Flags of the Austrian Army during the French Revolutionary and Napoleonic Wars
The multi-coloured Ehrenbände ribbons, usually presented by the Inhaber, were nailed to the top of the staff and covered by the roundel on the centre of the bow, but were only worn on the flag on ceremonial occasions.
On a plate in the 'Heer & Tradition' series, the Leibfahne of IR 39 Duka is shown as having white Ehrenbände, edged and fringed in red, on an 1806 pattern flag.
[4] The black Doppeladler eagle carried a large shield, which displayed the full Habsburg coat of arms and really expressed his policy of relying on the Austrian resources and no longer those of the Holy Roman Empire.
To the sides on the wings were the Imperial Buchstaben (cipher initials), starting with 'JII' for Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (1765–1790).
[6] Some of the Walloon (Belgian) infantry regiments’ Ordinarfahnen added local symbols: IR55 Murray carried an Ordinärfahne with the red diagonal Cross of Burgundy behind the Doppeladler and the arms of St. Omer below the eagle.
Two new flags were presented to IR4 Deutschmeister, the ceremonial guard line regiment based in Vienna, in June 1806 before the 1806 pattern was decreed, although one of these was a new Leibfahne to replace the one lost in 1805.
The shield displayed a simple black Doppeladler with the red-white-red barred Bindenshield of Austria on its chest and below it hung a shortened version of the chain and ribbon of the Order of Maria Theresa.
The shields on the wings are : (left) Hungary, Galicia-Lodermaria, Venice, Transylvania (or Siebenbürgen), Moravia-Silesia (right) Bohemia, Lower Austria, Salzburg, Styria-Carithia, Tyrol.
Four cavalry standards captured by the French in the 1805 campaign were of the 1769–1780 pattern as the cypher 'MT' (Empress Maria Theresa 1740–1780) is embroidered either side of the central shield on the eagle.
[20] A single-pointed pennant bearing a black Doppeladler and an unknown coat of arms is said to have been captured in the 1796-7 Italy campaign, but it may be an earlier flag as it lacks a contemporary finial.
Two of the flags are shown to the right in black-and-white: The first (on the left) displays the crowned white lion on a red shield as the arms of Bohemia on the obverse.
On the reverse of its finial was "Sieg oder Tod" (Victory or Death) and beneath, Countess Šliková had a square band attached with on each side: Wlast branjme, Pevne stugme, Gott und Carl bei uns and on the fourth, Charles' monogram " C " and '1800'.
[22] Around the Moravian eagle are the mottos: (above) 'Arcyknjžete Karla Czeský-Morawský - a Slezský Wýbor' (Archduke Charles Czech-Moravian and Silesian District) and (below) 'Pro Wlast.
[23] Although the Order of Battle claims the 1805 Wiener Scharfschützen (Vienna Sharpshooters or Geramb after their battalion commander) were at Austerlitz, there is doubt over their presence.
However, the Duchy of Styria battalions carried more local symbols, based on an 1808 design, showing a white flag edged with green flames.
The Graz battalions carried variations on a local saint (obverse) and the Styrian panther (reverse) in green and white, as was the edging.
The 1st battalion flag had green flames facing outward in the upper half of the border and facing inwards on the lower half; on the reverse was a white Styrian panther carrying a small yellow shield on its chest on a green lozenge framed in white with St. Nicholas similarly framed on the obverse.<[31] The other battalions displayed the ducal arms on the reverse: a panther in natural dark yellow on a white shield surmounted by a ducal crown on a dark green background, although the 4th battalion panther also displayed a chest shield with 'F1'[32] On the obverse were saints: 2nd: Virgin of Maria-Lankowitz, 3rd: St. Egidius, 4th: St. Leonard, 5th: St.
All the Styrian flagpoles were striped green and white with Ehrenbände in the same colours with mottos such as the 1st Bruck's 'Gott, Kaiser und Vaterland sind unsere Lösung'.
[34] The earlier Insurrection infantry flags usually displayed a religious symbol on the obverse and either national or local coats of arms on the reverse.
A 1797 Croatian flag from Warasdin (Varaždin) made of damask, has a background of the Croat red/white chequerboard upon which is the Madonna and Child on the obverse; on the reverse are the arms of Warasdin with the motto above 'Vexilium Comitatus Varasdinensis Occasione Generalis Nobilium Insurrections Contra Gallum Finibus Regni' and underneath 'Et Comitatus Aproximanten Indictae in Anno 1797 Erectum'.
An 1801 flag presented to the Požega County Jäger battalion of the Croatian Insurrection has a black Doppeladler bearing a square shield with the arms of the Kingdom of Slavonia and the Emperor's cypher "F II" on the reverse; on the obverse is the Madonna with the infant Christ.
[35] The 1809 infantry flags, including that of the Odenburg (Sopron) Hungarian insurrection, displayed the Imperial eagle with the county arms.
Neugrad (Nógrád County (former)): White edged in gold with a roundel showing an armoured cavalryman with a shield displaying the arms of Hungary.
Zemplin (Zemplén County): Red with a gold border and the slogan 'Pro Rege Lege et Patria' In addition to the Museum of Military History, Vienna[10][37] and Musée de l'Armée,[38] flags captured in the 1805 War are held in the Musée de l’Empéri in Salon, France [39][40] The Bavarian Army Museum in Ingolstadt holds a 1792-pattern Leibfahne of IR16 Lusignan, which was captured at Wörgl in 1809 [41] and a fragment of the top of an 1806 pattern Ordinärfahne with a blue ribbon is on display in Burg Forchtenstein, Austria [42] The second 1800 Erzherzog Karl Legion flag is now in the Vladislav Hall of Prague Castle.
1) It has been claimed that Austrian flags from after 1806 and later into the Napoleonic period had identifiers in the top corners and some displayed Hungarian arms on the reverse.
These claims seem to come from: Wise, T.: Flags of the Napoleonic Wars (Osprey MAA 78) 1978, which illustrates an 1806 pattern Ordinarfahne attributed to IR12 with upper corner identifier, but no source is provided.
