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 arranging cantonal insignia in shields ("escutcheons") as coats of arms arises in the late 15th century. The "Tagsatzung" in Baden was presented with stained glass representations of all cantons in ca. 1501. In these designs, two cantonal "escutcheons" were shown side by side, below a shield bearing the Imperial Eagle and a crown, flanked by two banner-bearers. Based on these, there arose a tradition of representing cantonal arms in stained glass ("Standesscheiben"), alive throughout the early modern period and continued in the modern state. The flag of Zürich is derived from a blue-and-white design attested since the 1220s, the diagonal