The Danish State Railway

Danske Statsbaner /DSB

Last modified: 2025-08-02 by klaus-michael schneider
Keywords: denmark | dannebrog | railway | wheel(winged) | crown | dsb |
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• Current Flag
• Variant reported 2016
• Flag in 1974-1991
• Flag in 1887-1974 (from Flaggenbuch)

• Denmark
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Current Flag

The new flag for the railways was approved in general by the Queen on 17 May 1999 and published by the Ministry of Justice on 7 July the same year. As for the
new emblem, the badge in the new DSB flag is described as "a crown in white over a white winged wheel." In fact, this is identical to the new logo of the DSB, introduced after a complete overhaul of the DSB visual identity in 1998. It took some time for this flag to introduced into actual use, about a year to be precise.
Jan Oskar Engene, 4 Jan 2001

Not quite identical. The winged wheel in the flag appears to be moving towards the pole, while the winged wheel in the logo (as seen on railway page) seems to be moving to the right. Since we have this our tradition of depicting flags with the pole to the left, the wheels appear mirrored.
Ole Andersen, 4 Jan 2001

Three examples of this flag, seen on television during the recent marriage of Crown Prince Frederik and Mary Donaldson from Australia, clearly show the wing on the hoist side of the wheel. The flag also is not swallowtail. This might simply mean that you have 2 versions, one on land and one on sea.
Marc Pasquin, 16 May 2004

Variant reported 2016

The split flag is of dark red with a sting of purple, parted by a white Scandinavian cross, in the canton is the logo of the railways (crown, wheel and wing) in a pale shade of gold.
By the way, the flag posted by Jan Oskar Engene in 2001 displays one of the numerous flags inside the hall of København Hovedbanegade (Copenhagen Central Station).
Source: I spotted this flag on 11 June 2016 just in front of the Central Station and opposite from the Tivoli.
and this online photo
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 8 Mar 2021

1974-1999

The flag of the Danish State Railways was originally introduced on 27 April 1887, presumably with the emblem shown in the Flaggenbuch. The emblem was changed in 1974, when the crown was removed and the letters changed to white and placed along the top of the canton (a new kind of typeface was also introduced). The 1974 flag is listed in Pedersen's 1979 flag book (Norwegian edition).
Jan Oskar Engene, 4 Jan 2001

There existed a splitflag, showing the initials DSB (= Dansk Statsbaner) in another script and, what makes the difference, the initials are not dotted.
Source: Christian Fogd Pedersen; Alverdens flag i farver / Politikens flagleksikon, 3.udgave København 1979 ISBN 87-567-3141-8
Klaus-Michael Schneider, 28 Mar 2006

Danish State Railways 1887-1974 (from Flaggenbuch)

Golden initials DSB (standing for Danske Statsbaner) crowned with a royal crown proper in the canton of the state ensign. The flag was granted in 1887 and was used until 1974, when the crown was removed the letters moved towards the top, changed the font and colour to white. This was replaced in 1999 with the current version showing a very stylised winged railroad wheel crowned all white. The flag is used on the vessels and ferries operated by the railways. It is also used to fly on the railroad stations and office buildings. Is the rectangular version also in use? (for current and previous patterns)
Željko Heimer, 1 June 2004

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