Geography of Switzerland rolling hills and plains of the plateau. The smaller Jura Mountains are located on the north west side of the plateau. Much of the northern border with Germany follows the Rhine, though the Rhine enters Switzerland near Schaffhausen. The eastern border with Germany and a portion of Austria is drawn through Lake Constance (). A portion of the southwest border with France is drawn through Lake Geneva. Switzerland is divided into 26 sovereign cantons. The cantons along the Swiss Plateau tend to be the most populous, industrial and religiously Protestant. The cantons in the Alps tend to be less populous,
Flags and arms of cantons of Switzerland suggestions to correct this, including a 1938 suggestion to use a solid green field divided by a diagonal white line, but they were not successful. The flag is an 1803 design, but its designer or intended symbolism have not been recorded. The convention of displaying the flag "per fess" is apparently inspired by Lucerne. The design dates to 1803, based on the flag used in the Vaudois insurrection against Bernese rule in the 1790s, which was green and inscribed with Liberté, Egalité in white lettering. From this, the white and green became the "revolutionary" colours of cantons newly created from