Flags and arms of cantons of Switzerland Schwenkel. Zürich attached the Swiss cross in the red Schwenkel rather than in the main flag, and this may have contributed to the development of the flag of Switzerland (placing the white cross in a red field by default). The city of Bern is a Zähringer foundation of 1160. In the 13th century, its flag showed a black bear in a white field, changed to the current red-and-yellow diagonal arrangement in 1289. Bern also had a war flag with a simple red-and-black horizontal division. The cantonal colours remain red and black. The blue-and-white flag is attested from 1386. The vertical
Flag of Switzerland by three feet. The Swiss constitution of 1848 did not name 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 the arms of the cross in the 7:6 length to width ratio. Later in the 19th century, there