Sweden and Norway 1844 Changes

In 1844, King Oscar I decided to introduce separate war ensigns for Norway and Sweden. Both were based on the national flags of the respective countries (Parliament of Norway adopted a new national civil ensign in 1821, the same flag that flies as the national flag of Norway today), to which was added a new mark of union in the canton and swallowtail and tongue. The union mark consisted of a combination of the national colours of the two countries. In its own right the union mark served as the common naval jack and as the flag of the joint diplomatic and consular missions.

A problem now appeared about what to do with the rank and command flags, as these had previously been based on the common war ensign. Now there were two separate war ensigns. As the navies were expected to undertake joint operations, it was decided to have identical rank and command flags. The new rank and command flags were announced in the saluting inst