Talk:Eric of Pomerania
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[edit] Portrait
The caricature is contemporary (I believe the full picture also features a Byzantine Emperor and, if I believe correctly, the Holy Roman Emperor). Do we have any information about the Polish portait and its age? Valentinian (talk) / (contribs) 23:57, 3 December 2006 (UTC)
[edit] Union arms
Twthmoses rightly identifies the three crowns in Eric's union arms as representing the Kalmar Union, and not Sweden. But he objects to the idea that the dividing cross also refers to this union. We will probably never know for sure, but it is very likely 'not' a Dannebrog cross, which would only refer to one of the three kingdoms of this union. The Dannebrog cross appearing in later greater arms of Denmark-Norway is usually shown with fimbriated edges in order to identify it expressly as derived from the flag, with a white cross on a red field. The cross in Eric's union seal is more likely the red cross of the flag that he unsuccessfully tried to adopt for the Kalmar union. That theory has been advocated by the well-known Danish expert on heraldry, Nils G. Bartholdy. See his article: "De tre kroner og korset. Unionssymbolik, ambition og rivalitet", in: Heraldisk tidsskrift, 76 (1997), pp. 233-260. More on the flag of Norden in the FOTW article http://flagspot.net/flags/xn_nordn.html.
The Kalmar union flag had a red cross on a yellow field. The colours were possibly chosen because they were those of the only hereditary kingdom, Norway. On a statue depicting Karl VIII of Sweden, also king of Norway for some years, he is shown carrying the union arms of Sweden and Norway, quartered by a red cross with gold fimbriation. This cross is presumed to be the same "Nordic" cross, appropriated from the Kalmar union arms, probably to demonstrate Karl's claim to be the rightful ruler of that union.
Roede 14:19, 13 December 2006 (UTC)
