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58-695: The allegory is typically pictured in a flowing clothing, with a spear and a shield emblazoned with the Swiss flag , and commonly with braided hair and a wreath as a symbol of confederation . The name is a derivation of the ethnonym Helvetii , the name of the Gaulish tribe inhabiting the Swiss Plateau before the Roman conquest . The fashion of depicting the Swiss Confederacy in terms of female allegories arose in

116-436: A Berna of 1682. Over the next half-century, Merian's Abundantia would develop into the figure of Helvetia proper. An oil painting of 1677/78 from Solothurn, known as Libertas Helvetiae , shows a female Libertas allegory standing on a pillar. In 1672, an oil painting by Albrecht Kauw showed several figures labelled Helvetia moderna . These represent vices such as Voluptas and Avaritia , contrasting with

174-500: A Briton or, informally, a Brit . Some demonyms may have several meanings. For example, the demonym Macedonians may refer to the population of North Macedonia , or more generally to the entire population of the region of Macedonia , a portion of which is in Greece . In some languages, a demonym may be borrowed from another language as a nickname or descriptive adjective for a group of people: for example, Québécois , Québécoise (female)

232-565: A campaign to Besançon . Use of a white cross as a mark of identification of the combined troops of the Old Swiss Confederacy is first attested in the Battle of Laupen (1339), where it was sewn on combatants' clothing as two stripes of textile, contrasting with the red St. George's cross of Habsburg Austria, and with the St. Andrew's cross used by Burgundy and Maximilian I. The first flag used as

290-457: A feud against the lords of Landenberg . The Tagsatzung decided that the Swiss auxiliaries sent to Rottweil should receive "a red flag with a white upright cross". The first mention of the term Confederate Cross ( Eidgenossen Crütz ) dates to 1533. Because of the Swiss pledge of neutrality , there was no military conflict in which the Swiss confederate troops participated after 1540. Consequently,

348-482: A field sign representing the confederacy rather than the individual cantons may have been used in the Battle of Arbedo in 1422 (notably without the participation of the Canton of Schwyz ). This was a triangular red flag with an elongated white cross. The white cross was thus in origin a field mark attached to combatants for identification, and later also to cantonal flags. The Lucerne chronicle of 1513, in battle scenes of

406-492: A national flag, but it prescribes the federal flag for all federal troops. The last flammé flags still used by Landwehr units were replaced by the modern design in 1865. In November 1889, the Federal Council published a "communication regarding the federal coat of arms", detailing the history of the use of the Swiss cross since the 15th century. Seals produced from 1815 onward, and cantonal coins minted from 1826 showed

464-435: A particular place. Demonyms are usually derived from the name of the place (hamlet, village, town, city, region, province, state, country, and continent). Demonyms are used to designate all people (the general population) of a particular place, regardless of ethnic, linguistic, religious or other cultural differences that may exist within the population of that place. Examples of demonyms include Cochabambino , for someone from

522-509: A particular use of any such word depends on the context. For example, the word Thai may be used as a demonym, designating any inhabitant of Thailand , while the same word may also be used as an ethnonym, designating members of the Thai people . Conversely, some groups of people may be associated with multiple demonyms. For example, a native of the United Kingdom may be called a British person ,

580-421: A proposal by Carl Stauffer, which was announced to the cantons on 11 October 1841. The 1841 flag shows a bold cross suspended in the center of the square field. The proportions of the cross arm are 1:1, i.e. the cross is composed of five squares. The absolute width of the flag is given as 4.5 feet (105 cm), that of the cross as 3 feet (90 cm), for a ratio of cross to flag width of 2:3 ≈ 66.7% (as opposed to

638-399: A simple circular Gothic ornament, on the outside of which the inscription 'Schweizerische Eidgenossenschaft' with the year number MDCCCXV, and in an outer circle all XXII cantonal coat of arms in circular fields, according to their federal order of precedence; around all, a simple wreath". This decision remained in force after the formation of the federal state in 1848, as was recognized by

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696-446: A truncated form of the toponym , or place-name.) "-ish" is usually proper only as an adjective. See note below list. -ene Often used for Middle Eastern locations and European locations. -ensian -ard -ese, -nese or -lese "-ese" is usually considered proper only as an adjective, or to refer to the entirety. Thus, "a Chinese person" is used rather than "a Chinese". Often used for Italian and East Asian, from

754-449: Is 7:6. The size of the cross in relation to the field was set in 2017 as 5:8. Alongside the flag of Vatican City , the Swiss flag is one of only two square national flags in the world. The white cross has been used as the field sign (attached to the clothing of combatants and to the cantonal war flags in the form of strips of linen) of the Old Swiss Confederacy since its formation in the late 13th or early 14th century. Its symbolism

812-516: Is also more common in Germany; the German-speaking Swiss use Helvetia or Helvetica as poetic synonyms for their country. Flag of Switzerland The national flag of Switzerland displays a white cross in the center of a square red field. The white cross is known as the Swiss cross or the federal cross . Its arms are equilateral, and their ratio of length to width

870-524: Is apparently where the term first appears. The term may have been fashioned after demonymic , which the Oxford English Dictionary defines as the name of an Athenian citizen according to the deme to which the citizen belongs, with its first use traced to 1893. Several linguistic elements are used to create demonyms in the English language . The most common is to add a suffix to the end of

928-548: Is commonly used in English for a native of the province or city of Quebec (though Quebecer , Quebecker are also available). In English, demonyms are always capitalized . Often, demonyms are the same as the adjectival form of the place, e.g. Egyptian , Japanese , or Greek . However, they are not necessarily the same, as exemplified by Spanish instead of Spaniard or British instead of Briton. English commonly uses national demonyms such as Brazilian or Algerian , while

986-798: Is faced with Atheysmus and Politicus while the old virtues leave her. In the final scene, Christ appears to punish the wayward damsel, but the Mother of God and Bruder Klaus intercede, and the contrite sinner is pardoned. Identification of the Swiss as "Helvetians" ( Hélvetiens ) becomes common in the 18th century, particularly in the French language , as in François-Joseph-Nicolas d'Alt de Tieffenthal's very patriotic Histoire des Hélvetiens (1749–1753) followed by Alexander Ludwig von Wattenwyl's Histoire de la Confédération hélvetique (1754). Helvetia appears in patriotic and political artwork in

1044-490: Is inappropriate or inconvenient. Thus, the name appears on postage stamps, coins, and other uses; the full name, Confœderatio Helvetica , is abbreviated for uses such as the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 and vehicle registration code CH, and the ccTLD , .ch . Notably, translations of the term Helvetia still serve as the name for Switzerland in languages such as Irish , in which the country is known as An Eilvéis , Greek , in which it

1102-408: Is known as Ελβετία ( Elvetia ) and Romanian , in which it is known as Elveția . In Italian , Elvezia is seen as archaic, but the demonym noun/adjective elvetico is used commonly as a synonym of svizzero . In French , Swiss people may be called Helvètes . The German word Helvetien is used as well as a synonym of Schweiz and has a higher poetic value. Helvetien

1160-493: Is mostly used by the natives in the province of Quezon , is also used for their local or native demonyms in English . -a(ñ/n)o/a, -e(ñ/n)o/a, or -i(ñ/n)o/a Adaptations from the standard Spanish suffix -e(ñ/n)o (sometimes using a final -a instead of -o for a female, following the standard Spanish suffix -e(ñ/n)a ) Countries and regions Cities -ite -(e)r Often used for European locations and Canadian locations -(i)sh (Usually suffixed to

1218-428: Is the Swiss flag with switched colours. According to the 2017 flag law (SR 232.21), "the Swiss flag shows a Swiss cross on a square background". Special provisions are made for the naval ensign and for civil aircraft identification. The Swiss cross is defined as Swiss Standard German consistently uses Fahne (cognate with vane ) rather than the term Flagge used for national flags in Germany. The name of

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1276-450: The flammé military flag develops in the 17th century, which also came to be used by Swiss mercenary regiments by the end of the 17th century. The flammé design remained popular for military flags of the 18th and 19th centuries. A flammé flag was introduced as ordonnance for the Bernese troops in 1703. After the French invasion of Swiss territory in 1798 and the subsequent collapse of

1334-461: The Burgundy wars of the 1470s shows cantonal flags with an added white cross. In this context, the solid-red war flag of Schwyz with the addition of the white cross appears much like the later flag of Switzerland. Other depictions in the illustrated chronicles show a flag of Schwyz with an asymmetrical white cross, drawn in greater detail. The symbol of the confederation as it developed during 1450-1520

1392-525: The Restored Confederacy as the white-on-red Swiss cross in a heraldic shield. The current design was used together with a cross composed of five squares until 1889, when its dimensions were officially set. The civil and state ensign of Switzerland , used by Swiss ships, boats and non-governmental bodies, is rectangular in shape and has the more common proportions of 2:3. The emblem of the Red Cross

1450-428: The 17th century. This replaced an earlier convention, popular in the 1580s, of representing Switzerland as a bull ( German : Schweizer Stier ). In the first half of the 17th century, no single allegory was identified as Helvetia . Rather, several allegories represented both virtues and vices of the confederacy. On the title page of his 1642 Topographia , Matthäus Merian depicted two allegorical figures seated below

1508-539: The 7:6 ratio as official. The associated communication explains that "our heraldic cross is not a mathematical figure, but at the same the Christian cross symbol and the field sign of the Old Confederacy". The 1889 law explicitly avoids specification of the shape of the shield, which was to be left to the "tastes of the current time and practical necessity". The proposed legislation defining the Swiss federal coat of arms

1566-554: The Confederation , the authorities of the newly proclaimed Helvetic Republic confiscated all earlier flags, replacing them with a green-red-yellow tricolour. General Niklaus Franz von Bachmann used the white cross in a red field his campaigns of 1800 and 1815. The term Schweizer-Fahne (later spelling Schweizerfahne ) is in use for the flag from this time, recorded in a poem on the Battle of Näfels by one J. Hottinger published in 1808. The Tagsatzung (Swiss Diet) re-introduced

1624-578: The Federal Council in 1889. As opposed to the definition of an official seal or coat of arms, it was not, at the time, usual to specify a "national flag". However, the white cross in a red field had seen frequent use on flags flown by private organizations during the Regeneration period (1830s), especially shooting , singing and gymnastics associations which at the time were a pool for progressive or " radical " agitation. The canton of Aargau introduced

1682-611: The Italian suffix -ese , which is originally from the Latin adjectival ending -ensis , designating origin from a place: thus Hispaniensis (Spanish), Danensis (Danish), etc. The use in demonyms for Francophone locations is motivated by the similar-sounding French suffix -ais(e) , which is at least in part a relative (< lat. -ensis or -iscus , or rather both). -i(e) or -i(ya) Countries States, provinces, counties, and cities Mostly for Middle Eastern and South Asian locales. -i

1740-657: The Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary nor in prominent style manuals such as the Chicago Manual of Style . It was subsequently popularized in this sense in 1997 by Dickson in his book Labels for Locals . However, in What Do You Call a Person From...? A Dictionary of Resident Names (the first edition of Labels for Locals ) Dickson attributed the term to George H. Scheetz, in his Names' Names: A Descriptive and Prescriptive Onymicon (1988), which

1798-804: The Red Cross , a red cross on white background, was the original protection symbol declared at the first Geneva Convention , the Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded in Armies in the Field of 1864. According to the ICRC the design was based on the Swiss flag by reversing of the colours of that flag, in order to honour Switzerland , where the first Geneva Convention

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1856-446: The Swiss flag and the Swiss coat of arms based on an image, declared as authoritative in the text. The flag is flown around the year from private and commercial buildings as a display of patriotism, particularly in rural areas and often together with the cantonal and municipal flag. On Swiss National Day , 1 August, the streets and buildings are traditionally festooned in celebration with Swiss flags and banners. Prominent display of

1914-464: The Swiss flag on clothing and apparel has become more frequent with the "Swissness" fashion trend in the first decade of the 21st century, while such use of the flag had previously been largely limited to conservative and right-wing circles. The flag and coat of arms are also often used (frequently in contravention of federal law, see below) as design elements on merchandise, particularly on high-quality goods or on merchandise aimed at tourists; for example,

1972-436: The arms of the cross in the 7:6 length to width ratio. Later in the 19th century, there was a trend of depicting the cross as composed of five equal squares. The two competing designs were controversially discussed in the late 19th century, especially after the introduction of the new design for the five franks coin , which showed the Swiss coat of arms in a Baroque-style heraldic shield. The Federal Council in 1889 introduced

2030-559: The city of Cochabamba ; Tunisian for a person from Tunisia; and Swahili , for a person of the Swahili coast . As a sub-field of anthroponymy , the study of demonyms is called demonymy or demonymics . Since they are referring to territorially defined groups of people, demonyms are semantically different from ethnonyms (names of ethnic groups ). In the English language , there are many polysemic words that have several meanings (including demonymic and ethnonymic uses), and therefore

2088-479: The commercial use of the Swiss coat of arms (defined as "a Swiss cross in a triangular shield"). Use of the Swiss flag is generally permitted with the provision that such use "is neither misleading nor contrary to public policy, morality or applicable law". Provisions are made for a "right to continued use" for trademarks registered before 2010. The Red Cross symbol used by the International Committee of

2146-570: The confederate field sign fell out of use. At the same time, the former field sign develops into a representation of the Confederacy during this time, without achieving the full status as official heraldic emblem. The cross is shown as a symbol of the Swiss Confederacy on the Patenmedallie cast by Jacob Stampfer and given by the Confederacy as a baptismal gift to Princess Claude of France in 1547. The cross appears on similar medals and on throughout

2204-471: The context of the construction of a national history and identity in the early 19th century, after the disintegration of the Napoleonic Helvetic Republic , and she appears on official federal coins and stamps from the foundation of Switzerland as a federal state in 1848. The Swiss Confederation continues to use the name in its Latin form when using any or all of its four official languages

2262-415: The early modern period, but most symbolic depictions of the Confederacy in the 17th century do without the federal cross. Beginning in the later 16th century, forces of the individual cantons adopted a type of flag which was based on a white cross design. These flags usually showed a white cross drawn to the edge of the field in front of a background striped in the respective cantonal colours. From this type,

2320-401: The emblem of Victorinox , manufacturer of Swiss Army knives and the sole purveyor of these knives to the Swiss army , is based on the Swiss coat of arms. The display of the flag on federal, cantonal and municipal public buildings follows no uniform pattern or regulation. Many public buildings are equipped with flag posts (most often one each for the federal, cantonal and municipal flag), but

2378-566: The federal penal code. The commercial use of the Swiss cross, Swiss flag or Swiss coat of arms was technically prohibited by the 1931 Federal Act for the protection of public coats of arms and other public insignia, but that prohibition was not enforced. Increasing commercial use of the Swiss coat of arms prompted a number of federal regulations, dubbed " Swissness regulation" ( Swissness-Verordnung ), in force since 2017. The "Coat of Arms Protection Act" of 2017 ( Wappenschutzgesetz , Loi sur la protection des armoiries , SR 232.21) now prohibits

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2436-474: The flag for its troops in 1833. General Guillaume-Henri Dufour proposed use of the flag for all federal forces in 1839. The Tagsatzung on 2 September 1839 passed a resolution prescribing the use of a unified flag design for all cantonal infantry regiments. In a first circular sent to the cantonal authorities, the flag was described as a red flag with a cross touching the edges, but in 1841, the Tagsatzung opted for

2494-481: The flag law provides an image specifying that the margin is to be of the same width as the cross arms, so that the total height of the cross is fixed at 20:32 = 5:8 of the height of the flag (in other words, the width of the margin is 6:32 = 3:16). This ratio is also given as a " vexillological recommendation" in the flag regulation used by the Swiss Armed Forces . Flags with a cross of larger relative widths than

2552-470: The flag of the Swiss Confederation is a nominal compound , Schweizerfahne . The flag is emblazoned in English as, "Gules, a cross coupée argent." While the proportions of the cross have been fixed since 1889, the size of the cross relative to the flag (the width of the margin separating the cross couped from the edge of the flag) had not been officially fixed prior to 2017. The annex to

2610-528: The flag(s) may only be flown during part of the year or only on National Day. In Bern , the flag is flown on the cupola of the Federal Palace while the Federal Assembly is in session. Destruction, removal or desecration of a Swiss, cantonal or municipal flag or coat of arms that has been installed by a public authority is punishable by a monetary penalty or imprisonment of up to three years according to

2668-765: The location name, slightly modified in some instances. These may resemble Late Latin , Semitic , Celtic , or Germanic suffixes, such as -(a)n , -ian , -anian , -nian , -in(e) , -a(ñ/n)o/a , -e(ñ/n)o/a , -i(ñ/n)o/a , -ite , -(e)r , -(i)sh , -ene , -ensian , -ard , -ese , -nese , -lese , -i(e) , -i(ya) , -iot , -iote , -k , -asque , -(we)gian , -onian , -vian , -ois(e) , or -ais(e) . -(a)n Continents and regions Countries Constituent states, provinces and regions Cities -ian Countries Constituent states, provinces, regions and cities -anian -nian -in(e) -(h)in The Tayabas Tagalog suffix -(h)in , which

2726-454: The lower fly, and a vignette with the commander's coat of arms in the centre. Demonym A demonym ( / ˈ d ɛ m ə n ɪ m / ; from Ancient Greek δῆμος ( dêmos )  'people, tribe' and ὄνυμα ( ónuma )  'name') or gentilic (from Latin gentilis  'of a clan, or gens ') is a word that identifies a group of people (inhabitants, residents, natives) in relation to

2784-451: The modern 5:8 = 62.5%). The specifications include the flag pole and the ribbon with the cantonal colours attached to the pole (the example depicted is the flag of the Zürich battalion). The flag itself is described as of good silk cloth, four feet five inches squared, scarlet , in the center a white cross, arms measuring one foot by three feet. The Swiss constitution of 1848 did not name

2842-432: The prescribed 20:32 = 62.5% remain in wide use; common ratios include 20:26 ≈ 76.9% and 20:28 ≈ 71.4%. For the ensign, the ratio of the size of the cross to the height is likewise 5:8, so that the ratio of cross to flag width is 5:12. The shade of red used in the flag was not defined by law prior to 2017. Since then, the colour of the flag is defined as pure red, with the color values as follows: The ultimate origin of

2900-420: The title panel: one is the figure of an armed Eidgenosse , representing Swiss military prowess and sovereignty, the other is a female Abundantia allegory crowned with a city's ramparts. Female allegories of individual cantons predate the single Helvetia figure. There are depictions of a Respublica Tigurina Virgo (1607), a Lucerna shown in 1658 with the victor of Villmergen , Christoph Pfyffer , and

2958-451: The usage of local demonyms such as Chicagoan , Okie or Parisian is less common. Many local demonyms are rarely used and many places, especially smaller towns and cities, lack a commonly used and accepted demonym altogether. National Geographic attributes the term demonym to Merriam-Webster editor Paul Dickson in a work from 1990. The word did not appear for nouns, adjectives, and verbs derived from geographical names in

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3016-586: The virtues of Helvetia antiqua (not shown in the painting). On 14 September 1672, a monumental baroque play by Johann Caspar Weissenbach was performed in Zug , entitled Eydtgnossisch Contrafeth Auff- und Abnemmender Jungfrawen Helvetiae . The play is full of allegories illustrating the rise of Helvetia and her decadence after the Reformation. In the 4th act, the Abnemmende Helvetiae or "Waning Helvetia"

3074-505: The white cross in the red field for the seal of the Confederacy in 1814. The commission for drafting a federal constitution on 16 May 1814 recommended the adoption of a seal of the Confederacy based on the "field sign of the old Swiss". On 4 July 1815, the Diet accepted the design of the commission, adopted as the provisional seal described as "in the center, the federal red shield with the white cross as common federal heraldic emblem, surrounded by

3132-572: The white cross is attributed by three competing legends: to the Theban Legion , to the Reichssturmfahne (Imperial War Banner) attested from the 12th century, and to the Arma Christi that were especially venerated in the three forest cantons , and which they were allegedly allowed to display on the formerly uniformly red battle flag from 1289 by King Rudolph I of Habsburg at the occasion of

3190-632: Was described by the Swiss Federal Council in 1889 as representing "at the same the Christian cross symbol and the field sign of the Old Confederacy ". As a national ensign , it was first used during the Napoleonic Wars by general Niklaus Franz von Bachmann , and as regimental flag of all cantonal troops from 1841. The federal coat of arms ( eidgenössisches Wappen ) was defined in 1815 for

3248-637: Was held, and its inventor and co-founder, the Swiss Henry Dunant . The modern banner of the Pontifical Swiss Guard was designed in 1912–14 by commander Jules Repond . The design has a Swiss cross design based on the 18th-century regimental flags of the Swiss Guards , with the papal coat of arms of the reigning pope in the upper hoist and the Della Rovere coat of arms of Julius II in

3306-481: Was passed on 12 December 1889 ( SR 111). The rectangular variant of the flag is used as a naval ensign only, officially introduced with a federal law passed 23 September 1953. The current flag law of the Swiss Confederacy is the Wappenschutzgesetz ( WSchG , SR 232.21) of 2013 (in force since 2017). This law replaced the flag law of 1931 (last revised in 2008). The 2013 law for the first time defines both

3364-420: Was thus the white cross itself, not necessarily in a red field, but attached to existing flags, so that it appeared before a red background in those cantonal flags that contained red, notably the solid-red flag of Schwyz. The first explicit mention of a separate flag representing the Confederacy dates to 1540, in the context of an auxiliary force sent by the Swiss to aid their associate, the city of Rottweil , in

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