsburg Empire, that included Austria but also many other territories like Hungary, parts of Poland, parts of Italy and at least nominal power on all Germany until 1866. For Habsburg ruled Germany only they also added a red stripe in the middle, that "casually' is today's flag of Germany. After the loss of the German Confederation in 1866 Bismark strickly prohibited the black red gold banner because of the Habsburg connection.

Austria sure has a pretty old flag

I love how the little men in the videos haven’t changed much from the early days 😁 Tad more accessories, but still going strong

AEIOU

The yellow-black banner was an (unofficial) flag of the EMPIRE of Austria (the colours had been taken by those of the black double-headed eagle on a golden background of the Holy Roman Empire before, and of the Emperor of Austria after). The red-white-red flag was the flag of the ARCH-DUCY of Austria (before: Ducy of Austria, before Mark of Austria). It came from the colours of the shield of its first rulers (before the house of Habsburg): the house of Babenberg.

Can you do a video about the regional languages of the Netherlands?

Leopold V and 1260 doesn't really fit as he died before 1200 and the Siege of Acre in question where this most likely not true legend originates from was 1189-1191 so timewise it would fit.

great Video @History With Hilbert, but you got something wrong: @2:05 the Siege of Akkon was between 1189-1191.

seems like I just stumbled across the original "fun with flags" channel. nice.

I am also Austrian and I have to add that we are now called the Second Austrian Republic since the first one ended when we were (willingly) annexed by Nazi Germany in the 1930s. After the war ended and we became an independent Nation again the Second Austrian Republic was established.

The hammer and sickle in the eagles hands do mean "workers and farmers", but its not a sign of communism. It does mean the end of the monarchy, when the eagle had an orb and scepter in his hands. Since 1916 the power moved from the emporer to the people, it was changed to sickle(farmers), a hammer(workers) and a crown of bricks(citizens and democracy) on his head. The broken chain on his hands means regaining independece and rebuilding Austria after WW2.

This is probably the video with the most inaccuracies in this series, but that's understandable considering that Austria Hungary was a very confusing...thing.

Never ask a man his salary, A woman her age, or what the color red in the Austrian flag represents.

The most interesting feature of the austrian eagle are the broken chains which occur in the coat of arms of the 2nd republic of Austria (after WW2) but not in the one of the 1st republic. They represent our liberation from Nazi-Germany by the Allies. Austria saw itself as the first victim until the late 1980s.

"[...] and following that it had to change its name to The First Austrian Republic, which is still the state of Austria that we know today". Wrong. The First Republic ended in 1939 when Austria reconnected to the German Reich under Adolf Hitler. After the end of WWII the Second Republic of Austria was founded. Greetings from Austria!

"Acre" is pronounced "ah-ker." Or in Hebrew _Akko_ and Arabic _Akka._

Nice video, however the state that Austrians live in today is the "2. Republik" ie. the "2nd republic". The first ended after the Anschluss in 38'.

both look great IMO

The title is actually wrong. As much as I like the black-gold flag, the red-white-red flag is much older. It dates back to the Third Crusade period and is the oldest flag still in use after the Danish flag.

Just as a fun fact. THE FAMIY CASTLE of the HOUSE OF HABSBURG is in GRAUBÜNDEN ( GRISONS in French and English ) It is a part of SwiTZERLAND Originally a part of the Habsburgian lands but the later Swiss people had kicked them out 2:56 THE EMPIRIAL WAR FLAG: That was not unisono the case. Also a very popular one had been the BLACK EAGLE on GODLEN IYELLOW ) Ground. THE EAGLE not not unly stood for the Heritage of the Roman Empire but also for the HOUSE of HOHENSTAUFEN The Doublehaeded Eagle stood for the Habsburgian Family and there various properties in the areas of the REICH and outside of it.

Hammer and Sickle with the broken chain coming from being a free state of workers and farmers. Different story to the red-white-red flag comes from Lepold V after fighting in a white robe taking of his armourbelt showing the now red(from blood) robe with the clean white stripe in the middle.

Schloss Wildberg wird gelegentlich auch als „Wappenschloss“ bezeichnet, da die Grafen von Hohenburg-Wildberg einen rot-weiß-roten Bindenschild als Wappen führten. Einzelne Historiker sind der Meinung, dass darauf der ab dem 13. Jahrhundert von den Babenbergern verwendete rot-weiß-rote Bindenschild zurückgeht, der später von den Habsburgern übernommen wurde und Ursprung der heutigen Nationalfarben Österreichs ist.

My company's logo, Brown Brothers Harriman, also looks like Austria's flag.

Could u do a video on the actual flag of the Austro-hungry ? ( Not the civil ensign)

Wow the Styrian Panther is even represented in the depiction of 1260 (02:13) - could very well be the oldest provincial flag.

I actually prefer the Austrian flag with the eagle in the middle

The Austrian eagle has not only a hammer and a sickle but also a corona muralis or mural crown which is a symbol dating back to Roman times. It represents cities and by extension the Bürger or city dwellers aka the bourgeoise class. So it represents all 3 Republican classes and not just he farmer and worker classes which are represented by the sickle and the hammer respectively.

interesting, I had no idea that the old Austrian flag was based off of the HRE flag. Pretty cool

Very informative for non-Austrians. However, one major mistake: When the HRE is dissolved in 1806, the Austrian possessions are transformed into the „Austrian Empire“, NOT into a supposed „Kingdom“ of „Austria-Hungary“ as claimed. The Austrian Empire is reformed into the „dual monarchy“ „Austria-Hungary“ only by 1867 (consisting of both an Empire and a Kingdom).

I was thought it might be something to do with bumblebees being pissed off but I was wrong.

I'm actually intrigued as to why they dropped one of the heads from the eagle?

Interesting. Thx

It was Francis who spanned the end of the HRE and declared himself Austrian emperor, not Joseph.

Honestly I am Austrian myself and although I knew the Habsburg eagle before I was not really aware of that black and yellow flag. Only know the regular red-white-red flag and the one with the eagle. And my home banners and flags of course, like the one of my village wich is a black bear on a white background holding a black and white shield.

there is a second story (maybe you already covered it, this is the first video I've seen from you) about the imperial anthem of austria, and how it ended up being the german one. and recently, I learned that liechtenstein uses the old german imperial anthem. let's see when töchtersöhne finds its way into the german anthem ;-)

Is there any connection with Arnhem also having black and yellow and a double-headed eagle in their flag/coat of arms?

If i remember the myth about the Red white Red flag correctly Leopold the V previously prestine white Tabart was so drenched in blood that the only white pice left was the stripe where he wore his Belt and so the Red White Red flag was born. The myth is also somewhat incorperated into the eagle on the flag because the white stripe is located simmilarly on the eagle to where a human would wear a belt

Fun with flags 👍

The Black and Yellow was never a national flag of Austria per-sé. The Cislethanian (Austrian) part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire included all of the Empire that was not Hungary, including Galicia, Bohemia, and Dalmatia. The core Archduchy of Austria kept the old/new flag, and it remained in use as the naval jack and on the coat of arms. It wasn’t so much a change as much as Austria proper being the last remaining piece of its former empire.

all gangsta until the eagle combines the tools

In the more modern setting it is important to note the broken chains on the eagles feet. It is ment to represent that, to quote the famous words: Österreich ist frei! or in english Austria is free.

Thanks for putting the video together! As a Munich resident I have questions: we also have our city flag in yellow-black but with a monk on it (Munich meaning place near the monks in old German).As Bavaria was an independent kingdom since 1158 why should we use Austrian Colors? I guarantee you Bavarians always were very proud to be independent..

One thing: The first Republic isnt the exact state Austrians life in now. We life in the second Republik since 1955. (post WW2 occupation)

I livein the village where Austria aka Österreich got its original name "Ostarichi" in 996 by the romans ( i think)

Once you say yellow-black flag once black-yellow. It's pretty important what color is on top of the flag.

I don't know if this is implicitly or explicitly the claim the video is trying to make, but Austria-Hungary did not come into existence in 1806 after the dissolution of the HRE. At this point, it was still the Austrian Empire, using the black and gold banner. Austria-Hungary was the result of the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of 1867, and its most recognizable flag is the civil ensign which merges the red-white-red triband associated with Austria and the red-white-green triband of Hungary.

both flags, the red-white-red and the black-yellow ensign originate in the flags of the Holy Roman Empire. The older flag of the HRE was a white cross on red ground - like an inverted English flag of today. This flag became in fact the origin of many European flags, like the Danish Danebrog, the Swiss flag and the colours of Savoy and other north Italian states. As a variation of the flag of the HRE many territories and cities in the HRE adopted the red-white-red colours schemes in their coat of arms. These older colours of the HRE can therefore sill be seen in many German regions, in particular in North Germany where the red-white variation became the "hanseatic colours". For the same reason the duchy of Austria adopted this colour scheme for its territorial coat of arms (and eventual flag). The black-yellow flag goes back to the younger coat of arms and flag of the HRE - since the 13.th century the Emperors adopted this colour scheme as their personal ensign: the black eagle on yellow/golden ground. Both colours were shown side-by-side as ensigns of the HRE, symbolising "Kaiser und Reich" (Emperor and Empire). Since the 14th and particular the 15th century this black-gold ensign became the dominant ensign of the HRE, eventually replacing completely the older flag as the colours of the HRE. After the dissolution of the HRE in 1806 the Hapsburgs adopted the black eagle on yellow ground as their flag for the newly founded Austrian Empire (Kaisertum Österreich). In the abstract depiction this flag was simply shown as the black and gold stripes.

Baden-Württemberg in 1953: Hippity hoppity, this is now my property.

The current flag of Austria shows the colours of the shield of the rulers of medieval March of Austria (originally a fief of the Babenberg house, only after some time become of the Habsburg's). A march then become a Duchy and then an Arch-duchy. The yellow-black flag (never official, indeed) reflected in a simole eay the colours of the banner of the Emperor (of the Holy Roman Empire until 1806 and of the Empire of Austria after): a black double-headed eagle on a yellow (= gold) "field".

Can you cover the Tanzanian flag which used to look different in Tanganyikan times

As austrian it's so cool how many details are added in the comments. I am very impressed cause I was still not sure if the world even knows were Austria is😂. Thanks for the really nice video👌🏻

I think the hammer and sickle stands for the two common classes of postwar Austria, the farmers and industrial workers.

Inb4 there is no Austrian-Hungary empire flag

Nice! I am from Austria....

I still use black and yellow colours for Chivalry 2 or the like

Ahh yes, Wiz Khalifa. That most ardent and patriotic of Austrian Royalist bards ⬛️🟨

Song. I need the song.

I think you forgot to mention that Austria also changed its flag in 1938. But anyways, I gotta bounce, 'cause my anschluss is kinda bad here

You missed the broken chain on the official flag of the second republic, the first republic didn't have that. Unifying Austria and the other German speaking states was already discussed in the revolutionary years in in 1848.

Damn I was in crappy schools. I never learned anything about this, I had no idea we used to have a different flag.