Пока достоверной версии о цвете у меня нет.

[http://bloodflag.blogspot.com/2012/10/so-this-blog-is-called-bloodflag.html]http://bloodflag.blogspot.com/2012/10/so-this-blog-is-called-bloodflag.html

So this blog is called Bloodflag. It was just a name that fell into mind when I had to chose a name for it....
Why? Because I have been intrigued by this flag that I put on the stern on the Brederode. Apparently this 'Bloedvlag' or bloodflag was pretty common for Dutch ships in the early 17th century.

The flag shows an arm with a sword on a red background. Oddly, the sword looks a bit oriental to me. It certainly doen't look like a sword from the middle ages or the small-swords that were common during that period in Europe.

I found some documentation on this flag but it doesn't quite explain everything.
It states that the origin of the flag was in the Eighty-years war, in which the Dutch fought their independence against the Spanish. This could explain the shape of the sword. In the early years, the Dutch rebels and predecessors of the Dutch navy; the 'Watergeuzen' used Muslim and Ottoman symbols to taunt the Spanish. Since the biggest enemy of the Spanish empire was the Ottoman empire, the Dutch rebels frequently flew flags with crescent moons and used the slogan "rather Turkish then Catholic". It is just a theory, but it could explain why the sword looks like a Turkish one.

The use of the flag is not restricted to the war against the Spanish. I have also found paintings and drawings where it was used during the 1st Anglo-Dutch wars, The Nordic war, and fights against Dunkirk and Barbary pirates.

The red colour and the sword seem to suggest is is some kind of a battle flag. In the 17th and 18th century, when pirates hoisted a red flag, it ment very bad news for their enemies. It ment they wouldn't accept a surrender. Everyone would be killed, whether they opposed them or not.
In other navies a red flag was often was used as a signal to engage or attack.