Drawings of ship flags of different states. XVIII c.

[greenstone]

Dear friends, I bring to your attention "Drawings of ship flags of different states. The beginning of the XVIII century."

Collection of Peter the Great.

Source Library of the Academy of Sciences (Russia)

http://ecatalog.rasl.ru:8080/cgi-bin/irbis64r_11/cgiirbis_64.exe?LNG=&I21DBN=NIOR&P21DBN=NIOR&Z21ID=&S21REF=10&S21CNR=20&S21STN=1&S21FMT=fullwebrban_nr&C21COM=S&2_S21P02=1&2_S21P03=TRP=&2_S21STR=П I Б 26;

 

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[greenstone]

I was wondering which ships had this flag?

[Martes]

Just now, greenstone said:

I was wondering which ships had this flag?

 

One could suppose that some Cromwellian rogues, but since 18 and 19 carry the same inscription it is more feasible that those were flags of the ships that switched over to William of Orange.

[Louie da fly]

Judging by the language of the index, and the fact that apart from that of the Czar the first several flags are Dutch, this volume of flags appears to have been compiled in the Netherlands, or at least by somebody from the Netherlands, but presumably to be presented to the Czar (or commissioned by him?) 

 

Which makes me wonder if they have the word "Protestans" correctly spelled, or just taken straight from the Dutch (not that I have any idea if that's the Dutch version of the word). Certainly all the rest is English (I'm prepared to accept that "Liberte" might have been a current spelling of "Liberty") If it was prepared for Peter the Great, the Cromwellian Commonwealth was long gone, and Martes is probably right that it had to do with William III.

 

Steven

Edited February 7, 2023 by Louie da fly

[Jules van Beek]

Hello Greenstone,

 

What a great find! And many thanks for posting this here.

 

I think the book you found in the archives contains copies of the flags Allard published in his 'Nieuwe Hollandse Scheeps-Bouw' (New Dutch Shipbuilding) of 1695. This book was, of course, printed in black on white paper, but the wealthy could have these flags painted by artists. A couple of these 'painted' books can still be found in Dutch libraries and archives.

Tsar Peter probably saw Allard's book while he visited the Dutch Republic in 1697, and must have had these copies made. The book of Allard does not contain the first flag in 'your' book though, the flag of Tsar Peter I. This flag must have been made on a special order from the Tsar. 

This 'special' flag can also be found on the paintings that were made of the visit of the Tsar. For example on some works of Storck.

 

The flag you want to know more about is in Allard's book of 1695. In his book it is number 5. Here it is:

 

 

Allard gave the following description for this flag on page 13 of his book (my translation): 

 

"5. Unions Flag, as flown by the respective Admirals, and most important Captains in the expedition mentioned above. Being red, on which is written in white. For the Protestant Religion And The Liberty Of England."

 

The expedition Allard mentions in his discription of flag number 5, is described in the description of flag number 4. That is this flag.

 

Part of Allard's description of this flag number 4 (my translation again):

 

"4. The Great Standard as flown by H. R. H. of Great Britain, when he still was Prince of Orange, City-Holder and Captain-General of the United Netherlands etc. when he sailed to England with the Assistance-Fleet, on the 11th of November 1688. Being a white flag, with the weapon, as he carried ...".

 

Since the wrong spelling of the English words 'protestant' and 'liberty' does not occur in the book of Allard, the copyist who was hired by the Tsar must have made some mistakes.

 

 

On a different note: I am sure there must be more remnants in your archives of all the papers the Tsar gathered during his stay in the Dutch Republic in 1697. With any luck there would also be the ship design drawings he made under the supervision of master-shipbuilder of the VOC (Dutch East India Company) Gerrit Claesz Pool, or the ones he made under the supervision of Adam Silo. If you manage to find these, I will be forever in your debt... But, any find from 1697 written in Dutch will be highly appreciated too. I promise to translate anything you find to English.

 

I wish you a very good evening, and happy hunting in the archives,

 

Jules