Hanseatic flags

Originally, Hanseatic ships displayed red gonfalones on their masts, which had a cross at its peak to denote the protection of the sovereign.

The red gonfalone remained in use in addition to these flags.

The oldest Hanseatic flag is the plain red banner used by Hamburg.

Hanseatic flags were mostly red-white and some featured symbols, such as crosses.

In addition to these banners, ships also flew a Hanseatic pennant (Hanseatenwimpel) where the upper half is white (silver) and the lower half is red.