1850 Andriveau-Goujon Vexillological or Flag Chart of Naval Powers

This is an 1837 flag chart produced in Paris by Andriveau-Goujon. It shows the naval, merchant, and national or royal flags of European, American, and Asian kingdoms, republics, port cities, and trading assemblies.

A Closer Look at the Map

The table includes over one hundred maritime ensigns of various nations and kingdoms. Major European powers such as Great Britain, Russia, France, Austria, Prussia are featured prominently, but the table also includes the flags of Mediterranean states such as the Ottoman Empire and Morocco, as well as Asian powers such as China, Japan, Persia, and even Burma. Several polities have a wide array of flags depending on naval fleet, merchant fleet, constituent states, and port cities. Prominently, at top, are two flags for each of the five French coastal maritime sections (arrondissements) of Cherbourg, Brest, Lorient, Rochefort, and Toulon (each of these was designated a 'port of war'; this system of coastal administration lasted until the First World War).

Stability and Trade in the 19th Century

This table is a product of the era of the post-Napoleonic 'Concert of Europe,' premised on maintaining stability in both domestic and international relations. In reality, while many nationalist and liberal movements were suppressed, they remained at the forefront of European affairs for many decades and burst forth periodically, as in 1830 and 1848.

One benefit of the relative stability of the 19th century was increased trade, facilitated by treaties as well as the reforms undertaken under Napoleon's rule. Improvements in naval technology, the increasing naval dominance of the British Empire, the emergence of its former colony in the United States as a naval and commercial power, and early manifestations of the philosophy of free trade (as opposed to mercantilism) all aided the increase of maritime trade over this period.

Publication History and Census

This chart was published in 1837 by the Parisian publishing house Andriveau-Goujon as part of their Atlas classique et universel de géographie ancienne et modern. The atlas is held by a handful of libraries in Europe and the United States, and the chart is scarce to the market.