The Swiss Armed Forces operates on land and in the air, serving as the primary armed forces of Switzerland. Under the country's militia system, regular soldiers constitute a small part of the military and the rest are conscripts or volunteers aged 19 to 34. Because of Switzerland's long history of neutrality, the Swiss Armed Forces do not take part in conflicts in other countries, but do participate in international peacekeeping missions. Switzerland is part of the NATO Partnership for Peace programme.
The Battle of Sempach, 1386
Swiss soldiers with war pigeons during World War I
Military badge belonging to Julien Wyler, 1929, in the collection of the Jewish Museum of Switzerland
Veterans' dragoons squadron in 2006, presenting the uniform of 1972
Romansh is a Gallo-Romance language spoken predominantly in the Swiss canton of the Grisons (Graubünden). Romansh has been recognized as a national language of Switzerland since 1938, and as an official language in correspondence with Romansh-speaking citizens since 1996, along with German, French, and Italian. It also has official status in the canton of the Grisons alongside German and Italian and is used as the medium of instruction in schools in Romansh-speaking areas. It is sometimes grouped by linguists with Ladin and Friulian as the Rhaeto-Romance languages, though this is disputed.
"La mort da Benedetg Fontana", a Romansh passage in a Latin chronicle by Durich Chiampel
Front page of Ilg Vêr Sulaz da pievel giuvan
Cover page of Ortografia et ortoëpia del idiom romauntsch d'Engiadin'ota
A 6th-series 10-Swiss franc bill, the first to include Romansh